Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline 20211206 08:02:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
how did she get to be known as kitty? i think it was when brian went out to get her for dinner one night or something. and he said, here, kitty, kitty, kitty. and she came. reporter: and then, when kitty was three, her dad left the family for another woman. and as that little girl watched her mother struggle, she imagined a way she could do better. kitty grew up believing that she was gonna marry well, and have household help. reporter: how would she know such a thing? i think this is probably what my mother had maybe wanted for herself and never got. reporter: kitty was pretty. in 1962, she was crowned miss oak lawn. you should be in show business, her mother told her. so kitty studied radio and television at southern illinois university. was that wrapped up in the whole idea of if you re in that field, you re more likely to meet a successful man yes. absolutely. reporter: in college she met a bundle of ambition named jose menendez. he had fled communist cuba at
about abuse in the first place. in between the two trials, there were allegations that he was asking people to fabricate testimony. letters surfaced after the first trial in which lyle was alleged to have encouraged people to lie for the defense. so the defense decided they couldn t put him on the witness stand, so erik menendez had to carry the ball for both brothers. and he was a good witness, but he was not as strong as lyle menendez had been at the first trial. and that expert testimony about the impact of the alleged abuse on the brothers state of mind? judge weisberg severely limited the number of experts because he felt their testimony was repetitive. one not allowed to testify was dr. vicary. i was shocked. and i said, well, they ve gutted the defense. i mean, there is no defense without that. that specific ruling was in large part due to the objections raised by the new prosecutor leading the people s case.
dateline obtained a copy. it s never been broadcast before. in it, lyle wrote about their father, and the murders. he bore two brilliant children only two, they carry his name and his pride. we did not do anything for the money. he went on we alone know the truth. we alone know the secrets of our family s past. i do not look forward to broadcasting them around the country. i pray that it never has to happen. secrets? at this point, even attorney leslie abramson knew, none of them. lyle and erik revealed nothing. not to abramson, and not to the forensic psychiatrist she hired, william vicary. what struck me in that initial interview was how together the older brother, lyle, was. i mean, he was articulate. he made good eye contact. he had very thoughtful, organized answers.
it was confusion and fear. you were afraid of her at that point? yes. they slaughtered their mother in a way that was so cruel she got up to run, and they went out, and they reloaded, and they put the gun up to her cheek, and blew her brains out. i m sorry, that is the height of cruelty. what s more, observed reporter alan abrahamson let s count how many seconds it might take to go out to the car. walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, grab the shotgun shell, put the shotgun shell in, run back in. remember, time is ticking. time is ticking. you put the barrel of that shotgun against her cheek, and you pull. that is intent, no doubt about it. the prosecution believed the brothers were flat out lying about the abuse, and the events leading up to the murders, and