Page 19 - Robert Rand News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Air, smelled gun powder smoke, went into the den, and then dialed 911. >> someone killed my parents! >> reporter: the news spread quickly. >> i got a phone call from my brother. and i remember putting the phone down on the table. and walking around the house screaming. >> reporter: reporter robert rand's phone also rang. it was a friend who had attended the las vegas trade show with him 10 days earlier. >> the friend had said, "hey, you remember that guy, jose menendez? you know, that you met briefly last week?" and i said, "sure." and he said, "well, he and his wife were blown away last night...

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." >> reporter: 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 killed. and -- i ha -- i had a chill up my spine. i felt creeped out. >> reporter: he waited. ...

>> how frustrating was that? >> well, it was very frustrating. yeah, a good piece of evidence and i couldn't even listen to it. >> reporter: even though investigators didn't know whether they'd ever get to play that tape in court, they thought they had enough evidence to arrest the brothers. >> it was march 8th, 1990. >> detectives arrested joseph lyle menendez for the august murders of his mother and father. >> reporter: erik was playing a tennis tournament in israel at the time. >> erik menendez is being sought by detectives of this department. >> reporter: he surrendered to police three day...

♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ >> reporter: reporter robert rand had been working the menendez story hard. he was writing a biography of jose menendez, but he couldn't complete it without talking to two people. jose's sons, lyle and erik.

>> and we saw a few seconds of it, a few minutes. and we made excuses. a lot of us stood up and said, "we have to leave." we couldn't stand to see it, to watch it. >> reporter: but jose found this engaging. >> oh, hysterically funny. >> reporter: these stories of the menendez family had been buried for years, until the sons were charged with murder. and she signed on to defend them. veteran criminal defense attorney leslie abramson, known for her brash style in the courtroom, and with the press. >> you want that? that's what you get today. >> reporter: reporter robert rand, who wrote a book on...