Page 11 - Robert Rand News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> one thing that we have asked the judge to do is to limit the so-called abuse excuse. >> the approach that the prosecutor david conn took was to attack at every -- at every turn and not give any free passes there. >> reporter: andrew wolfberg is a lawyer today. back then he was the youngest member of the menendez retrial jury. >> at the time, the defense attorney was saying, "this was a family that was win at all costs. the ends justify the means." to say that their parents had abused them was almost like the ends justified the means. "let's make up this story about abuse." >> reporter: but ...

Jose menendez, but he couldn't complete it without talking to two people. jose's sons, lyle and erik. the brothers had blown him off for several weeks. but finally, on october 20th, 1989, exactly two months after the murders, rand got his shot. >> i showed up at the menendez mansion at 3:00 in the afternoon. and -- a young woman in her twenties answered the door and she said, "oh erik and lyle are out playing tennis. th -- they'll be back at some point." >> the woman invited rand in to tour the house. >> and immediately in front of me is the room. the room where jose and kitty menendez were ki...

>> reporter: guilty of first degree murder. but the fates of lyle and erik menendez were not the only headlines -- more came in the penalty phase. dr. vicary finally got to testify. and under oath, he had to admit something -- >> the drama involves this man, defense psychiatrist william vicary, who has disclosed that he deleted dozens of portions of his notes because, quote, "leslie abramson told me, 'this has to come out.'" >> what did it feel like to be you in that particular circumstance of your life? >> well, it was very traumatic. >> reporter: traumatic indeed. the doctor said leslie abra...

Wanted to get into politics. >> he was going to become senator of florida, and then he was gonna'spend his life making cuba a territory of the united states. >> now, with his father's death, erik said he and his brother wanted to fulfill his father's dream. >> i wanna become senator of florida and my -- my brother wants to become president of the united states. >> then the mood shifted and erik described what he saw when he walked into the family den on august 20th. >> they weren't real. >> no. >> they -- wax -- they looked like wax. it's something that -- i've never seen my dad helpless. you ...

>> he just said that it was our secret, that bad things would happen to me if i told anybody. >> reporter:lyle testified his father stopped abusing him when he turned eight. he said for years he had no idea his brother was a victim too. then erik took the stand. >> he would have me give him oral sex, and he would stick the needles or the tacks into my thighs as he was doing this. >> reporter: erik testified that when he refused to cooperate with his father's demands -- >> he came back with the knife, and put it on my neck. he said i should kill you, and next time i will. >> reporter: reaction ...