Page 14 - Robert Rand News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> reporter: but the defense said the brothers' explosive claims were just the lead-up, the back story, to what really prompted the murders. >> what do you believe was the originating cause of you and your brother ultimately winding up shooting your parents? >> me telling lyle that uh -- >> you telling lyle what? was it you telling lyle that something was happening? >> my dad -- my dad had been molesting me. >> reporter: and had been right up until the murders, erik said, and he testified that his mother was aware of it all. >> she says i know, i've always known, what do you think i'm stupid? ...

Then a reporter for the miami herald, went to las vegas to cover a trade show for the home video business. and happened to meet jose menendez. >> what was your impression of the guy? >> talked to him for maybe two or three minutes. seemed professional, dynamic. >> a high powered career. a beautiful family. and finally the one missing piece of jose's american dream -- the perfect home. jose moved his family from calabasas, then pre-kardashian and a relatively unknown enclave outside of los angeles, to a more tony address. joan was with her sister the day the realtor called kitty. >> they had ac...

>> reporter: the defense contended the abuse was real, went on for years. and finally -- >> they came to believe that something terrible was about to break loose. >> reporter: specifically, that their parents were going to kill them if they didn't kill their parents first. mental health experts testified and said that was 'understandable.' >> erik and lyle menendez purchased the shotguns for their own protection. >> reporter: it was a high stakes defense. and by far the most important witnesses would be the brothers themselves. would the jury believe them? would america? coming up -- >> my dad...

>> rand pulled out his tape recorder and notepad, but lyle stopped him. >> lyle menendez said, "hang on, " he said, "we don't wanna do the interview today. we'd just like to meet you and get to know you." >> the brothers had flaked on rand before. he was annoyed, but obliged. they chatted informally. and made plans to meet later that weekend for an official interview. but when rand arrived -- >> lyle had left for new york on a red-eye the night before. he had a problem with his chicken wing restaurant in -- princeton. >> erik, however, was home. and this time he was willing to talk. >> erik wa...

>> reporter: the prosecution believed the brothers were flat out lying about the abuse, and the events leading up to the murders, and as it turned out their testimony gave the state a big opening. >> they offered their mental state as a defense. so when you offer your mental state as a defense you have waived your psychiatric patient privilege. >> reporter: the oziel tape. remember that? by testifying, the brothers had put their mental state on center stage meaning the tape was now fair game. the defense played the tape to take the sting out of it. >> what erik and i did took courage beyond be...