Jurors in the Menendez murder retrial said they never believed the brothers' "abuse excuse" and thought the pair could have run away from home instead of killing their wealthy parents.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were "spoiled brats" who were "raised to be ruthless," jury forewoman Leigh Valvo said in a television interview broadcast Friday.The jury found the brothers guilty of first-degree murder and on Wednesday recommended a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. Sentencing was set for July 2.
During the brothers' first trial, which ended in two hung juries, they claimed they shot their parents because they feared the couple would kill them to avoid a scandal over the family secret of incest. That argument was barred by Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg in the second trial.
Even if the claim was true, it would not have changed their decision, panelists said.
"They could have run away. They didn't have to kill them," Ted Doughty said. "But that's the choice they made."
Interviews with seven jurors and alternates were broadcast Friday night on NBC's "Dateline."
Jurors said they never believed either the defense's abuse motivation for the killings nor the prosecution's argument that the brothers killed out of greed for the family fortune.
But they are unsure of what the real motive might be.