was it you telling lyle about something that was happening? my dad. my dad had been molesting me. 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? lyle says he confronted his father several days before the murders. i told him i would tell everybody everything about him. i would tell the police, and that i would tell the family. then, according to lyle, his father said something that sounded like a threat. he said, we all make choices in life, son. erik made his. you ve made yours. i thought we were in danger. and so, the brothers drove down to san diego to buy the
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 was emotionally
lyle and erik to come back for follow up therapy sessions. the brothers, afraid oziel might go to police, agreed. during one of those sessions, they both confessed to killing their parents. and oziel recorded the conversation. judalon smyth learned about the recording and told detectives, who promptly seized the tape. just one problem, they weren t allowed to listen to it because of doctor/patient privilege. how frustrating was that? well, it was very frustrating. yeah, a good piece of evidence and i couldn t even listen to it. 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.
lyle, for 14. and remember, erik had said both he and his brother wanted to pursue careers in politics. in a highly unusual way, they ve done it. sort of. erik started a life care and hospice program for inmates at the richard donovan correctional facility near san diego. and 500 miles north, lyle was president of the inmate government at mule creek state prison. i know it s going to be a suffering for me. but i feel like i can find some purpose here. then, in february 2018, a reunion, of sorts. lyle was moved to the same facility where erik was serving his sentence. they were even housed in the same unit.
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. erik, on the other hand, seemed broken. he, very rarely, made eye contact. he was biting his finger nails. so, i was thinking, in my head, boy, i sure hope i get to work with the older brother and not the younger brother because this is going to be a piece of cake with the older brother. hnot wrong he was. after a few sessions with lyle, dr.