The Menendez brothers gave a chilling reply when they were asked point-blank exactly when they decided to kill their parents.
Dateline NBC airs the surprising exchange during a two-hour special on Friday night.
During the broadcast, host Keith Morrison revisited a 2017 jailhouse interview when he asked Lyle Menendez: ‘When did you and Eric decide to kill your parents?’
Lyle responded: ‘We didn’t decide to do it – it was we finally just kind of got overwhelmed with this panic and emotion and made the decision to run in that room.’
More than three decades later, the motive behind the murders is still a major question in the case that has beguiled audiences for years.
Morrison told NBC reporter Liz Kreutz he has been covering the case for a long time, but admitted: ‘I don’t know what the answer is.’
The Menendez Brothers: Lyle, now 56 (pictured left) and Erik, 53. Both men were 18 and 21 when they murdered their parents
Dateline host and broadcast journalist Keith Morrison
Brothers Lyle, now 56 and his brother, Erik Menendez, now 53, have been in prison for the last 34 years for killing their parents Jose and Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menendez in August 1989 when they were just 18 and 21.
Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alludes to serious, and long-term, abuse at the hands of his father Jose
Both were convicted of the murder in 1996 after their first trial was declared a mistrial.
The brothers never denied killing their parents by shooting them 14 times with 12-gauge shotguns in their million-dollar Beverly Hills home.
The brothers claimed they acted in self-defense.
They alleged they were lifelong victims of sexual abuse at their hands of their father, a former RCA music executive, who worked with the teen boy band, ‘Menudo.’
In October, there was renewed interest in the case after Netflix premiered ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,’ created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.
Murphy told Variety the pair ‘never imagined the Netflix series would be a major catalyst for renewed interest in the case and called for the real Erik and Lyle Menendez to be released from prison.’
Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez (right) at their trial in August 1989
A letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano alludes to serious and long-term abuse at the hands of his father Jose.
In the Dateline episode, Morrison interviewed original prosecutor Pam Bozanich, who tells him that she does not believe the brothers were sexually abused.
Bozanich also questioned a critical new piece of evidence: the letter that Erik wrote to his cousin about being afraid of his father.
‘I’d love to know when that letter was written. I believe that people fabricate things,’ she said.
The Menendez Family: (left to right) Erik and Lyle with parents Kitty and Jose in center
The duo, then just 18 and 21, killed stand outside their million-dollar Beverly Hills home in August 1989 – the family room or den was where the murder occurred
The Menendez brothers are currently serving life sentences without parole for the murders of their parents.
Last month, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who has since lost his reelection bid, held a press conference recommending that the brothers be resentenced in their bid for freedom.
In attendance was Kitty Menendez’ sister Joan, 92, who has long advocated for her nephews’ release.
Gascon’s recommendation was that they be eligible for parole immediately – but it will ultimately be up to a court to determine the final sentence for the brothers.
‘I believe they have paid their debt to society… and the system provides a vehicle for their case to be reviewed by a court of law,’ Gascon said at the time.
The announcement came on the back of mounting community pressure to reconsider the life sentences without parole Erik and Lyle received at their 1996 trial.
After Gascon lost this week’s election to former US Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman, this presents a new twist in the case.
The scene outside the Menendez family’s Beverly Hills mansion when police arrived on August 20, 1989
In the Dateline episode, Morrison spoke to Gascon about the possible re-sentencing before he lost the race on Tuesday.
Hochman, who is expected to take office on December 2, told CNN on Wednesday ‘before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers’ case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law.’
‘I will have to review the confidential prison files for each brother, the transcripts from both trials, and speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel, and the victims’ family members.’
‘If for some reason I need additional time, I will ask the court for that time.’
A resentencing hearing is set for December 11. Hochman said he would move as ‘expeditiously’ as possible to review the landmark case.
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