Kitty started doing her son's homework early on. Of course, the robberies were not pranks but that's how they viewed them. It shows their lack of maturity. Again, if you watch the trial, the brothers' teachers testified that Lyle and Erik were terrified if they got a poor grade; Lyle once said that his father would kill him if he didn't make the headmaster's list and Erik would cry if he received a poor grade. Erik's teachers described him as a fearful child.
Again, the parents were massively controlling. They also encouraged their sons to lie, cheat, and steal, basically anything to win (Jose and Kitty were known to do this themselves), just don't get caught. Jose was more upset that Lyle and Erik were caught for the burglaries, not the fact that they stole. He had no intention of letting his sons go, even if he took them out of the will. Jose told his sons that they were disinherited in the spring of 1989; the killings happened in late August. If they wanted to kill their parents for money, it would have been earlier. The money motive simply does not hold up, and the prosecution was never able to prove it.
Jose and Kitty were abusive, frightening parents and terrible role models. Grown men were afraid of Jose. That should tell you something.
