Menendez Brothers' Trials: 1993-94 & 1995-96

In an effort to portray their case to its best advantage before the juries, both sides immediately began battling over which one would be able to introduce the tape in court. The judge ordered that the tape be turned over to the prosecution, but allowed the defense to introduce it as evidence.

On the tape, Lyle and Erik said nothing to their therapist about sexual or physical abuse at the hands of either of their parents. They said nothing about killing for their inheritance. They confessed to the shootings, but identifying the killers was no longer the central mystery it had been when police seized the tape over three years earlier. Both sides agreed that the fate of the Menendez brothers now hinged on their motive for killing their parents. The tape gave no answers.

The case took an odd turn as soon as the tape ran out. Ms. Judalon Smyth, Dr. Oziel's former lover, had helped to launch the prosecution's case. In 1990, she had given police a sworn affidavit claiming that she had overheard the Menendez brothers talk about committing "the perfect killing" and threatening Dr. Oziel because he knew too much.

"I can't believe you did this," Smyth swore she had heard Lyle tell Erik. "I can't believe you told him. I don't really have a brother now. I could get rid of you for this. I hope you realize what we're going to have to do. We've got to kill him and anyone associated with him."

Smyth's tip helped police make the arrest. Knowledge of the threat against Oziel was what had allowed the prosecution to bypass patient therapist confidentiality in introducing the tape.

Now, however, Smyth turned defense witness. Her affair with Oziel, who was married during their relationship, was over. She was suing him for rape, assault, and forcing her to take mind-controlling prescription drugs. When she took the stand at the Menendez trial, she disclaimed her previous statements, saying that the psychotherapist had "brainwashed" her into believing what she told police three years ago. Vexed prosecutors accused Smyth of changing her story in order to take revenge on her former lover.

The defense introduced substantial testimony about the nature of psychological abuse in order to support claims of sexual victimization. Experts explained how the brothers' secrecy, along with their simultaneous attachment to and violence toward their parents, was consistent with the symptoms of "battered wife syndrome."