I just ran out of the room. I didnt want to go back in. Welcome to how it really happened. It was a Hot August Night in 1989 when media titan Jose Menendez and his wife kitty were gunned down in cold blood in their Beverly Hills mansion. The gruesome murder would trans fix a nation drawn to the lurid testimony from the courtroom. For the first several months, the world would be riveted by one of the most publicized who done its in history. How did it really happen . Beverly hills represents wealth. It represents exclusivity. The prettiest people, the fanciest cars. All over Beverly Hills but rarely here. In august, 20th, 1989, the quota was filled. Whats the problem . Whats the problem . Pardon me . The phone rang and it was the watch commander indicating that he needed to respond to the station. They had a double homicide. 722 north elm. The first patrol car pulls up. Erik is weeping hysterically on the front lawn. At this time we had two deceased persons inside. A male and a female. They escorted me into the home to show me the crime scene. As you enter, there is a large double door directly in front of you. The victims were in their home, watching tv, having dessert, relaxing. Apparently, thats where they started shooting the second they were in the room. Mr. Menendez was sitting on the couch and quite a bit of trauma to the legs, to the head, to the torso. Just immense carnage on the body itself. Just below on the floor between the coffee table and the couch was mrs. Menendez, Kitty Menendez. In my 38 years in law enforcement, ive seen murder victims. Ive seen suicide victims. But the condition in which these two bodies were in, ill never forget the look. They were basically unrecognizable. The way movies depict a crime scene is tamer often than what it really is. It is always shocking, the. A blood. It is more than you can fathom. You could hear a flopping and it was the bookcase or the ceiling. My partner needed to hold an umbrella over my head and a camera to protect us from the types of tissue falling down. When they picked up joses body and brain fell out of his head it was a scene you dont want to see very often. It was 11 45, 12 00 at night, and the phone woke us up. Erik was screaming on the phone. My fathers dead, my fathers dead. The house was cordoned off already with that yellow tape. There were a number of police cars. They blocked off the traffic. No traffic. Lyle was on the sidewalk talking to one or two either policemen or detectives. The police show up at the scene and there are these two distraught sons. These two boys. And theyve just found their parents murdered. Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers, they had a good reputation. They were good students. They were great tennis players. I was quite close to them at that time and i felt like they needed me. They went to the Police Station and i went with them. I interviewed the two boys, lyle and erik, and erik was very, very tearful and told me they had been to a Food Festival and a movie in santa monica. When they came in, they entered the house. They found their parents deceased. I tried to console them and then tried to get information as to who would have possibly done this. The first hours after the crime, the police are scrubbing the crime scene and theyre looking for dna evidence, for fingerprints. They are looking for eyewitnesses, and for what people might have heard. Particularly when the crime is gunshots. I believe at 10 00 in the evening, the neighbors heard a banging but did not want to get involved. It sounded like a Shotgun Blast over and over again, youre talking a good 16 shots with a Shotgun Blast. Nobody called police which is very unsurprisingly, they call on barking dogs all the time in Beverly Hills and parking violations. I remember first hearing about the Menendez Murders on local tv. And it seemed completely unreal. The names of the victims that we have is joseph enrique menendez, 45 years old, and his wife mary or kitty louise menendez, 44 years old. Who could get into the home and creep up on them as theyre watching tv in their den . There was no real struggle. How did the perpetrator do that . People in this quiet exclusive neighborhood remain surprised at the murders. They said down the hill and i thought it was somewhere else. I didnt think it would be here right where i come to work at. After what happened here last night, some of the neighbors are worried and afraid. We dont know if this is an isolated incident. There was an urgency that we needed to solve this case. Not only for the victims but for the community at large. Was it a gangrelated type thing . A mafiarelated type thing . This was a horrific crime. Police have no conclusive evidence. Who hated them . Who had they crossed . 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This electric feels different. Because its powered by the most potent source of energy there is. You. This is the lexus variety of electrification. Inspired by, created for and powered by you. vo this is sadie. Shes on verizon. The network she can count on. And now shes got myplan. The Game Changing new plan that lets her pick exactly what she wants, and save on every perk. Sadies getting her plan ready for a big trip. Travel pass, on. Nice iphone 14 pro cute couple. Trips dont last forever. Neither does summer love. So, sadies moving on. Apple music . Check. Introducing myplan. The first and only unlimited plan to give you exactly what you want, so you only pay for what you need. And get iphone 14 pro on us when you switch. Its your verizon. Reporter it happened at this mansion in the heart of Beverly Hills. At approximately 11 47 p. M. Last night, we received a call on our 911 Emergency Line it happened at this mansion in the heart of Beverly Hills. At approximately 11 47 last night, we received the call on our 911 Emergency Line from the residence stating that there had been a shooting here. On the night jose and kitty were killed, erik and Lyle Menendez made this 911 call. Whats the problem . Whats the problem . Somebody killed my parents. I have an hysterical person. Who was the person who was shot . My mom and my dad. My mom and my dad. Okay. Hold on a second. All Morning Detectives and technicians from the crime lab continued to look for clues behind a huge oak doors and the ornate windows. This was all about loss. They had lost their parents and it was a huge issue of loss and immediate grief. It is really hard to describe the feelings. Just the shock. Not believing that this was happening. And that my parents were dead. There were three Memorial Services for jose and Kitty Menendez. There was a third Memorial Service held in late september 89, about a month after the murders for the Cuban American relatives in miami. And erik and lyle didnt show up. They told their aunt they were just too emotional. In the days following the crime, police were confused and they were baffled. Two dead people in a highclass Residential Area which is like a red light to the press and to this community. And we had no leads. Zero. Is it as much of a mystery to everyone around here as it seems to be to the police right now . Yeah. We have no clue how anything like that could happen. That possibly the crooks left. The goal is to solve the crime. We checked everything trying to find some evidence that possibly the crooks left. We found quite a bit of Shotgun Pellets that were left behind, and those were everything from bird shot, which is very small, to double buck which is very large. There were some pieces there from the shotgun rounds. I believe that there were 13 of those that we recovered throughout the floor. But the interesting fact was the expended cartridge cases were all picked up. And Finger Prints on a Shotgun Shell would be pretty darn good for fingerprints. So it was a very calculated move on the suspects part trying to collect as much evidence as possible. Why they didnt pick up the watting, i dont know. When a crime happens in Beverly Hills, the first Snap Judgment you would make is robbery. This involves money. There were no apparent signs of a forced entry. Were uncertain how the person who committed the crime actually got into the home. Was it a robbery . Probably not. We dont believe there was any property missing. The next thing the police have to do is what could be the connection between the murderers and the victims . There were a lot of signs at the scene that indicated that there was some type of relationship that the killer and the victims knew each other in some way. A lot of the shooting occurred very close. Mr. Menendez was sitting on the couch and right on the arm of the couch was a remote that did not fall off. Also, the coffee table immediately in front of both victims. The items on that were not disturbed. So the shooters were very, very close range. Point blank. They would start looking at kitty and Jose Menendez about who their end msemies were. Initially they thought it was related to the entertainment business. It is my understanding is it is the two boys eric oerik and lyle who indicated this might be a mafia involvement. When jose and kitty were murdered, the original idea is it was because joses Business Dealings previously had an arm of their company that dealt in soft core porn. I was working in a suburban bureau of the Los Angeles Times and i was covering the pornography business. There had been a previous mob hit of a pornographer the year before, and i started looking into the allegations of the mob hit. Fwl the Los Angeles Times is reporting Organized Crime may have played a part in the murders. So doug and i went to newark. And interviewed a guy that was part of Organized Crime. He said we wouldnt have been as messy. We described to him what happened. And we wouldnt have killed his wife. Police have no conclusive evidence the shooting was mobrelated and would not comment on the alleged mob connection other, than to say they are not ruling it out. There was speculation in the media that because jose was latino, there was some time of drug connection. So then we profiled jose to see if he had any connections, and it was all dead end stuff. At the same time the police are doing their investigation, these two l. A. Times Print Reporters who were looking into this very spectacular, gruesome case. The reporters went to talk to the brothers. When confronted with a sensational murder, you want to talk to the family. My colleague, ron, and i visited them at their mansion. It had only been a few weeks. So i walked in fully expecting to see two traumatized young men. And with lyle, there wasnt any trace of that. He had some ideas to start businesses. He was much more interested in talking about his Business Plans than he was about what happened with his father and mother. Erik took his cues from lyle, trying to show that he was ready to assume the mantle of adulthood. We had a strong suspicion at that point that there was something lyle and erik were not telling. Something wasnt right. Your blood sugar. Nage and more protein to keep you moving with diabetes. Glucerna live every moment suffering from sinus congestion, especially at night . Try vicks sinex for instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours. Vicks sinex targets congestion at the source, relieving nasal congestion, and sinus pressure by reducing swelling in the sinuses. Try vicks sinex. Introducing new. Black angus steakburgers, the Bourbon Bacon Jam and jalapeno kick topped with a fourcheese crisp. Try all six ultimate steakburger combos served with fries and a drink, starting at 9. Download the app and earn double rewards on steakburgers for a limited time. The lor barista coffee and espresso system. A masterpiece in taste hey. What are you doing right now . You up for something impetuous . Im a palm springs hotel. I got the desert air, sunkissed pools, and shady hideaways. Im looking for someone who can decide on a friday that a one night commitment on a saturday is a fine idea. Maybe you heard of the rat pack . They hung out here all the time. So, pack a bag. Or dont. You could be here in a few hours. Meet me at hotels. Com bye bye, everyone my editor at the miami herald wanted me to write a biography about the fascinating life of Jose Menendez, cubanamerican ragstoriches Success Story my editor at the miami herald wanted me to write a biography about the fascinating life of Jose Menendez, the cuban Rags To Riches story that ended in tragedy. We lost a friend as well as a business associate. The people that worked with him at Live Entertainment tended to like jose very much, admire him very much. Jose worked like a demon to succeed in america, and he did. 45yearold Jose Menendez was a talented, toughminded show business exec. When he left cuba at 16, he was penniless. Jose it was youngest child in a family in cuba. They werent rich but they were certainly well respected family and considered themselves part of the cuban elite. When castro came to power, they lost everything they had, and his family gradually one after the other left cuba. The Company Provides pretty much what the consumer wants. He started off working at hertz as an executive and worked himself up like a rocket, a really brilliant guy. When Jose Menendez was Top Executive with hertz rental car, o. J. Simpson came to their home one night in princeton, new jersey, and he met erik and Lyle Menendez when they were young boys. From hertz, he was named at rca records. Jose menendez was very successful but it came out that he had a bit of a dark side. Everybody who encountered him said one of two things about him. He could charm anyone and at the same time could be the most brutal boss that anybody had ever worked for. At work, he was a holy terror. I mean, he would yell, scream, degrade, insult, and the employees were terrified of him. It began to raise questions about what kind of person he was behind closed doors. 47yearold Kitty Menendez was a former small town beauty queen who met her Future Husband at a college debating class. When jose met her, you know, he was a brash, handsome guy, wavy dark hair, 61, and he swept her right off her feet. According to lyle, her son, Kitty Menendez was miserable in her marriage, and she wasnt trying to hated that. She would just explain all the things that she could have been, the things that she could have had and it would come out in a rage. Dad was having an affair for months and months. I would have to listen to my mother crying in the house. She realized that 20 years of sacrifice was for nothing. Its very hard not to feel for kitty. She seemed trapped in a marriage she didnt know what to do about with a man who was obviously very difficult. Kitty menendez was the doormat in the family and she allowed everyone in the family to treat her like a doormat. I think the father treated her with no respect and therefore her sons treated her with no respect. Jose did to his associates praise his sons, filled with admiration. At the same time, it was filled with expectation. The first thing were the indoctrination of the sons by their father who would sit them down in a chair in the basement for hours at a time. Especially lyle. Apparently, he would almost put his forehead against his forehead and like, to try to put into him his winner take all philosophy. The Menendez Family was like a royal family. That we were better than other people. That we were athletically gifted. We were smarter. I think the most dangerous thing he did was to teach them the lesson that if you want something, go for it and dont worry about what you may do to people. Things began to escalate. My dad, he was trying to be an olympic swimmer at one point. He had all kinds of different methods. How to expand your lungs and how long i should be able to hold my breath. We practiced him holding me under the water. How long i could take it. I would fight him to get air. The ends justifies the means and thats what he taught his kids. About a year and a half before jose and kitty were killed, erik and Lyle Menendez were involved in some burglaries in calabasas where the family was living. These two had more of a checkered past than the family ever let on. One of their friends parents had gone away from what i understand, it was lyles idea, to break into the house and steal jewelry from the people. Its a way of directing their frustration and resentment and anger and acting out. In an attempt to keep Lyle Menendez out of trouble, because he was over 18, basically, erik took the fall for these robberies in calabasas. And jose made a deal with the d. A. s office that he would be charged as a juvenile. They couldnt stay in calabasas because their sons had burgled the neighbors houses so they moved to Beverly Hills. For them that was the ultimate in showing success. When the Menendez Family moved to Beverly Hills, one of kittys closest friends said you finally made it. Youve got your 90210 zip code. Hello, everyone in tv land this was a family perfect on the outside. The perfect family turned out to be a nightmare in real life. Hi if i knew about upwork, i would have hired actually talented people from all over the world. Instead of talentless people from all over my house. Grandpa. Shh. Shh. Shh. But. Shh. Shh. Shh. But. Oh. This is how we work now who couldve brutally murdered the hollywood executive and his beautyqueen wife . For months, the public breathlessly followed every lead. Was it a mob hit, a drug deal gone bad . Who could have brutally murdered the holiday executive and his wife . For months the press followed every lead. Was it a mob hit, a drug deal gone bad . They all seemed to be dead ends. Behind the scenes the trail was getting hotter. Beverly hills Police Detectives and two Newspaper Reporters were zeroing in simultaneously on two prime suspects. If the seengt investigations proved true, the revelation would rock the case and the country. This was a horrific crime in a very prominent family and it was a mystery as to what had happened. Pardon me . In october of october 1989 i came out to los angeles to work on my biography of Jose Menendez for the miami herald magazine. Their aunt said you have to talk to the brothers to really understand the Menendez Family. At a certain point in the interview, i gently that, i need to ask you a few questions about the night of the murders. Ive never seen anything like it. I never will see anything like it. They werent real. He told me repeatedly how close the family was. How much he loved his parents. And he told me what a shock it was to walk in and see his parents. I think that possibly if lyle and i would have been home, i definitely would give my life. As we were Walking Around the house, straight back from the main foyer was the room where jose and kitty had been killed. And i felt a chill as i walked by the room. And i thought to myself, if my parents had been killed in this house, had been brutally murdered, i wouldnt be living in this house. We had put in several interview requested and they finally agreed to sit down with us at their mansion. It started as any interview would do. You want to draw them out and see what they might know, as much as anything. So i finally asked the question that all of us journalists are embarrassed to ask but we ask any way which is, how are you doing . And lyle said, well, its been kind of a long time now. This has only been a couple months, so were pretty much over it. The only thing i could compare it to was somebody who might have lost a pet. That they cared about, but you know, you can get a new pet. These two Print Reporters from the l. A. Times were not the only ones who were picking up on the strange response and reaction from the boys. There was just something about them that did not sit right with me. Especially when needed to take an inked set of Finger Prints from Lyle Menendez, and i asked him, can we go into the house . Would that be all right . As soon as we were in the foyer, and he said, is that where it happened . And i looked at him like, youre the one who discovered this. Not me. He looked like he just blew it. He wanted to know if we had leads and were solving the crime. He was overdramatic, actually. And thats when we were starting to, we had our eyebrows up about him. Behind the scenes, the police were quietly finding clues that they did not share. There was quite a bit of evidence. Computers that were in the home. Right around the time of my deadline, the l. A. Times ran a story that Lyle Menendez hired a Computer Expert to come to the house and look for a possible will on the familys home computer. We found out they had hired a Computer Expert to come in and erase the computer file. Because kitty was rewriting the family will and she had let it be known that she was thinking of changing the will so they wouldnt be able to inherit anything. The boys were engaging in all sorts of odd behavior. The boys went to the east coast, i believe it was in new jersey, and started spending large amounts of money which seemed unusual. In fact, three days after they were spending quite a bit of money on lavish items. Buying rolex watches. They bought a porsche car. They spent a lot of money. Some estimates say in the first six or seven months after the deaths, they spent a million dollars. Thats a lot of money. They had leased a condo in Marina Del Rey that was part of their insurance settlement. They lived well. They bought a restaurant in princeton, new jersey. They were Spending Money like we were drunken sailors. Not the typical behavior that someone had a just lost their parents would demonstrate. So all of that is incriminating but police need cold, hard facts to actually charge somebody. Its been three thats, four months, six months. A woman came to the station and she related a lot of things that only the shooters would know. Thats it. The game is over. I knew it then. vo with their verizon private 5g network, associated British Ports can now precisely orchestrate nearly 600,000 vehicles passing through their Uk Port Every year. Dont just connect your business. dock worker right on time. vo make it even smarter. We call this enterprise intelligence. 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And then in march of 1990, something happened that changed the whole equation. Over the months, we gathered a lot of evidence. It has been very circumstantial and we were waiting for the glue, if you will, to bind it all together. And just recently, that glue has come about. In the first week of march, 1990, when she walked into the Beverly Hills police she related a lot of things only the shooters would know. The key fact we got out of it was that the guns were thrown off mulholland highway. They took the guns and went to Mulholland Drive and threw them over the side of a very rural hill. So we had a team of our s. W. A. T. Team and every Detective Rappel and check every slope. We didnt find any shotguns. Police never find the weapons, but they do follow her next lead, and that is to the place where the guns were purchased. We went to san diego, the goal being we would check every buy book in the county or the town if we had to. They visited a lot of gun stores. This is just basic good detective work. They looked at the registers where people would buy guns. The second place was a big five. At first glance, it seemed like this was going to be yet another dead end. They didnt see the Menendez Boys names in the register. They saw the name of a friend of the Menendez Boys. And the mossbergs. After that, it started coming together real well. The Real Question was how did this woman happen to know so much about this case. It turned out that Judalon Smyth was the former mistress of the Menendez Brothers therapist. Just when you think youve heard everything, you have a spurned girlfriend of a therapist who may know something. Erik becomes, after the homicides, more and more depressed. I think erik was haunted by the murders afterwards, and i think he needed to talk to people about it. Psychotherapist jerome oziel erik trusted him. He confesses to dr. Oziel that they killed their parents. Evidently, erik was stressed out from killing his parents. Lyle not so much. Lyele immediately rushed ove to dr. Oziels office. He said i understand what my brother said here, but i want you to know that this must remain a secret. If any of this comes out, youre a dead man. Oziel got scared and he realized, i might get murdered. Ill be the only one to know. So dr. Oziel came up with a plan. About a month after Erik Menendez confessed to dr. Oziel, dr. Oziel told the brothers one afternoon, it it would be a good idea if we record an audio tape of one of our therapy sessions. In case you ever get arrested, well be able to show you had remorse. So the brothers agreed. We thought we would just kill dad and eliminate the problem. We decide that had my mother could not live without my f father. We did her a favor and put her out of her misery really. He says, ill take the audio tape and ill put it in the Safe Deposit Box and nobody has access to that unless something happens to me. And dr. Oziel becomes upset and dissatisfied with his mistress, and he kicks her out. The next morning, Judalon Smyth walked in and said dr. Oziel has an audio tape in a Safe Deposit Box. Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned. We got a call at 6 00 in the morning and erik was panicked. And it shows you ways to save money. Do so much more than get your fico® score. Download the experian app now. Dinner [sfx phone ping] what . Tween milestones like this. May start at age 9. Hpv vaccination, a type of cancer prevention. Against certain hpvrelated cancers. Can start then too. For most people, hpv clears on its own. But for others, it can cause certain cancers later in life. Embrace this phase. Help protect them in the next. Starting at age 9, talk to your childs doctor about. Hpv vaccination. Tourists tourists that turn into scientists. Tourists photographing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. That can be analyzed by ai in real time. So researchers can identify which areas are at risk. And help life underwater flourish. Our heritage is ingrained in our skin. And even when we metamorphosize into our new evolved form, we carry that spirit with us. Because you can take alfa romeo out of italy. But you best believe, you cant take the italy out of an alfa romeo. For 7 months, nothing, seems like this is a cold case, at least to the public, and then after 7 months, boom, an arrest. For 7 months, nothing, seems like this is a cold case, at least to the public, and then after 7 months, boom, an arrest. The Beverly Hills police, they cordoned off the street. They were afraid lyle was going to run. I think thats why they moved when they did. And when he got into a car to drive away, they they did a a stop and arrested him at that time. One oh seven seven. Twentytwo twenty. En route to a vehicle. On the day that Lyle Menendez was arrested, i was actually in west palm beach, florida, and i had four or five frantic messages from the city desk at the miami herald, and they told me that Lyle Menendez had just been arrested in Beverly Hills. Erik was believed to be in israel playing in a Tennis Tournament when his brother, lyle, was arrested yesterday by police. We wanted to see if erik could actually do this protennis thing, so we went to israel. He was in israel to take part in a Tennis Tournament. That was the information that we had. And then the big question was getting erik back. And we got a call at 6 in the morning from lyles then attorney, you have to leave israel immediately, or you will be extradited. I didnt know what to think, and erik was panicked. He said nothing, nothing. The first lawyer that the Menendez Brothers reached out to and hired was robert shapiro. He ultimately became very famous because he became part of o. J. Simpsons defense team. Robert shapiro negotiated a surrender for Erik Menendez. We checked out, went to the airport, found that there was a flight to london, and the next day, i flew to l. A. , and he flew to miami to see his aunt. Nineteenyearold Erik Menendez, accused, along with his older brother, lyle, of the brutal deaths of their parents, may be about to turn himself in. We have some unconfirmed reports that he may in fact be on his way back to the united states. We dont know what his destination would be or what his intent is. His cuban relatives had to talk him into coming back, and they said, well face it with you and do whatever we can to support you, and they certainly did that. They convinced him the right thing to do was turn himself in, so he and his aunt, marta, that actually both the brothers were very close to, flew to los angeles, and he surrendered to authorities. Would the defendants please rise . Brothers lyle and Erik Menendez late this afternoon were brought into a Beverly Hills courtroom and told of the charges against them, both accused of murdering their father and mother, jose and Kitty Menendez. When i heard that the sons, their sons that they had raised with a silver spoon in their mouths, were the killers, i wasnt stunned. I was just disgusted. Both brothers are being charged with both murders. We believe that both brothers were involved actively involved in the murders. Both charges are official circumstances for which you could be sentenced to death. Do you understand the charges . Yes, your honor. It was extremely difficult for the Menendez Family to process the arrest of erik and lyle for the murders of their parents. They couldnt believe it. They said it wasnt possible. You believe strongly in the boys innocence . Extremely. You cant you cannot imagine how strongly i believe in that. I i cannot i dont have words to say how strong i feel about the complete impossibility of them having committed the act that theyre accused of. I think anybody that knew these boys couldnt imagine that they couldve shot their parents. Twentytwoyearold joseph Lyle Menendez and his 19yearold brother, erik, were charged earlier this month with two counts of murder each. The sons were arrested after a warrant was served on the Family Psychologist in search of evidence. You had these two boys of privilege who had gone to a therapist and bared their souls, thinking that it was going to be kept confidential, and the next thing you know, theres a big legal fight about whether everything they said was going to be admissible a against their interest in a court of law. It was awesome. On behalf of Erik Menendez, we are going to vigorously defend his right to have a confidential communication with his therapist. If the doctor is threatened, then he can breach Patient Confidentiality in order to save his own life. The defense was hoping that, in suppressing the tape, they could also convince the judge that dr. Oziel should not testify, and the judge made it clear throughout the hearings that that was not going to happen. Months after their arrest, the Menendez Brothers decides to make a change in their defense team. Out went robert shapiro, and in came leslie abramson. We always assumed that dr. Oziel would be part of the case. Thats what litigation is for. Some you win. Some you lose. And leslie was going to to take every ounce of her energy, of her soul to make sure that if the state was going to prove that these boys were guilty of murder, that the state was going to have to prove it. But the da admits that he is fighting for every piece of evidence to convict the two Menendez Brothers for the sensational murders of their wealthy Beverly Hills parents. Both brothers were calling me occasionally from jail. They said, wait until the trial. Youll find out what was really happening in the Menendez Family. He just said that it was our secret, that bad things would happen to me if i told anybody. After 2 years of highstakes preliminary hearings, the judge finally allowed erik and lyles Sensational Audiotape Confessions to be played at trial. Based on that key piece of evidence alone, it looked like it would be an openandshut case for the prosecution, but just before the trial was set to begin in july 1993, more than 3 years after the murders, the defense team introduced a shocking new strategy, which would soon shake the states case to the core. The trial that transfixed the nation in part two of the Menendez Brothers how it really happened. I didnt think about it for a long time, until erik and i would get together, and we would share what was happening in the family, and we had to make a decision. I almost had no choice to do what i did, and i hate myself for doing it. Welcome to how it really happened. Im hill harper. The Menendez Murders are one of the most wellknown crimes in u. S. History. Jose, a Wealthy Hollywood executive, and his wife, kitty, gunned down in their Beverly Hills mansion. For months, the case went unsolved, until the shocking confessions of their sons, lyle and erik, came to light. When the case went to trial in july 1993, nearly 4 years after the crimes, the public was literally watching along, gavel to gavel, on an upandcoming cable network, court tv. The Menendez Brothers became infamous pop culture celebrities, not just for killing their parents, but for the reasons they claim drove them to do so. Their riveting testimony is next. Check it out. The press calls the case the Beverly Hills mansion murders, and the story reads like one of the unsold scripts that circulate here in hollywood. Whats the problem . Someone killed my parents. Are these the words of a saddened shocked son or the cool words of a coldhearted killer . Prosecutors contend the Menendez Brothers were hoping to collect on an inheritance estimated at 14 million. They were spending quite a bit of money on lavish items. Some estimates say that in the first 6 or 7 months after