How OJ Simpson said he would have murdered Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman — 'if' he did it

Fri, 04/12/2024 - 07:45

O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown in 1989 and Simpson in 2007, when he published "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer."
Ron Galella / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images / Issac Brekken-Pool / Getty Images

O.J. Simpson died of cancer at the age of 76 on Wednesday.
In 1995, Simpson was found not guilty of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
In 2007, a hypothetical account of how he would have murdered them was published.

O.J. Simpson, who died of cancer aged 76 on Wednesday, once published a book about how he would have hypothetically murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman, over a decade after he was accused and acquitted of all charges over their deaths.

In 1994, Simpson was arrested and charged after Brown and Goldman were stabbed at her Los Angeles home. A year later, he was found not guilty in a highly publicized, televised criminal trial. It was a watershed moment for the TV news business: an estimated 150 million people watched Simpson's verdict in 1995.

Brown and Goldman's families later sued the former football star, and a civil jury found Simpson liable for their deaths in 1997 and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages to the families.

In 2006, almost a decade after the civil trial, Simpson announced he would release a book about the murders originally titled "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened," but the book was quickly scrapped following public outcry.

After a bankruptcy court in Florida awarded the rights of the book to the Goldman family, the book was finally published, but with a new name: "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer."

The family also added new sections to the book, including commentary from the Goldman family on why they went through with the publication, as well as a prologue written by the book's ghostwriter, Pablo Fenjves, in which he describes his meetings and conversations with Simpson.

Goldman and Brown's family also received all the profits from the book.

However, Brown's sister, Denise Brown, disapproved of the publication. She told "Good Morning America" in 2007 that the book is a "manual on how to commit murder" and called any profits from the book "blood money."

"To me it's going to promote more killings instead of helping victims of domestic violence, who already know they're living a nightmare," Brown said. "We don't need to promote O.J. Simpson. We don't need to sensationalize him."

Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, and sister, Kim Goldman, defended the publication, telling Fox News in 2007: " We can take his words and show him to be the monster that he is."

Here are some key moments from the book.

OJ Simpson claimed that Nicole Brown was physically violent during their marriage.

O.J. Simpson Nicole Brown 1980 AP — Nicole Brown and OJ Simpson in 1980.
AP

In the first chapter, Simpson wrote that he began dating Brown for a number of years before his divorce from his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, was finalized.

Simpson wrote about a fight with Brown in 1984 that he said resulted in his then-girlfriend calling the cops after he "accidentally" hit one of the rims on her car with a baseball bat. He proceeded to whack the hood of the car, too, but no charges were filed.

The two married in 1985 and Simpson said he had a "pretty near storybook marriage" to Brown.

However, he painted Brown as physically violent and said she had a "real temper on her." Simpson claimed that she was always the instigator of the fights that led to the deterioration of the couple's marriage.

Simpson also wrote that in 1989, the couple had an altercation that resulted in him pleading no contest to spousal abuse. Simpson was convicted and put on probation, completed community service hours, and paid a fine.

Simpson said he and Brown tried to get back together after the divorce.

nicole brown and oj simpson — File AP Photo/Ron Heflin

Simpson also claimed that Brown was obsessed with getting back together after their divorce in 1992.

Later in the book, Simpson suggests that Brown had a split personality, claiming that Brown would get violent — even attacking the housekeeper — but then cozy up to Simpson and act normal. He also claimed she had a drug problem.

Simpson said the murders of Brown and Goldman happened after he attended his daughter's dance recital with the Brown family.

oj simpson — Simpson wears the blood-stained gloves found by the LAPD and entered into evidence in Simpson's murder trial. Prosecutors sought to prove that the gloves fit Simpson's hands.
Reuters

Simpson and Brown had two children while they were married, Sydney and Justin Brown. On June 12, 1994, Simpson, Brown, and Brown's family attended Sydney's dance recital together but Simpson wrote that he refused to go to dinner with the family following the performance.

He said Brown showed up to the recital dressed inappropriately, and he tried to avoid her during the performance.

He wrote: "I was also doing my best to stay away from Nicole, admittedly. I wasn't going to go anywhere near that woman. I was sick and tired of her shit. If she wanted to take herself down, that was one thing. But I wasn't going to let her take me down with her."

Simpson said he got burgers with Kato Kaelin, an actor who was staying in Simpson's guesthouse instead.

This is the point where Simpson clarified that what follows in the book is "hypothetical."

Later that night, Simpson said he was packing for a flight to Chicago when Charlie, a fictional acquaintance, showed up and revealed information about Brown that set Simpson off.

Charlie told Simpson that some friends of his were in Cabo when they saw Brown and her friend Faye at a party drinking and doing drugs. Simpson said he decided "Nicole was the enemy" and told Charlie to get in the Bronco so they could "scare the shit out of that girl."

Simpson wrote that he grabbed a wool hat, the infamous gloves that would later be used as evidence at the trial, and a knife stashed under the seat, but Charlie took the knife from him. After entering through a broken back gate, Simpson said he noticed that Brown had candles in the window, which he presumed were for a man she was expecting.

At this point, Goldman, a waiter from the restaurant the Brown family ate at, arrived with glasses left by Brown's mom. This sparked Simpson's rage, and he began screaming. Brown emerged from her house and started yelling back. She attempted to come after him but slipped and hit her head. Goldman got in a karate stance, and Simpson grabbed the knife from Charlie before blacking out.

After regaining consciousness, Simpson was covered in blood, unsure of what had just happened. Before getting back in the Bronco, he undressed and wrapped his bloody clothes in a bundle. He passed the waiting limo on his way back to his house and pulled off into the shadows, leaving the weapon and clothes to Charlie and instructing him to park the car and leave when the limo pulled away.

As he sneaked into his house, Simpson bumped into an air conditioning unit, which startled Kaelin. He washed up, got in the limo, and flew to Chicago, where he got the phone call about his wife's murder. After arriving back in LA, he agreed to go talk to the cops with no lawyers present.

Simpson said he tried to go to Brown's house and grave before the infamous car chase following the warrant for his arrest.

In chapter eight, Simpson recalled the circumstances of the infamous car chase.

Simpson wrote that a warrant was out for his arrest when he and his friend, Al Cowlings, headed out in the Bronco. He attempted to go to Nicole's house and then her grave, but cops were at both.

At this point, he was being described as a fugitive, Simpson wrote. Simpson said he was thinking of killing himself before hearing Dan Rather on the radio and getting angry, which prompted him to tell Cowlings to take him home. This resulted in the aforementioned chase. The book ends before the trial begins.

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How OJ Simpson said he would have murdered Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman — 'if' …