and now cities and towns across the country are up in arms.
The culprit?
Tons and tons of throwaway products and packages.
Today, Ralph Nader with the outrage at a throwaway society.
She had adoptive parents who loved her,
but for years she searched for her real mother and father.
Lawyers, police, detectives.
The search was full of emotional ups and downs,
and now there is a bittersweet ending for a woman without a past.
Welcome to Inside Edition.
I'm Bill O'Reilly.
We're glad you're with us today.
We begin with a story that is just about unthinkable.
Two teenage boys who had almost everything.
Money, parents with big connections, a Beverly Hills address.
Yet police believe these two kids murdered their parents
in order to inherit their money.
Tony Cox in our Los Angeles bureau has the story.
The Beverly Hills home of Jose and Katie Menendez
was as rich as their family life.
Jose ran a successful entertainment company,
and his wife was a devoted mother and former beauty queen
who doted on her two sons, both budding tennis stars.
It was a family that said,
this is way, this is picture book stuff.
This is the way families are, if everybody's lucky,
this is the way families go together.
It was a warm, caring, concerned family.
But one night last August, it came to a tragic end.
Jose and Katie Menendez were savagely gunned down
while watching television in the family library.
They were shot repeatedly at close range with 12 gauge shotguns.
Police say there was no forced entry and nothing stolen.
Their two sons, 22-year-old Lyle and 19-year-old Eric,
reported the grisly discovery to police
after returning from an evening at the movies.
And so the murder investigation began with very little to go on.
Eric's friend Andy Pierce, now a student at Brown University,
saw him not long after the murder.
Eric was clearly shaken.
We stayed up till 4 o'clock the night I was there,
and he became really emotional.
As the night went on, he started telling me he was out of his mind.
Listen, he was very scared, too.
Scared for his own life.
Quickly, speculation spread that it was a mob hit, a message murder.
Attention turned to Jose Menendez's business dealings
as chairman of Live Entertainment, a video distributor in Hollywood.
Menendez was an aggressive dealmaker who, together with Carolco Pictures,
took over Live from a company with known ties to organized crime.
Little attention was paid to the boys who immediately began to spend
portions of their multi-million dollar inheritance.
Lyle bought a new Porsche and this restaurant in Princeton, New Jersey.
Eric dropped his college plans to pursue a pro-care in tennis.
He was the picture of success to those close to him.
I'd describe him as very unique.
Not your typical person.
One thing about him is that he attracts people by his uniqueness.
Wealthy, handsome, young, and self-assured,
the Menendez brothers were charting a new course for themselves.
They assumed after seven months they had been eliminated from suspicion.
Little did they know, they topped the list of suspects.
We've gathered a lot of evidence.
It has been very circumstantial and we were waiting for the glue, if you will,
to bind it all together and just recently that glue has come about
and I feel that we have a very tight case indeed.
The glue is in a collection of tape recordings recovered from the home of Dr. Jerome Ozeal
in a rarely used search procedure.
Ozeal is a Beverly Hills psychologist who treated the entire Menendez family
and then continued to treat the boys following the murder.
It was during that time that police alleged the brothers may have told Ozeal
of their crime and threatened him.
That supposed threat allowed police to break the doctor-patient privilege
and seize tape recordings, some of which investigators heard.
The rest may never be heard.
I believe there was a question of privilege involved
and because of that question of privilege, these items were sealed by me at the location
and they were taken back to the court.
Whatever investigators heard in those tapes was apparently enough to convince police they were guilty.
First Lyle and then Eric were arrested and charged with the premeditated murders of their parents.
Both charges.
Are special circumstances for which you could be sentenced to death.
Do you understand the charges?
Yes, Your Honor.
Now held in jail without bail, they are facing a capital offense
and prosecutors say they did it for the money.
Our experience in the district attorney's office
that 14 million dollars provides ample motive to some people to commit murder.
Motive alone would not bring a conviction
and at the first court of parents, attorneys argued over a central element of the case,
the doctor-patient privilege and whether the Menendez brothers had broken it by threatening their doctor.
Our position of course is that there is no privilege.
That suggests that maybe there was a threat that was sufficient to eliminate the privilege.
Threat before or after the murders?
After.
And against whom?
I'm sorry?
A threat against whom?
Against the person, against the psychologist.
I have no information of any threat being made to any doctor.
We believe that privilege will be upheld and that there will be no disclosure of any confidential, illegal material.
The material seized from the doctor's home is a key to the prosecution's case
and it remains to be seen if the judge will allow it.
But the DA claims it has a strong case regardless because of other physical and circumstantial evidence.
For one, police say the boys cannot back up their alibi that they were at a movie.
Then there is the home computer that was tampered with and the unexplained deletion of a file pertaining to Jose Menendez's will.
According to a source close to the investigation, a shotgun shell casing was found in a jacket belonging to Lyle Menendez by a friend who borrowed his car.
And in a twist of true Hollywood irony, the police have obtained a copy of a screenplay written by Eric and his friend Craig Signorelli
in which a young man murders his parents for a multi-million dollar inheritance.
Kitty Menendez typed it for them.
Through it all, the Menendez family is steadfast in their support of the boys and doesn't believe they did it.
Their friends, for the most part, say the same.
Though even those who know them will admit there are a lot of new questions about Eric and Lyle Menendez.
Well, the two boys will be arraigned on March 26th and you guessed it, there is already a TV movie in the works.
Next up as we continue here on Inside Edition, Ralph Nader goes on the road to protect us from a growing environmental threat.
We don't want to open up new landfills. We don't want these chemicals seeping in our drinking water.
We don't want to have to breathe the incinerators pollution. Straighten up.
Ford buyers and van buyers don't miss out on Olathe Ford's 17th anniversary sale.
A special inventory of 60 vans from only $14,995.
Easy financing at 8.9% for 60 months.
Choose from eight different brands of custom vans at Olathe Ford, the largest van dealer in the Midwest.
And Olathe Ford is always the home of the $59.90 escort.
All prices are good through Monday.
Get in on the action at the honest-to-goodness Ford dealer.
Olathe Ford, just east of I-35 on 150 Highway.
We have to talk.
About what?
Gasoline.
You get good gas.
It's not Amaco Ultimate.
No.
You want quick start, smooth idle, great acceleration?
Of course.
Then give me the good stuff.
Listen to your engine. It knows Amaco Ultimate has the highest pure oxygen in Kansas City.
You give me quality, I give you performance.
Amaco Ultimate, your car knows. And now you do too.
And lay off the valet parking. Those kids are killing me.
No.
Yeah.
Only one American car line can be ranked highest for initial product quality.
And that one is Buick.
Buick was rated the most trouble-free American car line.
And you can only get quality like this at your better Buick dealer.
See Khan, Reddy, Westfall Odell, Beckman, Randy Reed, RZ Motors,
Iowatha, Hal Quinn, George Ballas, Charlie Fisher, Superior,
Helena, Don Kincaid, Dave Cross, Roberts Murray, Guthrie, Sunny Hill, Minick, Don Stein, Ron Olson, Steve Hughes, or Lot's Speech.
If you could live inside someone suffering from depression, you'd understand the sadness.
What's wrong with me?
The complete exhaustion.
Just so tired.
The loneliness.
No one understands.
And you'd know that inside...
I can't take anymore.
She's desperately crying for help.
If someone you care about needs help, call us.
If you don't get help at Charter Hospital, get help somewhere.
They look harmless, those little plastic containers.
Fast food places use them, grocery stores use them, but they are choking us and something has to be done.
Ralph Nader took to the road to warn us about this growing problem.
Paper, please.
Plastic, please.
Plastic, please.
In America's disposable society, plastics are a way of life.
We put food in little plastic bags at the store, use bigger ones to carry them home, and then even bigger ones to throw it all away.
In fact, a quarter of all the plastic produced in America last year, 14 billion pounds, were designed to be thrown away.
Our disposable society may have given us convenience, but it's also given us a monumental garbage crisis.
Now consumers are being misled by claims that plastics are biodegradable and marketed as safe for the environment.
Students becoming active in the consumer movement say that's created a lot of confusion for people who want to do the right thing.
What about packaging? Excess packaging, environmentally unsound packaging?
How do you feel about biodegradable plastics?
Well, some people say it's a contradiction in terms.
You see, it doesn't really make that much difference whether the plastic degrades in 200 years or 300 years.
And so the use, the overuse of the word biodegradable attached to plastics is a deceptive practice
and should be banned in the advertisement by agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission because it's a misleading assertion.
As an environmentalist, I've found that lately I've really had to defend myself on why is plastic so bad
and people are saying, you know, why should we pay all this money for paper?
I was wondering if you could give me another angle to attack these people.
There are a lot of angles. First of all, we're using a resource that's finite. It's not renewable.
There's only so much oil and gas to be used at a certain price in the world and it should be used for more important purposes.
By the way, never underestimate how much more effective you can become as a citizen advocate
if you practice meticulously what you're advocating.
For instance, how many people here have battery-powered watches?
Okay, you know what's in it, right? Mercury.
Now the batteries end up in the landfills and mercury ends up contaminating the environment.
Is there anything on more of a business attitude because ecologists today are so business oriented
and they're so concerned about spending more money. Is there any kind of way I can attack that level?
There are all kinds of ways. I mean, you can, you see, even to recommend old-fashioned answers is to raise eyebrows.
For example, do you ever think of bringing your own mug? Do you ever think of bringing your own cloth bag
as millions of people overseas do to the supermarket, which you can use again and again and again?
I mean, we have to do that. You can organize just a few families per supermarket
and go to the supermarket manager and say, we've had enough of this.
You and your suppliers know how to do better. We don't want to open up new landfills.
We don't want these chemicals seeping in our drinking water.
We don't want to have to breathe the incinerators pollution straight up.
Ralph Nader travels the country talking about issues that affect our lives.
And whenever we can, we will go with him and try to get you and Ralph together to discuss the issues.
When we come back, a young woman searches for her parents for 11 years.
And we will show you what happened at the end of her ordeal.
I never realized that there was a part of my life that was missing until she came.
I never get another blessing in my life. God knows I've been blessed.
MUSIC
Hey, have you seen this Motor Trend magazine yet?
You mean the one that says when you're in a fully optioned Hyundai Sonata V6, you'll never realize you're not rich?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And that says Hyundai offers a high-end stereo system that'll fry the transistors out of anything in a Mercedes or a BMW?
Uh-huh.
The one that says living within your means has never been so luxurious?
You could have just said yes. Big show-off.
Limited time factor to dealer incentives could save you hundreds on 90 Sonatas. See your dealer for details.
Hey, let's stop at Sonic and celebrate.
I just know he's going to embarrass me.
Two orders of steak and tater, sir.
Big meal for a big man. Just got his license, you know.
Oh, congratulations.
Isn't this great?
A thick chicken-fried steak sandwich served with Sonic's Golden Tater Tots. You'll love steak and taters. Only $259.
Even as a baby, this big guy could eat.
I'll tell you, I remember...
Don't worry, he'll grow out of it.
America's driving faster and better than ever.
Sonic!
...Montgomery Ward.
It's a game everybody wins. Scratch and save 5 to 50 percent of the hottest brand names.
With big screens, hot jeans, everybody's dream machine.
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The Montgomery Ward Scratch and Save game saves everybody 5 to 50 percent on the hottest brands.
But for two days only, so hurry.
Montgomery Ward, what's new is what's in it for you.
With most bread, you get this, a loaf of bread.
But with Hudson Bay breads, you get variety, nutrition, and the showboat spectacular sweepstakes.
Because only Hudson Bay gives you a chance to win a 7-day cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line
with fabulous shows every night on board the SS Norway.
You can find details on specially marked loaves of all Hudson Bay breads.
So if you'd rather have this than this, buy Hudson Bay bread today.
Let's cut through the smoke. What have you got and what does it cost?
If it's straight talk you want, it's straight talk you'll get.
How about a brand new 1990 Plymouth Acclaim for under $250 per month?
Automatic transmission, air conditioning, AM FM stereo, electronic speed control,
tilt steering and more for under $250 per month.
Now that's the deal, period.
Working hard, doing right, it'll keep you satisfied.
Plymouth Acclaim for under $250 per month.
Right now at your Metro Pricer Plymouth dealers.
You know we all have personal dramas in our lives.
Sometimes it's trouble with the kids or marital problems, things like that.
Well Linda Vendetti has a story that is more compelling than any fiction.
She spent 11 years trying to find her real parents and what she finally found was bittersweet.
Here's Cynthia Allison.
Linda Vendetti is someone who's always counted her blessings.
She and her husband Tony have been happily married for 18 years
and are the proud parents of four children.
Having a big family was always important to Linda because she was adopted.
By the age of five or six I was aware of it.
I never really asked many questions, there was never a need to because I grew up always feeling loved and cared for.
Giving birth changed the way she thought about adoption.
All through my labor and delivery that's what I thought about.
And I couldn't imagine what that would be like to give my baby up.
That's what started me and my mom always told me that she would show me my adoption papers when I wanted to see them.
You could say no to them but they'll still go off and do it.
And I think it's best that you help her.
So I gave them the papers.
There's really nothing in there except her name.
I looked in the Chicago phone book and there was one listing for her name.
And I called it and it was her mother which would have been my grandmother.
Linda was ecstatic when she got to meet her grandmother
but was then devastated to learn that her real mother refused to see her.
But she wouldn't give up, especially when she learned that her father had fought to keep her.
Linda's disappointment became a determination to find him.
Her grandmother told her her dad's name was Nick King.
It wasn't much of a clue but Linda jumped on it.
She contacted the FBI and wrote letters to the armed services.
For 11 years Linda looked for anyone who could lead to her father.
Then just one month ago she found that person here in Los Angeles.
It was a woman named Phyllis, an old friend of her real mother's who told her that everyone did call her dad Nick
but his first name was really Bishop.
Two of my very good friends, Terry and Risa, decided we should go to the local Raincastle Library
and just go through the phone books.
It was a shot in the dark and I said to Terry, give me that Las Vegas phone book.
And I opened it up and there was Bishop King.
I saw my answering machine flashing.
And she said, if this is the Bishop Selwood King that lived in Chicago in 1952, I need to talk to you.
So I called her.
Twenty minutes later Linda and her dad said hello for the first time.
He said, I've thought about you all my life and I can't believe this happened.
And I said, do you really want to be?
And he said, yes, he definitely wanted to be.
But he had given up hope.
Within days Linda arrived in Las Vegas to greet her new family
and give a big hug to a man she'd waited 37 years to meet.
Oh my God, this is like a meeting.
Oh my Lord, she really does like it.
It's the best. It's like winning the lottery.
It's probably the best individual experience that I could have ever had in my life.
What more could anybody ever want?
I feel very blessed, very fortunate.
It completes my life.
Linda and her father had a lot of catching up to do.
And Linda spent time with Christy, one of her five new siblings.
It's just been incredible.
And I found out I have four more sisters and a brother.
We'll get two on each side of him.
Everyone had dreamed about a night like this for years,
but it was even better than they had imagined.
I never realized that there was a part of my life that was missing until she came.
And there was, because I had a very full and beautiful life as a complete.
But she did feel a part of it that I didn't know that had happened with her for so long.
And I was so happy to have her.
The happiest I am is that my life is complete.
If I never get another blessing in my life, God knows I've been blessed.
She's safe and healthy, daughter.
Laughter
Quite a story.
Next up, the top of the week to you.
Inside Edition takes a look at the big winners in our number one segment.
That is, we continue all throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Music
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Inside Edition will continue in a moment.
There's a lot of talk about oat bran these days.
Some people say it can be very good for you. Others aren't sure how good.
And then there are those who still want to study the situation.
Look, I've been eating Common Sense oat bran for a while.
Tastes great.
Common Sense has nearly twice as much oat bran as oatmeal.
And until somebody gives me one good reason to stop eating this stuff,
pass the milk.
It's about time for some Common Sense.
Doctors measure back pain by how far you can bend.
Extra Strength Dones is...