On the evening of August 20, 1989, José and Kitty had been on their lounge sofa watching TV when two individuals approached from behind and pumped 16 blasts from two 12-gauge Mossberg shotguns into their our bodies. In accordance with the post-mortem report, José, 45, suffered an “explosive decapitation with evisceration of the mind.” Kitty, 47, was hit within the head, chest, hand, arm and leg. Each died on the sofa.
Late that evening, Lyle, 21, known as 911 and informed the dispatcher, “Somebody killed my dad and mom!” Police discovered him and Erik, 18, weeping on the entrance garden. The brothers mentioned they’d spent the evening watching Batman at a theater, then gone to a meals competition. As a result of brutality of the crime, police initially theorized the murders had been mob hits.