Moment The Menendez brothers are asked when they decided to kill their parents – and what their creepy reaction is

The Menendez brothers gave a chilling answer when asked point-blank when exactly they decided to kill their parents.

Dateline NBC will air the surprising exchange during a two-hour special on Friday evening.

During the broadcast, host Keith Morrison revisited a 2017 prison interview when he asked Lyle Menendez, “When did you and Eric decide to kill your parents?’

Lyle responded, “We didn’t decide to do it; eventually we became overwhelmed by this panic and emotion and made the decision to run into that room.”

More than thirty years later, the motive behind the murders remains a major question in the case that has enthralled the public for years.

Morrison told NBC reporter Liz Kreutz that he had been discussing the case for a long time, but admitted, “I don’t know what the answer is.”

The Menendez Brothers: Lyle, now 56 (pictured left) and Erik, 53. Both men were 18 and 21 when they killed their parents

Dateline host and journalist Keith Morrison

Brothers Lyle, now 56, and his brother, Erik Menendez, now 53, have been in prison for 34 years for killing their parents Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez in August 1989, when they were just 18 and 21 .

Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, alluding to severe and long-term abuse by his father Jose

Both were convicted of the murder in 1996 after their first trial was annulled.

The brothers have never denied killing their parents by shooting them 14 times with 12-gauge shotguns in their $1 million Beverly Hills home.

The brothers claimed they acted in self-defense.

They claimed they were victims of lifelong sexual abuse by their father, a former RCA music executive who worked with the teen boy band “Menudo.”

In October, there was renewed interest in the case after Netflix premiered “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.

Murphy told it Variety the pair “never imagined that the Netflix series would be a major catalyst for renewed interest in the case and calling for the release of the real Erik and Lyle Menendez from prison.”

Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez (right) during their trial in August 1989

A letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano refers to serious and long-term abuse by his father Jose.

On the Dateline episode, Morrison interviewed original accuser Pam Bozanich, who tells him she doesn’t believe the brothers were sexually assaulted.

Bozanich also questioned a crucial new piece of evidence: the letter Erik wrote to his cousin about his fear of his father.

‘I would like to know when that letter was written. “I believe people make things up,” she said.

The Menendez family: (from left to right) Erik and Lyle with parents Kitty and Jose in the middle

The duo, just 18 and 21 at the time, were murdered outside their multi-million dollar home in Beverly Hills in August 1989. The family room or study was where the murder took place.

The Menendez brothers are currently serving life sentences without parole for the murder of their parents.

Last month, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who has since lost his re-election bid, held a press conference recommending the brothers are resented in their quest for freedom.

In attendance was Kitty Menendez’s sister, Joan, 92, who has long advocated for the release of her nephews.

Gascon’s recommendation was that they be immediately eligible for parole, but it will ultimately be up to a court to determine the brothers’ final sentence.

“I believe they have paid their debt to society… and the system provides the opportunity to have their case heard by a court of law,” Gascon said at the time.

The announcement followed mounting community pressure to reconsider the life sentences without parole given to Erik and Lyle at their 1996 trial.

After Gascon lost this week’s elections to former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman, this puts a new twist on the case.

The scene outside the Menendez family mansion in Beverly Hills when police arrived on August 20, 1989

On the Dateline episode, Morrison spoke to Gascon about the possible re-sentencing before losing the race on Tuesday.

Hochman, who is expected to take office on December 2, said this CNN on Wednesday’ before I can make a decision on it in the case of the Menendez brothers, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, evidence and law.”

“I will need to review each brother’s confidential prison records, the transcripts of both trials, and speak with prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and the victims’ family members.”

“If for any reason I need additional time, I will ask the court for that time.”

A hearing on the criminal case is scheduled for December 11. Hochman said he would act as “swiftly” as possible to review the landmark case.