Menendez Says He’s No Longer Sure of Parents’ Death Plot : Court: Brother testifies that he would not have shot his mother and father if he had known they were not armed.
Erik Menendez testified Friday that he is no longer sure his parents were planning to kill him the night he shot them to death, adding that he wouldn’t have opened fire if he had known they were unarmed.
“If I knew they didn’t have any weapons when I walked in the room, I would not have walked in the room,†he said as a prosecutor concluded a six-day cross-examination.
Erik Menendez, 22, and his brother, Lyle, 25, said they killed Jose and Kitty Menendez, in self-defense, convinced that the parents were about to kill them. Prosecutors said the brothers planned the killings to get their parents’ fortune.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Lester Kuriyama posted a bloody picture in front of jurors that was taken of the victims after they were shot to death by the brothers in their Beverly Hills mansion Aug. 20, 1989.
He noted that on a coffee table near the mother’s body were Erik’s registration forms for UCLA. Erik has testified that his mother filled out all of her sons’ college applications.
“You’ve testified, sir, that your mother was going to kill you that night, is that correct?†Kuriyama asked.
“Yes,†Erik Menendez answered.
“Is that still your belief?†the prosecutor asked.
“Is that still my belief to this day?†Erik Menendez said.
“Yes,†the prosecutor said.
“Well, if I knew they didn’t have any weapons when I walked in the room, I would not have walked in the room,†Erik Menendez said. “I don’t know what my belief to this day is. No, I can’t be sure that that’s my belief to this day.â€
Kuriyama then asked: “If your mother had been planning to kill you, would she have been filling out your application to UCLA?â€
Erik Menendez’s lawyer, Leslie Abramson, objected to the question as being argumentative and the judge sustained the objection.
“No further questions,†Kuriyama said.
Abramson began redirect questioning of the younger Menendez brother, designed to answer questions raised by prosecutors and pave the way for testimony by further defense witnesses. Defense lawyers say their case will take another two weeks.
Erik and Lyle Menendez each spent nine days on the witness stand, recounting the killings and telling of sexual torture by their father. Lyle Menendez said his father abused him for two years and raped him when he was 7. Erik Menendez said his father raped, sodomized and inflicted pain on him for 12 years beginning when he was 6.
Kuriyama and co-prosecutor Pamela Bozanich, who questioned Lyle Menendez, skirted the molestation issue, choosing to point out to jurors that the only people who could refute the brothers’ statements--the Menendez parents--are dead.
The questioning of Erik Menendez concluded after a two-day interruption when both prosecutors became ill with the flu.
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