I think everyone enjoys a good scandal, even in 1980. If two young men told Hollywood that their hollywood executive dad was a sex offender, everyone would be listening. That would have kept the tabloids in-the-money for years.
Life in 1980 was much the same as today - only difference today is the internet and more people on the planet. People were not uneducated or ignorant in 1980. They were the generation that invented the computer and the internet. They deserve a little credit.
Regarding murder for millions, any thoughts on why the two young men immediately went on a spending spree after they murdered their parents? Porsche, Rolex, restaurant, house, bodyguards, limousines, chauffeur. Was it Retail Therapy?
July 28, 1993
"Within a week after his parents were killed, Lyle Menendez went on a spending spree, shopping for a Porsche, a house, a restaurant and clothes and hiring a bodyguard, a good friend and the bodyguard testified Tuesday.
When Menendez ventured outside, he rode in a limousine, trailed discreetly by guards in a second car, a “crash vehicle” that could ferry him to safety in an emergency, bodyguard Richard Wenskoski said.
...
Wenskoski and a partner provided 24-hour-a-day service and accompanied Lyle Menendez on his many shopping trips, even a 15-minute test ride in a white Porsche, Wenskoski said. Lyle Menendez drove the car and zipped along over the speed limit, Wenskoski said.
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Wherever he went that fall, Lyle Menendez sported a Rolex watch, Stevens said.
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In late 1989, Lyle Menendez made a $300,000 down payment on a $550,000 Princeton restaurant that specialized in spicy buffalo wings, Stevens said. He added that he was being paid $600 a week to oversee it and Lyle’s investments.
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At the parents’ wake, Stevens said, Lyle Menendez told him: “Well, I’ve been waiting so long to be in this position, that I’m prepared for it.”"
Within a week after his parents were killed, Lyle Menendez went on a spending spree, shopping for a Porsche, a house, a restaurant and clothes and hiring a bodyguard, a good friend and the bodyguard testified Tuesday.
www.latimes.com