in you to shoot your mom and dad. young rich handsome in a case made for hollywood they were ready for the camera it was the first televised courtroom drama that captivated the united states it was a huge deal erik and lyle menendez convicted of murdering their own parents. i ran around and shot my mom! it wasn t real. it just wasn t real. they re sociopaths and pretty big ones. now almost 30 years late chilling new details. evidence never broadcast before! a letter, hinting at secrets too dark to imagine. this is so outside of the norm something is going on i that house did they kill in cold blood or in crippling fear oh man it was gut-wrenching i wanted to bust the door down they spoke the truth abou what had happened. tonight, hear from the brother themselves people were afraid of him let s go through this bit b bit. there was no way he was gonna let this secret get out. silence destroyed our whole family here it was the shinin s
it just wasn t real. they re sociopaths and pretty big ones. now almost 30 years later chilling new details. evidence never broadcast before! a letter, hinting at secrets too dark to imagine. this is so outside of the norm something is going on in that house. did they kill in cold blood or in crippling fear? oh man it was gut-wrenching. i wanted to bust the door down. they spoke the truth about what had happened. tonight, hear from the brothers themselves. people were afraid of him. let s go through this bit by bit. there was no way he was gonna let this secret get out. silence destroyed our whole family. here it was the shining symbol of their success. here, finally, an address worthy of their long struggle their amazing rise. beverly hills, california. beverly hills emergency. careful what you wish for. someone killed my parents! 28 years later it s still the case that has the power to shock. it s beverly hills. it s the movie bus
attorney, leslie abrahamson. known for her brass style with the press. reporter robert rand, who wrot a book on the menendez case, recalled the attorney passionate devotion to her clients. i ve never seen anybody wit the power of leslie. watching her in court was like watching great theater in this old interview fro our archives, leslie described how her defense strategy began to take shape. i am hearing a lot of ver negative and and at least heavily psychologically abusiv things but it s not answerin what s wrong with this kid because he s incredibly sweet. how does he walk into a room with a shotgun this kid and it doesn t add up. i mean, i m totally, totally puzzled. and that s when i bring in vicar y. then, a forensi psychologist and a graduate of harvard law school agreed to meet with the brothers in jail
and that s when i bring in vicar y. then, a forensic psychologist and a graduate of harvard law school agreed to meet with the brothers in jail. he knew, going in, police believed they killed their parents for money. but based upon the dozens of paracide cases i had worked on in the past, that s not the exception, that s the rule. the rule is something horrible s going on in the family. and something was going on in the menendez family. something very secret. but, what was it? coming up. new evidence seen on television, for the first time. a letter from lyle to erik hinting at the horrors in that house. you cannot go down the hall when jose is with his kids. kitty didn t go down the hall, either? no. no. uh-uh. oh, man, it was gut wrenching. just the screams and the, daddy, don t hit me. daddy, don t. you know, that kind of stuff. when dateline continues.