Menendez Witness Tells of Abuse Claim Doubts : Trial: High school friend testifies that he never saw the parents mistreat the brothers. The family seemed to have a ‘good relationship,’ he remembers.

One of Erik Menendez’s close high school friends testified Friday that allegations of child abuse in the Menendez household seemed so far-fetched that he initially told police that he believed they were a hoax.

Wrapping up a second day on the witness stand, Kevin Christopher (Casey) Whalen testified on cross-examination that he was asked by detectives in October, 1990, whether he ever saw Jose and Kitty Menendez mistreat their sons, Erik and Lyle. The answer, Whalen testified Friday, was “Nope.”

The parents often attended the sons’ tennis matches and it appeared that Erik Menendez had a “good relationship” with his mother and father, Whalen said. The 1989 killings of the parents were so shocking and the likelihood of abuse seemed so improbable that “ hoax was the first word that came to mind,” Whalen said.

Lyle Menendez, 25, and Erik Menendez, 22, are charged with first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their parents, Jose Menendez, 45, a wealthy entertainment executive, and Kitty Menendez, 47. The sons shot the parents in the den of the family’s $4-million Beverly Hills mansion.

Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, allege that the brothers killed out of hatred and greed. The defense concedes the killings but contends that they were an act of self-defense after years of physical, mental and sexual abuse.

Two juries are hearing the case, one for each brother, and Whalen’s testimony was before the Erik Menendez jury only.

Whalen originally was called by the defense to rebut the testimony of another high school pal, prosecution witness Craig Cignarelli, who had said that Erik Menendez confessed the killings to him. Whalen called Cignarelli a liar.

But Whalen found himself undermining the child-abuse arguments of the defense attorneys who had called him to testify.

He said he initially told police that the abuse story was a hoax because it was hard to believe, particularly since Erik Menendez had never complained about his parents. Whalen, 22, of Agoura, a senior at Arizona State University, was not asked Friday whether he now believes allegations of abuse are true. He said Erik Menendez was a good friend and added, “I’d always stick by a friend.”

But under questioning Friday by defense attorneys, Whalen disputed Cignarelli--just as he had the day before, when he said that Cignarelli, 23, who testified July 26 for the prosecution, was “not an honest young man.”

At Calabasas High School, Cignarelli and the Menendez brothers were such good friends that they had nicknames for one another: Erik Menendez was “Shepherd,” Whalen was “Wizard” and Cignarelli “King.”

Erik Menendez attended Calabasas High for two years before transferring to Beverly Hills High for his senior year, 1988-89.

In court, Cignarelli testified that Erik Menendez confessed the killings to him Sept. 1, 1989. But Whalen, hammering Friday on the theme he spelled out the day before, said that was impossible because Erik Menendez spent that day and night with him, not Cignarelli.

In brief testimony Friday, Whalen’s mother, Kathleen Bulow-Cohen, 45, of Agoura, backed up her son’s testimony, saying that Erik Menendez slept at her house Sept. 1.

Outside court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Pamela Bozanich said it ultimately is not likely to matter to jurors who was where on that date. “Does the case rest or fall on the credibility of Mr. Cignarelli?” she asked. “No--especially since the defense admitted (the sons) killed their parents.”

Defense lawyer Leslie Abramson, however, said the issue of whether Cignarelli can be believed is key--because Erik Menendez will testify that he never confessed to Cignarelli. She said Cignarelli “just makes stuff up.”

On the witness stand, Whalen said Cignarelli likes to invent stories and be the center of attention. In August, 1990, Whalen said, Cignarelli proposed telling police that Lyle Menendez forced Erik Menendez to kill their parents--but never went to detectives.

Bulow-Cohen added that Cignarelli told her in October, 1990, that he was writing a screenplay about the killings and hoped to “sell it for a lot of money.”

Whalen alleged Friday that Cignarelli was involved with Erik and Lyle Menendez in two burglaries in Calabasas in 1988 in which only Erik Menendez ultimately admitted taking part.

Whalen gave no further details about the crimes. Prosecutors and defense lawyers dispute the extent of Cignarelli’s involvement--if any--in the burglaries.

And, Whalen said, there was something about Cignarelli’s relationship with Erik Menendez that was secretive.

The nature of Erik Menendez’s relationship with Cignarelli “will unfold as the trial unfolds,” Abramson said later outside court.