SAN DIEGO -- When Lyle and Erik Menendez, the heirs of a wealthy Beverly Hills couple, brutally murdered their parents in 1989 it was a crime that shook a generation.
Even though the murders of business executive Jose Menendez and his wife Mary Menendez were initially and inaccurately blamed on a mafia hit, it turned out the all-American Menendez family was far from perfect. After suspicious, costly spending following the double homicide and a confession to a psychologist, Lyle and Erik Menendez were arrested and charged with murder.
Their murder trial was one of the most notorious and publicized cases of the 1990s. Millions of Americans tuned in as the trial was broadcasted live on CourtTV.
The two, who remain in prison to this day after being sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, became known as the infamous 'Menendez Brothers.'
In a two-hour ABC News documentary that aired earlier this week on ABC10 Lyle Menendez, 48, spoke from prison.
"I am the kid that did kill his parents, and no river of tears has changed that and no amount of regret has changed it," Lyle Menendez told ABC News. "I accept that. You are often defined by a few moments of your life, but that’s not who you are in your life, you know. Your life is your totality of it… You can’t change it. You just, you’re stuck with the decisions you made."
An encore presentation of the documentary will air Saturday, Jan. 7 on ABC10. The special starts at 9 p.m. and will be followed by your local news on 10News at 11 p.m. TV LISTINGS
The special uncovers hidden clues about the case and includes never-before-seen home movies and photos from the family vault.
Lyle's brother, Erik, who is now 46 years old, declined to be interviewed for the ABC News report, but told ABC's Barbara Walters in a 1996 interview that he felt "tremendous remorse" for the slayings. At the time he said, "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about what happened and wish I could take that moment back."
Their murder trial was one of the most
