The Shocking Case Of O.J. Simpson

- This week on BuzzFeed Unsolved we talk about the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman. Or as you may know, the

case

of O.J. Simpson, Nicole's ex-husband, National Football League Hall of Fame running back and prime suspect in the

case

. - Also, I was a little kid when this happened. - But you know a lot. -Yeah. I mean, for anyone our age, he just... -Yeah, I actually didn't even know he played soccer. He just knew him as the guy who probably murdered someone. -Yes.-And his name was El Jugo. -His name was El Jugo. - There's a lot to unpack here.

So, let's get into it. Early on the morning of June 13, 1994 at 12:10 a.m., the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman were found outside Nicole's Brentwood home, stabbed to death. So now we're on our way to Nicole Simpson's house. Yuck. -Is she up there? - That's all there. I feel terrible. - Yes, I'm not crazy about this. - No. Look at that face! - What, what a joyous evening here in Brentwood. - Yeah. (sigh) (creepy orchestral music) Oh, wow, okay. (moans) - Good times. - At that time, Nicole and O.J. Simpson were divorced and lived in separate residences, both located in Brentwood.

The bodies were discovered by two neighbors who were literally driven to the crime scene by Nicole's dog (dog bark), a dog that several neighbors would say was barking incessantly at the time of the murders. So, like I said, the dog led the neighbors down the street, I'm not sure if he went this way or that, but the dog led them to the entrance, and they just saw the blood coming out onto the sidewalk. This whole place has been renovated, so the entrance right now is in a different place than it was then, but... - You know, what occurs to me, though, is how close all those apartments were.

And how it's like... - And how no one heard it. - For some reason, yes, yes, I always imagined that this street was bigger and that things were a little further apart, but there everything is like one on top of the other. I imagine some people would have had to hear something. - That's a good point. I never thought about that. Let's review the established and very detailed schedule. On June 12, 1994, at 6:30 p.m. m., Nicole, her children and other people come to dinner at a restaurant called Mezzaluna. At 9:15 p.m., Nicole's sister calls Mezzaluna to tell her that her mother had left her glasses there.

Ronald Goldman goes to collect the glasses. From nine to nine thirty at night. Brian Kato Kaelin and O.J. Simpson goes to dinner at McDonald's. I can't imagine McDonald's would be pleased to hear that. - I know. - I'm sure they wish that wasn't included in the testimony. - Was that in the testimony? - I mean it had to be. It's on the official timeline. - Ugh. (Ryan laughing) Well, for free, it got a lot of media coverage... - I guess. - Advertising so free, free. - I guess. At 9:45 p.m., Kato and O.J. Coming home from McDonald's.

Kato was staying with O.J. in his guest house at the time. Between 9:48 and 9:50 p.m. m., Goldman leaves Mezzaluna with a white envelope containing Nicole's mother's glasses. At 10:15 p.m., Nicole Simpson's neighbor hears a dog barking and crying while he watches television. The prosecution would later cite these barks as the barking of Nicole's dog, who is theoretically crying over the murder of her owner, Nicole. - Do they address the barking of a dog? - They go for the barking of a dog. In many ways, it seems like this dog is the real hero of this story. - I don't know if there are many heroes in this one, Ryan. - No, no, but the dog... - If you want to give it to the dog, then sure. - I'll give it to the dog, I'd like to have something happy with this story-- - Yes. - And the dog is a normal Lassie.

To make this less bleak, let's show a picture of an Akita right now. I think we could all use that. - Please. - (laughing) Okay. - Hey, something happy. - Yes, something happy. At 10:25 p.m., a limo driver named Allan Park arrives at O.J.'s house. DO he was scheduled to depart that night on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Chicago at 11:45 p.m. At 10:40 p.m. m., O.J.'s guest, Kato, heard three loud bangs on an exterior wall of the guest house where he is staying. From 10:40 to 10:55 p.m. m., Allan Park, the limo driver, calls O.J.

Intercom several times, but no answer. Just before 11 p.m. m., the limo driver sees a shadowy figure, six feet tall and 200 pounds, walking down the driveway toward the house. At approximately 11 p.m., the limo driver tries to call the intercom again and this time, O.J. answers. DO tells the limo driver that he had fallen asleep and that he had just gotten out of the shower. He doesn't look very good. - It does not look very good. Could it have been a coyote? - (laughing) What? - Hey, Los Angeles has its fair share of coyotes running around. - A six-foot-tall coyote that weighed 200 pounds?

By the way, being a shadowy figure, this guy seems to have a very accurate description of him. - I know, yes. - Six feet, 200 pounds. - But very dark. - It smelled like McDonald's. At 11:45 p.m., O.J. He leaves on an American Airlines flight to Chicago. And going back to the beginning, at 12:10 a.m., the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman are discovered outside their home, stabbed to death. Evidence found at the crime scene included a blood-stained glove left by the alleged killer, a knit hat and a bloody handprint. The detectives would arrive at O.J.'s house. at five in the morning and they would uncover some key evidence, but more on that later.

Meanwhile, the flight of O.J. lands in Chicago. According to lead prosecutor Marsha Clark, Detective Ron Phillips called O.J. to inform him that his ex-wife had died. O.J.'s first response? Quote, who killed her, end of quote. - Not good. -No, how did he die? - No. - What happened? (laughing) Who killed her? - Yes. That's not like that, that's not the place to turn. (Ryan laughing) - O.J. He was questioned for three hours by Los Angeles police but released. On June 17, 1994, four days later, O.J. He was charged with two counts of murder, but he did not turn himself in to police and was declared a fugitive.

The resulting low-speed police chase of O.J. on the highways of Southern California, in his white Ford Bronco, is an indelible memory for anyone familiar with the case. You remember? - Actually I don't. I think he wasn't very aware of the news cycle back then, because he was watching Power Rangers or something. (Ryan laughing) But I wasn't-- - Yeah, that's true, maybe you were just eating cereal or something. - Yeah. - So I'm probably shitting or something, I don't know. - Was that all you did at that age? - That's all I did, was shit. - Oh good. - In my pants. - That's a strange childhood. - DO was in the passenger seat.

The car was driven by his friend, Al Cowlings, who would later explain that he didn't stop because O.J. he apparently held a gun to his head in the car, and that O.J. It was suicidal. In fact, a suicide note from O.J. was found, but we'll get to that in a moment. So now we're going at the speed that O.J. It was when the chase was happening, and we're in peak hour traffic, for the most part, in Los Angeles. -I thought he was going even slower. -I can't say that he makes me feel euphoric at this moment.

I don't feel like Vin Diesel either. During the chase, they recorded a phone call between O.J. and homicide detective Tom Lange. Here's some audio of that. - No one will get hurt. - I'm the only one who deserves... - No, you don't deserve it. - I'll get hurt. - You don't deserve to be hurt. (O.J. groans) You don't deserve to get hurt. Do not do this. - The only thing I did was love Nicole, that's the only thing I did, was love her. - The chase would end at O.J.'s house. in Brentwood.

Inside the car they found, in what I imagine was unintentional humor, makeup sticker, a fake mustache and goatee, O.J.'s passport. and a gun. Try to imagine one of the most famous people in the world, trying to sneak into TSA with a mustache attached and thinking it will work. (laughs) I can't believe I was even considering it. -He's a little juvenile. - DO surrendered to police at 8:51 p.m. Let's review O.J.'s suicide note. In addition to thanking those who meant a lot to him in his life, O.J. He professed his innocence. He quotes: "First, everyone understand." "I had nothing to do with Nicole's murder." "She loved her." I have always loved her and I will always love her. "If we had a problem it's because he loved her so much." End of quote.

And with that, let's get into the suspects. Unlike our other cases, this case has a clear main suspect. DO Simpson. So let's break this down into two sections. Why the DO? he is the killer and why O.J. He is not the murderer. Let's start with why he might have done it. First of all, let's start with a possible reason. DO and Nicole Simpson had been going through a breakup, and around the time of the murders, Nicole and Ronald Goldman had become increasingly close, leading some to speculate that perhaps they were more than friends, although Goldman said that this was not the case. case.

That, obviously, is a clear reason, right there. -Yeah, well, I mean, even if Goldman had said that wasn't the case, I don't think that's going to matter... -No.-If he spends some time with her. - I mean, that's a meme now, the kind you shouldn't worry about. - Of course yes. - Yes. (laughs) In the most extreme case. Now, let's go back to the timeline. If the murders did, in fact, occur around 10:15 when the dog began barking, as the prosecution suggested, that would give O.J. enough time to commit the murders, clean up, and return to his house at 11 p.m. to greet the limo driver.

At this point we headed to O.J.'s Rockingham Estate, which was actually only six minutes from Nicole's house. So. - Then it is feasible. Especially if he was cutting. Damn, these houses are nice. - Yes, they are very nice houses. - I think that's all. - That's supposed to be all. - Yeah. Oh boy. - So this is the former site of O.J.'s Rockingham Estate. It was demolished in 1998. But happy to leave. Getting into DNA evidence. O.J.'s blood, as well as that of Nicole and Goldman, was found on the glove left at the crime scene.

Even more damning was the fact that this glove matched a glove found on O.J.'s property. behind the guest house, near the area where O.J.'s friend Kato heard loud banging at 10:40 p.m. Both gloves had blood on them that matched Nicole, Goldman and O.J. DO He also had a cut on his finger the day after the murders when police interviewed him. The knit hat found at the crime scene contained hairs that the FBI's Hair and Fiber Laboratory proved to be O.J. It was also found at the residence of O.J. Nicole's blood on a sock.

Blood was also found in the driveway. The bloody shoe print found at the crime scene matched O.J.'s size, and the sole pattern matched another pair O.J. property at that time. DO he had also purchased a knife that matched the type the coroner predicted the killer would use. However, the knife and shoes were never found. - This is where a lot of people, more or less, draw the line, right? - (laughs) When you have three separate pieces of evidence that have DNA connotations linking you to the murder. - If you're looking at the surface here, boy, oh boy. - That's an avalanche of, he did it, right there. - Yeah. - So maybe we should show a picture of that dog again, like, yeah, every time we get sad, we show the picture of the dog. - You want to mention that. - Bring that bad boy.

He's right there. - Good. -He is a good dog. - Good dog. - Another key detail was the fact that O.J. He had been the perpetrator of spousal abuse against Nicole Simpson in the past, which allegedly resulted in nine police visits to the Simpson residence in response to domestic disturbance calls. In 1989, O.J. He was convicted of spousal abuse and pleaded no contest to the charges. Interestingly, O.J. In fact, he wrote a book himself in 2006 called If I Did It, a hypothetical account of the murders. Although the book was first canceled due to public outrage, it was later published with the proceeds going to the Goldman family. - Oh boy.

That's... - Shit. (laughs) That's all I have to say about it. - He's just, (Ryan laughing) redefining... - This guy has some problems, and in the worst way possible. For those new to this case, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty in court. Despite DNA evidence found at the crime scene, the defense team brought to the jury's attention technical errors made by the forensic team that created some doubt about the evidence. The tests were not packaged properly and were even left to overheat in a van. This eventually led them to suggest that the crime scene could have been contaminated.

Clinging to straws. I don't know, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a forensic artist... - I know, I know you're not. - Yeah, I mean, in case you're wondering, I'm not. - It's not. - But, from my idiotic perspective, this looks very bad. During the trial, the defense team had O.J. Try on the glove found at the crime scene and it wastoo small, leading to his lawyer's now-famous line, quote: "If it doesn't fit you, you should acquit him," end quote. - Catchy. - Dr. Seuss was saved from murder, so. Although it is worth mentioning that the prosecution team was against O.J.

Try on the glove, because it had been frozen and thawed several times as a preservation method, and was also covered in blood. - Frankly, I don't know how glove freezing works. - Yeah, I'm not a great glove freezing artist. - No. - Many believe that race played a role in O.J.'s acquittal. due to the events surrounding the trial. In 1992, race riots broke out over the horrific and senseless beating by Los Angeles police of a black man named Rodney King, a beating for which the offending officers were acquitted of all charges. The defense strategically used police racism as a reason to file charges against O.J.

They showed a video of Simpson in handcuffs, as soon as he returned from Chicago, demonstrating the rush to trial on the part of the police. Perhaps one of their biggest arguments centered on Detective Mark Fuhrman. During the trial, the defense showed the jury an audiotape in which Detective Fuhrman was recorded using racial slurs more than 40 times in a single recorded session. This is noteworthy, because Detective Fuhrman was the first man to enter O.J.'s Brentwood Rockingham estate. after the murders occurred, a feat he accomplished by jumping over the wall of O.J.'s estate. This is a critical detail because, according to Detective Fuhrman's own testimony, it was during this time after jumping over the wall that he was the only one to discover the notorious bloody matching glove behind O.J.'s boarding house.

With this information, the defense was able to suggest that Detective Fuhrman planted the glove, and perhaps all the other evidence found on O.J.'s property, effectively tainting the evidence regardless of whether it was true or not. Christopher Darden, deputy district attorney, assigned to the O.J. Justice Department. He summarized the case in this quote: Quote: "he will do one thing." It will bother the black jurors. "It will say which side you are on, 'the man or the brothers', end of quote. The jury was made up of eight black people, one Hispanic, one white and two mixed-race people.

All these things considered, the jury reached the verdict of no guilty after less than four hours of deliberation. However, it is worth mentioning that O.J. lost the eventual civil case for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, and the jury awarded their families $33.5 million in punitive damages. .This episode disheartens me, Ryan. (Laughs) Yes, I know this is a very depressing case. But if O.J. didn't kill his ex-wife, then let's look at some alternative suspects. serial killer Glen Rogers. In an investigative documentary about the discovery, Clay Rogers, brother of serial killer Glen Rogers, said that while he was on death row, his brother Glen confessed to murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

However, even if this theory is true, O.J. I would still be guilty. Glen Rogers had reportedly been hired by O.J. to steal a pair of Nicole's earrings from her condo, but was told to kill her if she got in the way. However, it is possible that Rogers was serving a six-week jail sentence at the time of the murders and therefore lied about his involvement. - I feel like people in prison for murder and serial killers tend to just... - Claim things? - Yes, why do they do that? -Sometimes people claim things, in an effort to seem more competent in that field, I guess. - Well, none of us are impressed. - No, I'm not impressed. - Serial killers. - (laughs) Yeah, that'll really let it sink in.

They'll watch this video and say, "He's right." Pack it up, you know what? Come on, what are we, what are we doing? - For. - You're really hitting it hard right now. - For. - Keep going, keep going, maybe you'll make a difference. - Stop serial murders. - The last suspect is Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son, and it is the only theory of the famous private investigator Bill Dear, one of the few private investigators included in the Police Hall of Fame. However, it is worth mentioning that many have discredited Dear's case as almost entirely circumstantial.

However, Dear presents his theory in a book and the highlights are as follows. At the time of Nicole and Goldman's murders, Jason was on parole after attacking his former boss with a knife. According to Dear, Jason had also attacked an ex-girlfriend, named Jennifer Green. Dear also spoke to another ex-girlfriend of Jason's named Dee Dee, who claimed that Jason nearly broke her back after throwing her into a bathtub and, perhaps even more suspiciously, cut her hair with a knife, giving Jason two reported assaults with a knife. Dear also reportedly obtained medical records from Jason, illegally, some might add, by disguising himself and posing as a doctor at Ceders-Sinai Hospital, for two weeks, where Jason had been a patient. - I don't like this boy. -I mean, he fooled people at the hospital for two weeks. - People were killed. (Ryan laughing) And this guy is playing dress up? - I know, but I'm just saying. - He says, oh, what if I do this?

Wow! -Well, he was doing it because he was chasing...-I'll wear a weird wig...-In his mind, he was chasing justice. I mean, apparently the Police Hall of Fame thought so. - Is that something real? - Yes it is. - I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who invented that. Him in different costumes, saying, yes, we are a real organization... - Cut the video... - Talk to the president. - So he speaks... - Yes, hello, I'm the president. (Ryan laughing) Hey, he looks like that other guy, he just has a mustache. According to Dear, Jason had been diagnosed with intermittent anger disorder, and at the time of the murders, Jason stopped taking his prescribed antipsychotic medications.

This was also during the time Jason allegedly told doctors that he was, quote, "freaking out." Jason's alibi was that he was working at a restaurant that night. Dear feels this is a flimsy alibi, due to the fact that his control card is reportedly handwritten, which could suggest it was forged after the murders. This supposedly handwritten time card seems even more suspicious when you consider the fact that the restaurant's electronic clock was in full operation that night. Dear also reportedly has photographs of Jason wearing a knit hat that resembles the one found at the crime scene, photographs that only exist before the murders and not after.

To top it all off, Dear suggests that O.J. She was only present at the crime scene to protect his son, and this would explain his strange behavior after the murders, such as the infamous Bronco chase. But, as mentioned before, many have discredited Dear's case as almost entirely circumstantial. Unrelated to this case, on September 16, 2007, O.J. It was related to a robbery in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the trial that followed in 2008, O.J. He was found guilty of 12 charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping, and sentenced to 33 years in prison. According to CNN, the overall percentage of Americans who believe O.J.

The number of murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has increased from 66% in 1994 to 83% in 2014. - Certainly, there are many implications. Nuanced, very nuanced. - I feel dirty, I feel like I need to shower. And then a bath. - Yes. - And then another shower. - Yes. - I need a drink. - Well, thanks Ryan, it's been great. - Yes let's go. - Yes, good. Oh. Maybe one day we will have a definitive answer as to who is responsible for the tragic murders of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. But for now the case remains officially unsolved. (spooky ambient music)