Kyle Admits ‘Probably’ Talking About Killing

Ricky Kyle conceded Thursday on cross-examination that he had lied to his multimillionaire father, had stolen from him and “probably” had talked about killing him before he shot him to death in the Bel-Air Estates mansion they shared.

But he stuck to his basic account that was he was startled and fired a gun at his father only after his father had shot at him during a pre-dawn search for an intruder in the dimly lit house.

“I probably said ‘I could kill Dad’ on occasion because of my anger and frustration (with him),” Kyle told Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis Watnick. “But I never intended to.”

Real Estate Developer

Kyle, 22, is on trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, charged with premeditated murder in the death of 60-year-old Henry Harrison Kyle, a Texas-based real estate developer who had become head of a major Hollywood television syndication company--Four Star International Inc.--several months before he was slain in July, 1983.

Answering questions politely, with frequent “yes sirs” and “no sirs,” Kyle, who is free on $100,000 bail, maintained his composure throughout a full day of cross-examination and engaged in light banter with courtroom spectators during breaks in testimony.

On the witness stand, Kyle said that Carroll Dunn, a handyman who lived at the estate, was mistaken when he testified earlier that the defendant had spoken about developing a perfect plan to murder his father, perhaps by staging a car accident.

Kyle also said that Wendy Blum, who described herself as a close friend and whom he described as an acquaintance, was mistaken when she testified that he had told her he planned to kill his father.

Admitted Lying

For his plan, the prosecution charges, Kyle concocted a story about an intruder on the grounds, woke his father to conduct a search, shot his father in the back, then told friends and police that an intruder had shot his father.

Kyle has admitted lying about the intruder, saying he lied only because he was scared.

Although he spent most of two days on direct examination portraying his father as a strong-willed bully who tormented him with physical and emotional abuse, on cross-examination he said that he believed that he and his father were very much alike and that their similarities accounted for many of their conflicts. Kyle was not asked to say what was similar about them.

He testified that he once stole a $7,500 check from his father, which he used in part to pay for cocaine. He said he had earlier stolen, and pawned, his mother’s diamond ring.