sparked the l.a. riots. judge wiseberg ruled that each brother would have his own jury and the electronic media that wants access to thi courtroom. he allowed cameras in the courtroom. the idea that there was a camera in a courtroom in california was so new, s novel. reporter alan abrahamson, once an attorney himself covered the trial for the l.a. times. you weren t just playing to the jury you were playing to all of america. the judge s decision turned a local l.a. story into an internationa sensation. how big was it the menendez trial was the cas that put an entire network court tv, on the broadcast landscape. prosecutor pam bazanich knew all of america was watching he every move how did you feel as you prepared to make your openin statement? as i walked down the hallway,
tournament in israel at th time erik menendez is bein sought by detectives of this department he surrendered to polic three days later could you believe it? no. no it was absolutely devastating, shocking, just beyond words. former l.a. times reporter alan abrahamson who would imagine that thes two young men of privilege position and power-to-be could could kill their parents. that s that s the kinda stuff that shakespeare wrote about. and yet, it seemed that s exactly what happened. a few weeks after the arrests, detective zoeller confirme another tip judalon smyth gave them judalon said that the gun were purchased at a gun stor in san diego i was lookin through gun records. and i said, this is it. the name on the sale was an old friend of lyle s fro
they did everything together. she said, you have to interview erik and lyle. and i said, of course i wanna interview erik and lyle. as he would find, getting to the brothers was not so easy. but then, they d just lost their parents. lyle and erik menendez were the grieving sons. alan abrahamson is a journalism professor at usc. back in 1989, he was a reporter for the la times. nobody quite knew who had who had killed the parents. was it because of jose s position in business? had he been taken out by the mob? after all, both jose and kitty had been shot in the knees. a mafia signature, perhaps? and then there was the company jose was running. live entertainment distributed all kinds of movies, including children s movies. but it got its start in porn. a lot of pornography is organized crime backed. cause it s a great way to make a lotta money in a industry that s not, you know, very well regarded. and there was actually a homicide in the valley a few weeks before
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 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, as it turned out, their testimony gave the state a big opening. they offered their mental state, as a defense. and when you offer your mental state as a defense, you have waived your psychiatric patient privilege. 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
she became like his right-hand man in enforcing things. including, what diane and alan came to know as the single-most important rule in the menendez host. you cannot go down the hall when jose is with his kids. kitty didn t go down the hall, either? no. no. huh-uh. but they did hear things. i ve heard them being wl whipped. oh, man, it was gut wrenching. just the screams. you know, daddy, don t hit me. daddy, don t. that kind of stuff. to the defense, began to explain what those young men did to their parents. but how do you get from disturbing stories to a double murder? the brother s lawyers began to connect the dots. their defense would be unique and daring. coming up. the prosecution versus the defense. the fireworks were about to begin. i felt that the brothers were evil, but not as bad as she was. when dateline continues.