LAW & ORDER {LAW AND ORDER}: TRUE CRIME: THE MENENDEZ MURDERS {EPISODE 2} (TV)
Summary
The second of two programs on ACCNUM 130524. The first installment in this fact-based eight-part miniseries, part of the long-running "Law & Order" franchise of dramas dealing with the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of criminals, based on the infamous 1989 murders of wealthy couple Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons Lyle and Erik. In this episode, Abramson's husband is frustrated when she hurries to tend to one of her clients, Roberto, who has been injured in prison. Deputy District Attorney Pam Bozanich warns Linehan and Zoeller that her boss, Ira Reiner, is running for Attorney General and "wants headlines" from the case, while elsewhere Lyle tries to calm a panicked Erik and tries to distract him with tennis. The detectives travel to New York to interview Donovan Goodreau, Lyle's so-called best friend, who explains that they bonded over their harsh fathers and admits that Lyle mentioned wanting to kill Jose because of his various affairs. Jose's sister states that he had "high standards," and the detectives again talk to the brothers, who swear that their father could not have been involved with the mob. When Erik asks odd questions regarding the police, Linehan and Zoeller begin to suspect that he is suicidal.
Chaleff is angered to learn that the brothers are indeed suspects, and Abramson convinces Roberto to take a deal as the detectives question Glenn Stevens, the brothers' friend and would-be business partner, who reveals the odd detail that Jose forced his balding older son to wear a wig. Zoeller then informs Erik that his friend has spoken to a reporter and told the world that the sons are suspects, though Lyle reminds his brother to remember their father's ruthless words about strength and bravery. A distraught Erik contacts Oziel and, expressing a desire to end his life, blurts out that "we did it." Lyle is outraged to learn of his confession, and though Oziel promises to maintain doctor-patient confidentiality, he immediately orders his wife and children to go into hiding. Erik promises that he did not tell Oziel about "that," and Reiner is annoyed to hear that the detectives have little concrete evidence so far. Oziel tries to convince the brothers that records of their apparent remorse could help them later on and suggests that they did the despondent Kitty "a favor" by killing her, but a disgusted Lyle walks out and suggests that Chaleff can "deal with" the doctor.
Linehan and Zoeller order Craig Cignarelli to wear a wire and wrangle a taped confession from Erik, but they are frustrated when Erik instead describes seeing a vision of his parents during a "healing mass" and again denies killing them, swearing vengeance on their murderer. Oziel allows Smyth to move in with him – and his family – after she attempts suicide, telling his wife that he is merely a "concerned medical professional," but Smyth threatens to tell the police that Oziel has clear evidence of the Menendezes' confession if he does not leave his wife and assist her financially. Marta meets Erik's new girlfriend, who "really gets him," and questions him about Oziel's enormous bills, and Bozanich is angered when Reiner takes her off the Menendez case and orders her to pointlessly retry another defendant. Smyth tells the Oziels all about her affair with Jerome, and when he furiously attempts to throw her from the home, she follows through on her threat and tells the cops about his sessions with the brothers. A search warrant is issued for the audio tapes of their conversations, and Lyle is soon arrested. Erik, learning of the arrest while in Europe, contacts lawyer Robert Shapiro, lately of the scandalous O.J. Simpson case, to arrange his own surrender. Abramson tells Chaleff that Shapiro was foolish not to demand that the death penalty be ruled out before bringing Erik home, adding that the tapes in questions are covered by privilege. At Chaleff's request, she meets with Erik and kindly bonds with him, promising that she will not "roll over" on him. She tells both brothers never to speak without lawyers present, as investigators and fellow prisoners are "not their friends," and agrees to serve as lead defense for them both. Marta admits that Jose was a cruel taskmaster, often berating the boys at the dinner table, and when Reiner calls a press conference, Abramson calls the evidence "ill-gotten hearsay," declaring that the cops have violated privacy laws by seizing the confidential tapes. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:48
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 131043
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective; Drama, legal; Murder; True crime
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 2017-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dick Wolf … Executive Producer
- Peter Jankowski … Executive Producer
- Arthur W. Forney … Executive Producer
- Lesli Linka Glatter … Executive Producer, Director
- Rene Balcer … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Cary Jones … Co-Executive Producer
- Mark Dragin … Producer
- Gina Gionfriddo … Consulting Producer
- Diana Son … Consulting Producer
- Atli Örvarsson … Music by
- Edie Falco … Cast, Leslie Abramson
- Miles Gaston Villanueva … Cast, Lyle Menendez
- Gus Halper … Cast, Erik Menendez
- Chris Bauer … Cast, Tim Rutten
- Josh Charles … Cast, Dr. Jerome Oziel
- Heather Graham … Cast, Judalon Smyth
- Sam Jaeger … Cast, Detective Les Zoeller
- Elizabeth Reaser … Cast, Deputy District Attorney Pam Bozanich
- Sterling Beaumon … Cast, Glenn Stevens
- Ezra Buzzington … Cast, Deputy District Attorney Elliott Alhadeff
- Cliff Chamberlain … Cast, Detective Tom Linehan
- Lolita Davidovich … Cast, Kitty Menendez
- Dominic Flores … Cast, Henry Llanio
- Alejandro Furth … Cast, Uncle Carlos Baralt
- Carlos Gómez … Cast, Jose Menendez
- Carole Gutierrez … Cast, Aunt Terry Baralt
- Constance Marie … Cast, Marta Cano
- Bailey Noble … Cast, Jamie Pisarcik
- Anna Osceola … Cast, Noelle Terlesky
- Michael B. Silver … Cast, Gerald Chaleff
- Zach Tinker … Cast, Craig Cignarelli
- David Warshofsky … Cast, District Attorney Ira Reiner
- Ben Winchell … Cast, Donovan Goodreau
- Alejandro Barrios … Cast, Roberto Lopez
- Anastasia Basil … Cast, County Hospital Nurse
- Aiden Black … Cast, Young Erik (12 Years)
- Brian Patrick Collins … Cast, Arrest Cop #1
- Irene DeBari … Cast, Grandma Maria Menendez
- Daniel DiVenere … Cast, Young Lyle
- Kayla DiVenere … Cast, Stacy Oziel
- Ace Gibson … Cast, Willy the Ritalin Junkie
- Travis Guba … Cast, Guard Hobart
- Tommie Earl Jenkins … Cast, Reporter #2
- Geoffrey Michael Kennedy … Cast, Gladstone's Waiter
- Toyin Moses … Cast, Jail Ward Clerk
- Douglas Olsson … Cast, Robert Shapiro
- Davi Santos … Cast, Cousin Andy Cano
- Darren Dupree Washington … Cast, Coach Mark
- Terryn Westbrook … Cast, Laurel Oziel
- A'da Woolfolk … Cast, Reporter #1