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 gutwrenching. 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. Lets go through this bit by bit. There was no way he was gonna let this secret get out. Silence destroyed our whole family. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with unthinkable the menendez murders. Reporter 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. Reporter careful what you wish for. Someone killed my parents reporter 28 years later its still the case that has the power to shock. Its Beverly Hills. Its the movie business. Its kids killing their parents. Reporter what possessed those two handsome young men. Who had been given, everything. A porsche or a rolex. They got pretty much what they wanted. Reporter why did they give back murder. How do you plead . Not guilty. A sensational murder trial. Reporter theirs was the case to usher in walltowall tv coverage. Even before o. J. I was just firing as i went into the room, i just started firing. Reporter the kind of horror you couldnt stop watching. What was in front of you . My parents. Reporter tonight youll hear the real story, told by the investigators. His face was disfigured from the shotgun blast that he took to the back of the head. Reporter by the young men themselves. They werent real. Wax. Reporter the reallife details of the defense that shocked america. Uhm, we would be in the bathroom, and uh, it would, he would put me on my knees. Im lookin to see, is he tellin the truth or not . Reporter tonight, well ask the brother at the center of it all about truth. To this day im still dealing with with the controversy of it, obviously, my own guilt in what in in what happened. Reporter what really happened and why. So to understand, where to begin . How about here illinois. The 1940s. Everybody who knows this story knows her as kitty. But that wasnt really her name, was it . No. It was mary louise. Reporter she was the baby of the family, said her older sister joan vandermolen. It was one of their brothers who came up with the nickname that stuck for life. 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 youre in that field, youre 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 he had fled communist cuba at 16 with bold dreams of striking it big in business. Just the kind of man kitty was searching for. And so they married in 1963. They were stars, in in our family, kitty and jose. Reporter Diane Hernandez was kittys niece and lived with kitty and jose for a few years. Reporter i bet you idolized kitty. Oh i did from the very beginning. And i was known as the k daughter kitty never had. Reporter of course, as the world would come to know, kitty and jose had sons. Lyle and erik. Reporter did they seem to get along . Did they like each other oh yeah. Absolutely. Reporter very close . Yeah. I think erik dependent on lyle a lot. Erik was quite introverted. Reporter Alan Andersen was kittys nephew. He spent a couple summers with the menendez family and bonded with lyle. He was a mischievous boy, to say the least. He liked to smile and laugh and giggle. Oh, he loved to laugh and giggle. Reporter but what the Menendez Brothers did most said alan, was practice. And practice. And practice jose wanted his kids to be the best, and especially in sports, i noticed immediately. Reporter swimming, soccer, tennis. Jose pushed his sons to excel at everything. As his own career skyrocketed. In the 70s, jose was the general manager at hertz, and impressed his sons by bringing the companys famous spokesman home to dinner. Heres oj simpson in that famous tv commercial from the time. And heres oj with jose. They made the newspaper together, posing at an awards ceremony in 1978. Jose was, of course, living the American Dream and he wanted his boys to continue that American Dream that he had set forth for not only himself, for his family. Reporter in 1986, jose took a job with carolco pictures in los angeles. The company that produced megahits like basic instinct and the rambo series. Carolco had just bought a video Distribution Company from a man named noel bloom. And they gave jose the job of running it. So we think 1989 will be a tremendous year, we think we will be very happy with the growth of the company. Reporter that was the year, 1989, when robert rand, then a reporter for the miami herald, went to las vegas to cover a trade show for the home video business. And happened to meet Jose Menendez. Reporter what was your impression of the guy . Talked to him for maybe two or three minutes. Seemed professional, dynamic. Reporter a high powered career. A beautiful family. And finally the one missing piece of joses American Dream the perfect home. Jose moved his family from calabasas, then prekardashian and a relatively unknown enclave outside of los angeles, to a more tony address. Joan was with her sister the day the realtor called kitty. They had accepted joses offer, and kitty, you got your zip code. And that made her so happy. Uhhuh. Absolutely. Reporter 722 north elm drive. A sixbedroom mediterraneanstyle home. Swimming pool. Guest house. Tennis court. Elton john once lived in this very house. So did a saudi prince, and even prince himself. By august 1989, jose had truly made it. Now, to ensure his sons did, too. By then lyle was a student at princeton. Younger brother erik was going to ucla in the fall. So perfect. So why did diane feel this way . I said, well, i know this sounds crazy. But unless i am crazy somebody whos really close to me is gonna die. And its gonna be horrible. Reporter horrible . That it certainly was. Someone killed my parents uh, were they shot . Yes. When we come back something chilling in the den. The first thing i noticed was Jose Menendez seated on the couch. It was grotesque, what happened. Questions from the very beginning. We didnt see any shotgun shells. Reporter what did that say to you . Somebody collected the shotgun shells, somebody that didnt want fingerprints on the shotgun shells. See if cosentyx could make a difference for you cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. 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Just before midnight, a 911 operator picked up a call from an apparently hysterical si. Yes. What happened . Who was the person that was shot . My mom and my dad. Your mom and dad . My mom and dad. Okay, hold on second. Reporter les zoeller was a detective back then. One of a grand total of two detectives in the Beverly HillsPolice Department who worked homicides. How many murders occurred in Beverly Hills in those days . In those days, approximately two a year. Reporter detective zoeller was asleep that august night when his boss called. And he said, come on in, weve had a murder. And i asked him for some information and he gave me the address of 722 north elm. Reporter zoeller drove to the mansion, walked inside. It was eerily quiet. And when i went into the den library, the first thing i noticed was Jose Menendez seated on the couch. He was slumped to one side, his head was to the one side. Reporter it was bad. Very bad. I could immediately tell that his face was disfigured from the shotgun blast that he took to the back of the head. He was wearing shorts. And he had a shotgun blast to his thigh, blood soaked all the way down to the white couch. And then i noticed his wife, kitty, at his feet on the floor reporter she was curled into a fetal position. And, like her husband had been shot many times, several times near her knee. And, most horribly, kitty was shot point blank in the face. Shotgun killings are very messy. And there were brains and blood everywhere. Reporter back then, Pamela Bozanich was an l. A. County prosecutor in the organized crime unit. But nothing prepared her for this. Jose and kitty had been riddled with 15 shots. One image in particular lives with her still. There was a contact wound on Kitty Menendezs face. It blew out her eye. I mean, it was grotesque, what happened to her. Reporter to investigators, it appeared jose and kitty had been relaxing in the den. An empty bowl of cream and berries and eriks ucla paperwork were on the coffee table. The Television Set was on. There was no indication of a breakin. But something did stand out to detective zoeller. We didnt see any shotgun shells. What did that say to you . Somebody collected the shotgun shells. But who does a thing like that, if theyve got a messy crime scene of that sort . Somebody that didnt want fingerprints on the shotgun shells, is the only thing i could think of. Reporter while investigators examined the crime scene, Lyle Menendez, then 21, and erik, 18, went to the station to speak to police. The brothers said they were in and out throughout the day. And then as evening approached, they decided that they wanted to go to the movies. They wanted to see a james bond movie. But it was sold out. So they saw the batman movie, which they had both seen before. So they decided to see that again. Curious. Reporter after the movie, they told detectives, theyd planned to meet a friend for a drink at the cheesecake factory, but they had to go back to the house to pick up eriks fake i. D. And when they walked in, they said, they saw a haze in the air, smelled gun powder smoke, went into the den, and then dialed 911. Someone killed my parents reporter the news spread quickly. I got a phone call from my brother. And i remember putting the phone down on the table. And Walking Around the house screaming. Reporter reporter robert rands phone also rang. It was a friend who had attended the las vegas trade show with him 10 days earlier. The friend had said, hey, you remember that guy, Jose Menendez . You know, that you met briefly last week . And i said, sure. And he said, well, he and his wife were blown away last night in Beverly Hills. Reporter now that, thought rand, was a story tailor made for the Miami Community he was writing for. A rags to riches story, capped by murder. He worked the phones and soon met up with joses sister who told him you know, the family was so close. They were loving. They did everything together. She said, you have to interview erik and lyle. And i said, of course i wanna interview erik and lyle. Reporter as he would find, getting to the brothers was not so easy. But then, theyd just lost their parents. Lyle and Erik Menendez were the grieving sons. Reporter 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 joses position in business . Had he been taken out by the mob . Reporter 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 childrens movies. But it got its start in porn. A lot of pornography is organized crime backed. cause its a great way to make a lotta money in a industry thats not, you know, very well regarded. And there was actually a homicide in the valley a few weeks before they were murdered. And jose mentioned to his sons, you know, this is what happens. This guy was into the pornography business. And he was murdered. Reporter plus, jose was known to be aggressive when it came to business. And investigators found two rifles in his bedroom. Was jose worried someone might come after him . Reporter could lyle and erik be next . The brothers hired bodyguards. And in an interview, Erik Menendez voiced his suspicion. Uh, noel bloom sounds like the most logical possibility. If he did kill them, i know they hated each other. Reporter noel bloom. The founder of the company jose was running and an unapologetic distributor of adult entertainment. The menendez boys were not alone in their suspicion about noel bloom. Reporter coming up rivals at the office. Was that a motive for murder . You didnt kill Jose Menendez . Absolutely not. Reporter noel bloom speaks. Then and now. Were you sorta daybyday waiting to be taken and put in handcuffs . Yes. Reporter when dateline continues. Visible results or your money back olay. Ageless there is not a friend that i have that will not own this product this is the best christmas ever. Colonel ho ho ho and honey, the colonel didnt leave us out. Its a 20 family fill up its a great homecooked meal that we dont have to home cook. Colonel its Finger Lickin good. Fortyeight hours of protection. I dont have to reapply this, not once. Its really soft and almost velvety as you put it on. Thats like really soft. Try dove advanced care for softer, smoother underarms. Weaving your own shoes. By out of flax. Or simply adjust your thermostat. Do your thing, with Energy Upgrade california. Hi, were alaska airlines. But were all over california. So you can power lunch in la. 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He was a true cornerstone of this company, which i love. Reporter and joses Memorial Service was held at the Directors Guild of america headquarters on sunset boulevard. All of which might have led people to believe he was a beloved hollywood insider. But the reality was Jose Menendez was really not known in the Hollywood Community at all. And most of the people at this memorial probably had never heard of him. Reporter lyle and erik arrived late to the service in a chauffeured limousine. Theyd spent the night before in the ultra chic hotel belair. Howd theyd behave when they were there . Lyle menendez was very cool, calm and collected. Reporter kittys sister joan was at the memorial too and heard something disturbing about jose. Several men that worked with jose talked to me at that Memorial Service and told me how he loved to humiliate other men. Pretty shocking thing to hear at somebodys Memorial Service, isnt it . Uhhuh. Yeah. Not very memorial. Reporter so, jose had made enemies. The brothers confirmed it. And knew where to point the finger. They indicated that their father was involved in in some shady business contacts. And one in particular was a gentleman by the name of noel bloom reporter that name