Orenthal James Simpson 1947 - 2024. Was he a murderer?

[poplove]

Apparently there were signs.

Nicole Minet
@mouvement33

I've been waiting 29 years to tell this story about OJ and his days at USC. Now that he's dead (may he burn in hell) I have a story that I signed an NDA for that is no longer valid. I was a junior at USC working in Topping Student Center on campus in 1995. I was an administrative assistant to the President of Student Affairs that semester in the work/study program.

In early 1995, Robert Shapiro and Robert Kardashian (USC Alumni) walked up to my desk and said they had an appt with my boss. I was studying to be a criminal defense lawyer with a dual major in PoliSci and International Relations so I knew who they were. The meeting lasted about 30 mins.

After they left I looked at my boss like wtf was that all about!? He walked me outside and we sat by the old sprawling big tree outside Topping and my boss lit a cigarette for the first time in years and told me I had to sign an NDA because I could confirm OJ's lawyers were there for a meeting. Then he told me what the meeting was about.

Before OJ could graduate from USC, the university paid off two families of two blonde white girls that he had dated and battered. They had both gone to the LAPD to report it. One claimed he also sexually assaulted her in their relationship. The school had a vested interest in OJ going far in football and protected him at all costs. OJ had been in custody for 6 months and lawyers were in the discovery process for the trial and OJ's friend Robert Kardashian, who knew OJ from also being a student at USC, thought it would be best if those stories never saw the light of day. So a large check was written, given to my boss, and they left. I'll never forget holding that check.

Now, did you hear about this before now? Nope. That's how much power money enables.

After he was acquitted I changed my major to Philosophy/Psychology double major. I understood that I could harm society more than not if I pursued law. This is also why I abhor the Kardashians. They're rich thugs. Nothing more. #OJISDEAD

[Reality Check]

For fuck sake blood from both victims was found in the drain of his shower. And the testimony from the limousine driver alone was devastating. although those had nothing to do with Fuhrman, he did collect most of the other physical evidence. When called to the stand after the whistleblowers testified about his use of racist language he pleaded the fifth regarding his racist statements. That killed the case, which was one of the strongest cases I've ever seen, given that he wasn't an experienced killer and left all kinds of evidence behind.

I remember getting a sinking feeling in my stomach after Fuhrman's testimony and thinking for the first time there was actually a possibility that he might be acquitted.

One thing though. I believe he took the fifth when he was asked if he had ever planted evidence to convict a black person. He flat out denied ever using the n-word and was charged with perjury after the trial. He pleaded no contest but never went to prison. He got a $200 fine and probation.

[p0rtia]

The announcement of oj's death triggered a stream of reminiscences. My first thought was, "So, he got off the planet without directly admitting his guilt. Jerk." And yet, I realize, I've spent countless hours reading up on the case--and reading transcripts.

The 1996 Simpson civil trial marks the start of my love of reading trial and depo transcripts. It wasn't televised--a big loss, imo--but the transcripts for the day's testimony were released each night, and thanks to the brand spanking new internet, I got to read them. I'd always been fond of the psychological puzzle that is true crime, but this raw form and the insights it provides gripped me immediately and has never let me go.

OJ's crimes were laid bare in the civil trial--and not just because he took the stand (though highlights such as his explanations of where the cuts on his hand came from, and what he was doing out in his yard at 11 PM [said he was practicing golf shots] were epic). The main drama was set up by the testimony about the size 12 Bruno Magli shoes.

The killer's shoes had been identified early on by their distinctive tread. oj had of course denied every owning such ugly ass shoes (cf "She's not my type" in another civil trial). Between the criminal and civil trials, one or two photos of him wearing the Bruno Magli shoes had surfaced. Testimony about the strip of negatives, first by the defense expert* Robert Gordon, to prove that the negatives had been doctored, then by the plaintiff's expert to show that Gordon's measurements were bogus, was eye-popping. Gordon's expertise, btw, was based on his research in the Kennedy assassination; his testimony to Congress had apparently been the basis for a career in conspiracy theories. I'm sure, if he's still alive, he was identifying fake ballots in 2020.

Then, after the Christmas break, inspired by news of that that one short strip of negatives, another tranche of photos showing oj wearing Bruno Magli shoes surfaced. This time, the photos had been printed in various sports magazines--not much chance of those having been doctored. Sensation.

Simpson trying to explain away those photos was epic: The jacket looked like his, the shirt looked like his, the belt looked like his, but those pants--no, those pants weren't his, nor were the shoes. Okay then.

The defense tried to sell the "planting evidence" crap, but it died on the vine. They presented their tortured view of events, the plaintiffs pointed out the contradictions and time-line errors, and it was over. Bloody footprints, left glove found on the scene, bump on Kato's wall, appearance in yard viewed by limo driver, blood spatter inside the house, bloody right glove found at oj's, cut on his left hand, blood in the Bronco on the driver's side door, size 12 ugly ass shoes. Liable. Thank you.

My kind of drama, slow-to-boil but all the more powerful for that.

[Sam the Centipede]

Thanks for that p0rtia.

Did you read his book, the one called How I Didn't Do It, or something like that?

My impression from afar was always that Simpson was the killer. Recent revelations support that too, circumstantially at least.

Off Topic

I wonder how I'd have felt though as a juror from an oppressed sector of society being asked to condemn a person from the same sector based on the evidence of racist cops? I suspect if it were (say) a fraud case, I might lean strongly to acquittal, thinking "I'm not going to make it easy for you vindictive racist assholes to imprison another brother, even if he is a bad sort." Would I feel differently when the crime was so brutal and the perpetrator violent and dangerous? I don't know. But I would feel justified in entirely discounting the testimony from a proven racist cop as worthless, if I chose to.

Not having had that life experience (neither juror nor oppressed), it's difficult to know.

[Foggy]

Imagine if there were intartoobz forums during the OJ trial. Dumpster fire on steroids.

Where do we register to dance upon his grave? (Asking for a friend)

Thank you, OJ, for teaching me once and for all not to have live heroes. Wait until they die and enough time has passed for the facts to come out, before you think, "That dude is one of my heroes." We saw him and Marcus Allen at the seafood restaurant, the night I graduated from law school. Just seeing them hanging out together added a lot to the evening. A lot of water has come down the river since then.

[AndyinPA]

I don't think that's really off-topic. I pretty much have always thought he was acquitted because it was a sort of pay-back, a tit-for-tat after seeing themselves and others of their race get the short end of the stick by the justice system. Also, pay back for Rodney KIng. I could understand that. Joy Reid said on Chris Hayes' program last night pretty much the same thing. The shoe was on the other foot when a rich, black man had the resources to fight back. It maybe wasn't the best case for that to happen in, but it was what it was.

Also, it was a crappy prosecution. The evidence of guilt was there; they just did a lousy job presenting it. I thought that it was very early DNA, too, and people just didn't understand it the way they do now.







I wonder how many other clichés I could have used here.

[Sam the Centipede]

Thanks Andy. I'd forgotten about the Rodney King assault being around the same time.

I can't remember a slogan used by anti-apartheid campaigners protesting against international competitions involving whites-only South Africa teams around the 1980s. It was something like "no fair sport in an unfair society."

Similarly, even if the Simpson acquittal was the wrong verdict for the wrong reasons, one could say "do not expect justice in an unjust society."

[p0rtia]

Thanks for that p0rtia.

Did you read his book, the one called How I Didn't Do It, or something like that?

My impression from afar was always that Simpson was the killer. Recent revelations support that too, circumstantially at least.

Off Topic

I wonder how I'd have felt though as a juror from an oppressed sector of society being asked to condemn a person from the same sector based on the evidence of racist cops? I suspect if it were (say) a fraud case, I might lean strongly to acquittal, thinking "I'm not going to make it easy for you vindictive racist assholes to imprison another brother, even if he is a bad sort." Would I feel differently when the crime was so brutal and the perpetrator violent and dangerous? I don't know. But I would feel justified in entirely discounting the testimony from a proven racist cop as worthless, if I chose to.

Not having had that life experience (neither juror nor oppressed), it's difficult to know.

Title was "if I DID IT"

Jerk.

No, I didn't read it. Fred Goldman got the rights to it and published it (with much scolding from the morality police), so it wasn't a question of giving money to a killer. I just don't like liars, and OJ is a Big Liar.

[bill_g]

Imagine if there were intartoobz forums during the OJ trial. Dumpster fire on steroids.

Where do we register to dance upon his grave? (Asking for a friend)

Thank you, OJ, for teaching me once and for all not to have live heroes. Wait until they die and enough time has passed for the facts to come out, before you think, "That dude is one of my heroes." We saw him and Marcus Allen at the seafood restaurant, the night I graduated from law school. Just seeing them hanging out together added a lot to the evening. A lot of water has come down the river since then.

The Intertubes weren't around yet, but dial-up bulletin boards certainly were, and hot-n-cold running vitriol about OJ was served daily. It abounded. My hard drives were melting from all the traffic. It definitely out-paced the SCANNER WARS (which is a whole level of stoopud you don't want to know about). I spent way-too-damn-much time moderating posts about OJ throwing the ban hammer at quite a few people. It was a bit of ugliness I could live without.

[Rolodex]

I wonder if the families have some way to attach the estate he left so they can get some of the award from the civil trial. If indeed there is anything left.

[AndyinPA]

I read somewhere that the family has little expectation of ever seeing anything from the estate.

[zekeb]

I read somewhere that the family has little expectation of ever seeing anything from the estate.

True. They don't get any of his pensions or residuals or anything. Most of that goes to his kids.

[raison de arizona]

[Whatever4]

W2 and I were on vacation in Germany one day when we turned on the TV to see an odd sight: a single white truck-thing going down a multi lane highway. In German. Couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on. Eventually figured it out.

Whenever anyone asks about the trip, I have to Google “white bronco chase” to figure out what year we were there.

[John Thomas8]

I wonder if the families have some way to attach the estate he left so they can get some of the award from the civil trial. If indeed there is anything left.

More time in court:

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/39 ... n-families

Although the Brown and Goldman families have pushed for payment, LaVergne said there was never a court order forcing Simpson to pay the civil judgment. The attorney told the Review-Journal that his particular ire at the Goldman family stemmed in part from the events surrounding Simpson's planned book, titled "If I Did It." Goldman's family won control of the manuscript and retitled the book "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer."

[Suranis]

The whole "if I did it" thing is really bizarre. He must really have been desperate for money to be talked into doing it, and only the most ghoulish manager would even have suggested it.

[RVInit]

Thanks for that p0rtia.

Did you read his book, the one called How I Didn't Do It, or something like that?

My impression from afar was always that Simpson was the killer. Recent revelations support that too, circumstantially at least.

Off Topic

I wonder how I'd have felt though as a juror from an oppressed sector of society being asked to condemn a person from the same sector based on the evidence of racist cops? I suspect if it were (say) a fraud case, I might lean strongly to acquittal, thinking "I'm not going to make it easy for you vindictive racist assholes to imprison another brother, even if he is a bad sort." Would I feel differently when the crime was so brutal and the perpetrator violent and dangerous? I don't know. But I would feel justified in entirely discounting the testimony from a proven racist cop as worthless, if I chose to.

Not having had that life experience (neither juror nor oppressed), it's difficult to know.

I think it's a shame that he got away with murder. But I have never harbored any ill will towards that jury. I totally understand how Black people felt about cops in general and LAPD specifically had/has an appalling reputation in that area. I can understand totally why that particular jury was not going to trust the evidence, particularly after Fuhrman had to get back on the stand and testify regarding the issues of racism brought up with the two defense witnesses.

[RVInit]

So, do the Goldman's get the proceeds from the book sales? If so, I am going to buy a copy.

[Flatpoint High]

I read somewhere that the family has little expectation of ever seeing anything from the estate.

correct. The executor has more or less told the Goldman family to go pound sand.

[raison de arizona]

So, do the Goldman's get the proceeds from the book sales? If so, I am going to buy a copy.

Yes, all proceeds go to the Goldman family. I believe it now includes a forward from them. And they made the if really small so it just looks like “I Did It.”
https://a.co/d/83t4gIo

[RVInit]

[pipistrelle]

All author royalties from the sale of this book are awarded to the Goldman Family.

In 1994, Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson were brutally murdered at her home in Brentwood, California. O.J. Simpson was tried for the crime in a case that captured the attention of the American people, but he was ultimately acquitted of criminal charges. The victims' families brought a civil case against Simpson, which found him liable for willfully and wrongfully causing the deaths of Ron and Nicole committing battery with malice and oppression.

Twelve years later, HarperCollins announced the publication of a book in which O.J. Simpson revealed how he would have committed the murders—under the pretense that his confession was “hypothetical.” In response to public outrage that Simpson stood to profit from these crimes, HarperCollins canceled the book. Just one year later, Federal Court Judge A. Jay Cristol awarded the Goldman family the rights to If I Did It. Thus began one of the strangest odysseys in publishing history.

Originally written by O.J. Simpson, the Goldmans published a new edition of the book in the fall of 2007, which included essays written by members of the Goldman family, a member of the Goldman family legal team, and O.J.’s ghostwriter that reveal the fascinating story behind the bankruptcy case, the book’s publication, and the looming court proceedings, which would eventually lead to his conviction. The book, called “one of the most chilling things I have ever read” by Barbara Walters, skyrocketed up bestseller lists across the country in the months following publication as the national media relentlessly covered O.J. Simpson’s dramatic Las Vegas arrest for armed robbery and kidnapping.

The Goldman family views the book as his confession and has worked hard to ensure that the public will read this book and learn the truth. This is O.J. Simpson's original manuscript with up to 14,000 words of additional key commentary from those whose lives were forever changed by the heinous crime.

[John Thomas8]

O.J. Simpson’s Lawyer Reverses Opinion on Payments to Goldman Family (Exclusive)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... 235874717/

O.J. Simpson’s longtime attorney, who was named executor of the former NFL star’s will ahead of his death last week, has said he will ensure that any claim the parents of Ron Goldman make to retrieve the millions they were awarded in a 1998 civil judgment against the accused killer will be accepted by the estate.

[Reality Check]

O.J. Simpson’s Lawyer Reverses Opinion on Payments to Goldman Family (Exclusive)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... 235874717/

Interesting and unexpected. Of course maybe he is now looking at the legal reality of what the court will award.

[bob]

O.J. Simpson’s Lawyer Reverses Opinion on Payments to Goldman Family (Exclusive)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... 235874717/

Interesting and unexpected. Of course maybe he is now looking at the legal reality of what the court will award.

Yeah; the first answer was extremely dumb.

The obvious statement should have something mealy, like, "The estate will distribute its assets as required by the terms any relevant instruments as well as the applicable law. If there is a dispute about distribution, the estate will work with the interested parties and the court system as needed."

If Simpson's heirs believe the Goldmans' judgment isn't unenforcable, that's their duty to pursue, not the executor's.