LOS ANGELES : Testimony About Killings Read to Menendez Jurors
Testimony from both Menendez brothers about the Aug. 20, 1989, shootings of their parents--and the events immediately before--was read back to Erik Menendez’s jury Thursday as deliberations continued in the murder trial.
Both Lyle and Erik Menendez testified that they ran to their rooms, grabbed their 12-gauge pump shotguns, raced outside, loaded the guns, then dashed back into the Beverly Hills mansion--where they blasted away at their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the TV room.
A court stenographer also read back another snippet of testimony for the Erik Menendez jury, in its 14th day of deliberations--Lyle Menendez’s account of a screaming match that he said his younger brother had with their mother three nights before the slayings.
The Lyle Menendez jury put in a full day behind closed doors, its 16th day of deliberations. Two juries are deciding the case because some evidence was admissible against only one brother.
Lyle Menendez, 25, and Erik Menendez, 23, are charged with murder. The brothers testified that they killed in fear fed by years of abuse. Prosecutors contend that the brothers killed out of hatred and greed.
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