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It was almost 30 years ago when I was getting ready one morning to go to the Driver’s Ed summer school. It was the second day of the two-week course and I was sitting in the living room of the house I grew up in when I glanced over and saw a copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that had been turned with the above the fold section face down. There was a small column in the lower-right corner about O.J. Simpson being questioned in his wife’s death.
What had happened? Did she die in an accident? There was nothing on the headline that said she had been murdered or that Simpson was a suspect. My years in print journalism would later tell me the placement of the story meant it was an important story but not too important at the time. As the week progressed, the headlines and story overtook more of the front page. By Friday night, there was the infamous Bronco chase on the L.A. freeways. My mom had invited my future stepfather to have dinner with my brother and I. And as we finished the Bronco chase was on the news.
The next week at Driver’s Ed, we talked about it. Visiting my dad future stepmother over the July 4 holiday, we were watching The Price is Right one morning and one of the products was orange juice or O.J. And my dad made a comment about Simpson. My stepmother said she hoped it wasn’t true but believed it was. And for the next year and a half, the public was divided on whether Simpson actually killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend, Ron Goldman.
On Oct. 3, 1995, the Los Angeles County Jury returned a not-guilty verdict to a stunned nation. Some people celebrated. Others couldn’t believe what they were hearing, especially Robert Kardashian, who was on Simpson’s legal team. A lot of white people at my school cheered as if it was a game. And a lot of the black students were cheering.
But it was apparent, the murder trial wasn’t about the victims. It never was. The way people acted from the first reports of the Bronco chase to the verdict and afterwards shows the public had a very limited idea of our judicial system which had been marred by TV and movies. I’ve covered many criminal cases. The way Simpson looked at his arraignment was the way most guilty people look. He has said he looked that way because he was tired. He might have been tired. But he knew he didn’t have a way out of this.
If you watch the earliest days of the court hearings, you see a man who knows he’s guilty. Then, I think Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran told him to change his body language because the world was watching. And the jury would definitely be watching. Yet, it didn’t really seem to matter. The jury had been sequestered for a long time. Most of them and the alternates were dismissed. They were ready to leave. And in the mid-1990s, people just didn’t believe a celebrity could commit such a crime. I mean, Roman Polanski still won the Oscar for Best Director in 2003 and he was a convicted rapist who had fled the country.
DNA was also still new to the public. And the evidence was against him. However, people still believed in the wrongfully accused, because that’s what Hollywood had made us believe. Simpson’s legal defense spun a great yarn that the Los Angeles Police Department and the L.A. District Attorney’s Office was out to frame Simpson. But why? By 1994, he was a washed-up celebrity. He wasn’t married to Nicole Brown anymore. To really frame someone, you have to make sure they don’t have any alibis that can destroy the plan.
The evidence was all there. People had seen Simpson near Brown’s house. The problem was the motorist sold her story to the tabloids so it was unusable in a trial. The Bronco Simpson drove was found on the other side of his fence. Kato Kaelin said he heard a noise indicating he had climbed the fence trying to get back in. And the DNA evidence pointed to only one person on the planet – Simpson himself.
The legal defense worked to discredit the evidence. I think Cochran and Shapiro knew he was guilty. I’d even say that Simpson told his lawyers what had happened. Kardashian wasn’t a practicing lawyer at the time. He renewed his license shortly thereafter because whatever Simpson told him was protected. I think at first, Kardashian couldn’t believe his friend had done it. Take it from someone who went to school with four people who are spending the rest of their lives in prison for murder, it can happen. I even at one time considered one of them a friend.
As I wrote in a post two years ago about the crime, here’s what I thought:
“I’ve often theorized that the case was just a bad series of events that happened on that day. It was just like the Titanic tragedy could’ve been avoided if they were going a little slower or hit the iceberg head on. There’s even word that those in the crow’s nest didn’t bother to ask for the keys to get the binoculars out of a lockerbox. Or people didn’t take the sinking as seriously as they were suspecting another boat to come around at any minute. All these factors led to the sinking just like a set of factors led to Nicole and Ron’s murder.
“The wheels were set in motion earlier that day when Simpson broke up with Paula Barbieri. Yes, it sucks to break up but Simpson reportedly was acting in a better mood later that day as he was attending his daughter’s dance recital. He’s thinking this is a chance to make up with Nicole so he tries to work his way closer. There were reports he was wanting to spend more time with Nicole and the kids but she was pushing against it.
“Later that evening, Nicole and the kids were supposed to go out to eat at the restaurant where Jason Simpson was working. It’s been reported that Jason had prepared a meal for his siblings and Nicole. But they didn’t show. Instead, they went to Mezzaluna. I’m guessing Nicole made this switch out of concern that Simpson would show up and invite himself to dinner. She was trying to move on. It was later reported he would often show up outside her house whenever she was with dates.
“So, Simpson is probably wondering why Nicole wouldn’t want him spending more time with her and the kids. This man’s a narcissist. He doesn’t see that Nicole is trying to move on from him. He’s thinking that as long as she’s living and breathing, he has a say-so in what happens in her life. A lot of men think this way about their exes. You add kids to the mix and obviously these jealous narcissistic men are going to put their foot down on who can be around their kids. But it’s really a way to control their exes while they can continue to be with other women.
“Maybe Jason snuck away and made a phone call to Simpson to tell his father that Nicole and the kids didn’t show up. There’s been suspicion that Jason was involved. But for not coming to a restaurant to eat meals he prepared? I also feel Jason knew there was some toxic atmosphere in both relationships and wasn’t angry at Nicole for showing up. Either way, Simpson has been rejected twice in one day. His girlfriend has dumped him. And his ex-wife is telling him that things are over. He’s mad. He doesn’t know what the deal is.
“He’s got to get ready to go on a flight to Chicago but things are bothering him. He goes to his house guest Kato Kaelin and mentions they go get something from McDonald’s. Knowing someone like Kato wouldn’t pass up something like that, they go and get some grub and go back to his house. The clock is ticking but Simpson is still wondering what’s up with Nicole.
“This is 1994 and a lot of people, even celebrities don’t have cellular phones. It’s two miles approximately between Simpson’s house and Nicole’s home. That’s less than a 10-minute drive. Simpson drives over to the Bundy address. As he’s sitting outside, he observes Ron going to drop off the glasses that Nicole’s mother left at Mezzaluna. Ron was off work from the restaurant and on his way to meet his girlfriend. No good dead goes unpunished.
“So, Simpson sees this young 20-something man, who is very handsome casually walking up to his ex-wife’s home this late at night on a Sunday. So, he’s enraged. He grabs a knife out of his Bronco and slides those gloves on. He’s thinking he might scare or harass Nicole and Ron. Maybe he’ll key Ron’s car real quick.
“As he walks up to the Bundy entrance, he is surprised to see Ron walking out as he probably thought Ron was going inside. And Ron is surprised to see Simpson. Before Ron knows what happens, O.J. stabs him in anger. This causes a commotion that Nicole hears and she goes outside to see what is happening. When she sees Ron getting stabbed, she freezes and Simpson rushes at her stabbing her very aggressively. She’s stabbed seven times in the neck and scalp and suffers a 5.5 inch gash across her throat that nearly decapitates her.
“This is anger. Simpson is so upset in his mind that Nicole is seeing this younger man. The theory is that Ron had interrupted Simpson. But that’s a quick window to interrupt a murder. I don’t think Simpson went there without the intent to harm anyone until he saw Ron. That was the trigger. It doesn’t take long to stab someone and what happened probably took half a minute. Maybe 40-45 seconds at the most, it was.
“But very quickly, Simpson takes off back to the Bronco and floors it out of there. Motorists would later say they saw Simpson in the vicinity. The only problem is they told it to the tabloids and not the authorities. So, their testimony was tainted.
“Simpson gets back home and hops the fence to get back into his house because the limo driver to take him to the airport is already there. He throws all his clothes in a suitcase and hops in the shower to wash the blood off of him. He quickly dresses and goes down to the limo. It’s Los Angeles and the driver is used to celebrities taken their sweet time.
“Simpson makes it to LAX. People say they didn’t notice any marks on his hands as he signed a few autographs. Of course not. He was wearing the gloves. He flies to Chicago hoping that Ron and Nicole’s bodies aren’t found until the morning so he can get rid of the clothes. It may be L.A. but it’s still a late Sunday night. People are going to bed. The problem is that the bodies are found by someone walking his dog late. The LAPD is called out and they notify Simpson in Chicago. Police say that Simpson never asked what happened to Nicole after they told him she was dead.
“So, now, Simpson has to book the first flight back to LAX or else he will appear suspicious. He must also take the same suitcase back. This was prior to 9/11 when they didn’t randomly check bags as they do now. He hasn’t had time to get rid of the bloody clothes but knows that he needs to do something. He tells Rob Kardashian, his friend and former attorney, about it maybe. Kardashian would later be videotaped by a news crew holding the suitcase like he’s wanting to turn it over to a uniformed police officer. The only problem is the officers aren’t paying much attention.
“Shortly after that, Kardashian renews his law license. He is now Simpson’s lawyer. And everything that has been told to him is protected by the attorney-client privilege. As the week goes on, the story of the murders becomes more newsworthy as the police want more answers. Simpson spends time at the Kardashian household. One day after Nicole’s funeral, he is supposed to turn himself into authorities.
“But he doesn’t. He goes on the lam. He knows he can make it halfway to the Mexican border before authorities now something is wrong. He sitting in the back of Al Cowlings’ Bronco and no one will be the wiser. It was 1994 and it was a lot easier to go into Mexico then. The only problem is that Simpson is spotted on the highway and someone finds a pay phone to make a phone call. It’s dumb luck for the police.
“Now, authorities are located of a possible fugitive sighting. The California Highway Patrol pulls the Bronco over but Cowling tells them that Simpson has a gun to his head. Normally, they would’ve reacted differently. But no one wants to be the CHiP trooper who opened fire on O.J. Simpson or led to him blowing his brains out all over the place. Now, his plan of making it to Mexico is blown so Simpson realizes he can make it back to his house with a police escort.
“Authorities at Simpson’s Brentwood house said his family was too relaxed if he was really suicidial. They said they had ordered takeout and were eating submarine sandwiches and chips while watching like the rest of America the events on TV. Simpson and his people are working on a plan for him to surrender without incident. It’s been two years since the L.A. Riots. No one wants a bloodbath live on primetime TV.”
Eventually, the Goldman and Browns sued Simpson in civil court and Simpson was found liable and ordered to pay. However, Fred Goldman, father of Ron, has repeatedly said the judgment wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. But Simpson’s behavior afterwards isn’t the behavior of an innocent man. It’s the behavior of a man who knows he beat the system. It’s no surprise Simpson was known to hang out with Donald Trump. As mentioned in O.J.: Made in America, Simpson should’ve spent more time doing community events and attending church organizations.
Instead, he acted like some frat boy who just turned 21 and spent years hanging out in bars/club getting drunk and chasing women. Need I remind you that Simpson was 60 when on Sept. 13, 2007, he along with others broke into a room at the Palace Station hotel in Las Vegas, Nev., which was being rented to Bruce Fromong, a memorabilia dealer, and stole his items. They’re lucky he didn’t die as they had guns. With Cochran dead and buried, he didn’t have someone to defend him anymore. And more important, he had lost the public’s opinion of him. He was later convicted on Oct. 3, 2008, 13 years to the date he was acquitted.
He was eventually released on Oct. 1, 2017 and spent the last years living a mostly private life, but he announced in February he was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. And as news of his death spread, people were still conflicted. Being acquitted is not the same as being exonerated. He still owed the families of Goldman and Brown over $100 million from the civil trial. Ironically, the 2007 robbery happened in part because of that civil trial as Simpson felt Fromong had stole items that was his he had given to others to avoid liquidation to the Goldmans and Browns.
There’s a saying that the only second chances you get in life are to make the same mistakes again. Well, for Simpson, that’s a truth. He was acquitted for double murder in what became the trial of the 20th Century. He was able to use legal loopholes to avoid paying one cent to the victim’s families and still hold on to his pension. But he did stupid things. He had the book If I Did It ghost-written in order to make money. He even went on to make a reality TV show pilot Juiced that showed off his cockiness and arrogance. David Berkowitz was convicted of killing people in the Son of Sam killings and has reformed his life in prison. It might be a show but at least he’s putting it on in full display.
Instead, Simpsons spent the last 30 years giving everyone the middle finger. Even after he came out of prison in 2017, he still would pop up and say things. He even committed on social media about the infamous Oscar slap by Will Smith. Granted, Chris Rock said some bad things in his comedy bits in the 1990s about the victims, but now we know more. Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown had no romantic relationship. Even if they did, they were adults. Goldman was dating at the time of his death and was on his way to see his girlfriend.
For the most part, we still have forgotten about them as the conspiracy theorists have spent years pulling nonsense out of their asses about the two. In the wake of the MeToo Movement, people have realized that Brown was probably the victim of a sexual assault by Simpson. People are just finally starting to take domestic abuse more seriously. Even one of the jurors during the trial said she more or less blamed Brown for not getting out of the relationship.
But mostly, what has changed is we’re more willing to accept that just because someone is a celebrity, they are capable of awful crimes. People like Aaron Hernandez, Danny Masterson, and Bill Cosby are capable of major crimes against other people. And as Trump has exhausted all his chances of delaying the hush money trial which is set to begin Monday, people need to realize no one is above the law. The trial changed people’s perception of trials and the criminal justice/judicial system. I’ve often noted that you don’t see many movies or TV shows that have come out since the late 1990s about people being “wrongfully accused” especially if they are white or from affluent backgrounds.
I still think we shouldn’t care too much about celebrities and hold them up to bigger standards. Yet, we have with people like Trump. This might be controversial but I don’t think many black people should be defending Simpson. But that’s their choice. I really do believe Simpson thought he was better than the rest of the black population. However, in the end, he became another statistic of the black convicted felon. But regardless of race, sex or creed, when giving a chance to turn your life around, some people will still push their limits.
If anything good came out of Simpson’s crazy racism legal defense was it got other cases examined where there actually was misconduct by law enforcement and the prosecutors. Cochran, Kardashian and F. Lee Bailey have since passed away. And Alan Dershowitz, who was part of the “Dream Team,” has had his reputation tarnished with his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, even though he has denied any wrongdoing.
And the Innocence Project, which Barry Scheck co-founded, has come under scrutiny for its defense of Scott Peterson. Scheck was Simpson’s lawyer who questioned the collection of DNA evidence. So people will always debate whether or not Simpson was really guilty. But the criminal trials have overshadowed his football career, acting career as well as other business ventures.
What do you think? Please comment.