The Mansions of Limbo by Dominick Dunne

tans had long since faded. It was impossible not to notice the deterioration in the appearance of the boys, especially Erik. His eyes looked tormented, tortured, haunted. At his neck was a tiny gold cross. He nodded to Noelle Terelsky. He nodded to his grandmother. There were no smiles that day.
    Leslie Abramson and Gerald Chaleff went to Judge James Albracht’s chambers to hear his ruling on the admissibility of the tapes before it was read to the court. The brothers sat alone at the defense table, stripped of their support system. “Everybody’s staring at us,” said Erik to the bailiff in a pleading voice, as if the bailiff could do something about it, but there was nothing the bailiff could do. Everybody did stare at them. Lyle leaned forward and whispered something to his brother.
    The fierce demeanor of Leslie Abramson when she returned to the courtroom left no doubt that the judge’sruling had not gone in favor of the defense. As the judge read his ruling to the crowded courtroom, Abramson, with her back to the judge, kept up a nonstop commentary in Erik Menendez’s ear.
    “I have ruled that none of the communications are privileged,” said the judge. There was an audible sound of dismay from the Menendez family members. The tapes would be admissible. The judge found that psychologist Jerome Oziel had reasonable cause to believe that Lyle and Erik Menendez “constituted a threat, and it was necessary to disclose the communications to prevent a danger.” There was no doubt that this was a serious setback to the defense.
    Abramson and Chaleff immediately announced at a news conference that they would appeal the judge’s ruling. Abramson called Oziel a gossip, a liar, and “less than credible.” Neither Judalon Smyth’s name nor her role in the proceedings was ever mentioned.
    A mere eight days later, in a stunning reversal of Judge Albracht’s ruling, the 2nd District Court of Appeals blocked the release of the tapes, to the undisguised delight of Abramson and Chaleff. Prosecutors were then given a date by which to file opposing arguments. Another complication occurred when Erik Menendez, from jail, refused to provide the prosecution with a handwriting sample to compare with the handwriting found on forms for the purchase of two shotguns in San Diego, despite a warning by the court that his refusal to do so could be used as evidence against him. In a further surprise, Deputy District Attorney Elliott Alhadeff, who won the original court ruling that the tapes would be admissible, was abruptly replaced on the notorious case by Deputy District Attorney Pamela Ferrero.
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    Since their arrest in March, Lyle and Erik Menendez have dwelt in the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, in the section reserved for prisoners awaiting trial in heavily publicized cases. The brothers’ cells are not side by side. They order reading material from Book Soup, the trendy Sunset Strip bookshop. Erik has been sent
The Dead Zone
, by Stephen King, and a book on chess. They have frequent visits from family members, and talk with one friend almost daily by telephone. That friend told me that they have to pay for protection in jail. “Other prisoners, who are tough, hate them—who they are, what they’ve been accused of. They’ve been threatened.” He also told me they feel they have lost every one of their friends. Late in August, when three razor blades were reportedly found in Erik’s possession, he was put in solitary confinement, deprived of visitors, books except for the Bible, telephone calls, and exercise. That same week, Lyle suddenly shaved his head.
    Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner stated on television that one motive for the murders was greed. Certainly it is possible for a child to kill his parents for money, to wish to continue the easy life on easy street without the encumbrance of parental restrictions. But is it really possible for a child to kill, for merely