A Case Study on The O.j. Simpson Murder Case and Why The Defendant is Guilty Or not Guilty

Abstract

The unsolved murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman has become one of the most discussed cases in all of history. Orenthal James “O.J.” Simpson, the formal professional football player and the ex-husband of Nicole Brown has always been the main suspect in this case. Although found not guilty by the jury, many still believe he was the killer. In this paper, we will discuss in great detail the events that took place at the time of the murder, as well as why or why not O.J. is guilty. Theories of other killers have come to light since the murder trials. Many of these theories have been proven to be false, but others have not. If O.J. isn’t guilty, who could have been the mastermind behind these murders?

The Unfolding Case of O.J. Simpson

O.J. Simpson was born July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, California. He attended college and played football at USC. From college he was quickly recruited to the NFL draft in 1969 where he eventually played as the running back for the San Francisco 49ers. O.J. Simpson was at one time known as one of the best running backs in all of professional football history. However, when most people hear the name O.J., they don’t think of him as the man who rushed over 11,000 yard or scored 61 touchdowns. Most see him as the man who killed or was potentially the mastermind in the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald L. Goldman.

Official Timeline

On June 12th, 1994, Nicole Simpson, her children, and others went to dinner together at about 6:30pm. They dined at a restaurant called Mezzaluna. After having left the restaurant, Nicole’s sister calls Mezzaluna to say that her mother had left her glasses. The call was made at 9:15pm that night. At about 9:00-9:30pm, Brian Kaelin and O.J. Simpson go out for dinner at McDonald’s. After dinner, the two arrived back at O.J.’s house where Kaelin was staying at the time. They arrived here at about 9:45pm. 9:50pm, Goldman arrives at Mezzaluna and leaves carrying a white envelope containing Nicole’s mother’s glasses. While watching T.V. in his house late at night, Nicole’s neighbor hears the barks and cries of a dog at about 10:15pm. This would later lead the prosecution to theorize that the barks signal the murder of Nicole and Goldman. At about 10:25, Allan Park arrives at O.J.’s estate because O.J. was scheduled to leave for Chicago at 11:45pm that night. At 10:40pm Kaelin heard three loud thumps on the outside wall of the guest house. From 10:40-10:55pm, Allan Park buzzes O.J.’s intercom several times with no answer. At 10:58pm Allan sees a shadowy figure cross the driveway towards O.J.’s home. When asked to describe this figure, he says the person was about 6 feet tall and approximately 200 pounds. At 11:00pm Park tries buzzing for O.J. one last time and this time, O.J. answers. O.J. tells the driver that he had overslept and had just gotten out of the shower. 11:45pm O.J. departs on an American Airlines flight to Chicago. 12:10am, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman are discovered outside of her townhome stabbed to death.

The Days After

At around 5:00am the detectives on the case arrive at O.J.’s home. The evidence found at the scene of the crime was a bloody glove and a dark grey knitted hat said to have been left by the killer, and bloody footprint in the driveway of O.J.’s estate. Immediately after O.J.’s flight lands in Chicago, Detective Ron Phillips informs him that his ex-wife is dead. O.J.’s first response: “Who killed her?”

Upon arriving home from Chicago, O.J. was immediately taken into custody by LAPD where he was then questioned for three hours but was later released. On June 17, 1994 O.J. was charged with two accounts of murder but instead of calmly turning over to the police, he famously did not surrender and was declared a Fugitive. This resulted in a police chase along the freeways of Southern California in his white Ford Bronco. The car was driven by his friend, Al Cowlings, with O.J. in the passenger seat. When questioned, Cowlings later explained he did not stop due to the fact that O.J. was apparently holing a gun to his own head in the car, and that O.J. was suicidal. Later in the investigation a suicide note written by O.J. was found and the content was alarming. Besides thanking those that meant a lot to him in his life, O.J. professed his innocence: “First, everyone understand, I have nothing to do with Nicole’s murder. I loved her: always have and always will. If we had a problem, it’s because I loved her so much.” The chase later ended at O.J.’s home where detectives found makeup adhesive, a fake mustache, and O.J.’s passport in the back of the car. At about 8:50pm, Simpson finally surrendered to the LAPD.

Why O.J. is Guilty

O.J. and Nicole had been going through a breakup around the time of the murder. Others had also reportedly noticed Nicole and Ronald Goldman had been growing increasingly close leading many to speculate that they were more than just friends. This being the case, O.J. would have had a clear motive for the killings. When looking back at the timeline, if the dogs barking was in fact the time the murders occurred, that would give O.J. just enough time to commit the murders, clean himself up, and be back at his house by about 11:00 to meet his limo driver.

DNA Evidence. O.J.’s blood along with Ronald’s and Nicole’s were found on the bloody glove left at the scene of the crime. Further more, this glove also matched a glove found within O.J.’s estate just behind the guest house and near the area where O.J.’s friend heard the loud thumps. Both of these gloves had blood on them that matched Nicole, Goldman, and O.J.. Interviewers also noticed a fresh cut on O.J.’s fingers the days after the murders had taken place. The cut had some to believe that this must have come from a violent encounter. The knitted hat was also sent for DNA testing at the FBI hair and fiber labertory. The hair follicles found inside the hat were proven to be O.J.’s. Detectives were also able to find a sock in O.J.’s house that had the blood of Nicole Brown on it. The bloody shoeprint found in the driveway happened to also be O.J.’s size and the sole pattern matched a pair that O.J. owned at the time. O.J. had also recently purchased a knife similar to the one the coroner predicted the killer used. However, the knife and the shoes were never found by detectives.

Other Evidence. Another noteworthy detail is that O.J. had been a perpetrator of spousal abuse to Nicole Simpson many times while they were still together. Domestic Disturbance calls to the police were made about 9 times to the Simpson residence. Also, in 1989, O.J. was found guilty of spousal abuse and plead No Contest to the charges.

Why O.J. is Not Guilty

The DNA evidence found at the crime scene was believed to be contaminated due to the mistakes made by the forensics team. These mistakes were brought to the attention of the jury by the defense team. The evidence collected from the crime scene was said to have been packaged incorrectly and was even left in the van to overheat. The defense team had O.J. try on the bloody gloves that were found at the crime scene. The gloves appeared to be too small to fit O.J.’s hand, leading to his lawyer saying, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” However, as a type of preservation method, the gloves had been frozen and unfrozen multiple times. The prosecution was against having O.J. try on the gloves because of this method.

There is also a big theory that race might have had something to do with this case. At the time, many police race riots had been breaking out. In 1992, the LAPD was involved in the senseless, horrific beating of a black man named Rodney King. A beating in which the assaulting officers were acquitted of all charges. The defense was able to use race as a factor for O.J.’s charges. A video was shown to the jury of O.J. being handcuffed right after he got off of the plan from Chicago, showing the rush in judgement.

Perhaps one of their biggest arguments was centered around LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman. During the trial defense played the jury a type of audio in which Detective Fuhrman was recorded using racial slurs over 40 times in one recorded sitting. This is noteworthy because Detective Fuhrman was the first person to step inside the Rockingham Estate after the murders occurred. This he accomplished by jumping over the wall of O. J.’s property. This is a critical detail because according to Detective Fuhrman’s own testimony, it was during this time after he jumped the wall that he alone discovered the notorious bloody glove by O.J.’s guest house. With this information, the defense was able to suggest that Fuhrman planted the glove and perhaps all other evidence in O.J.’s estate. Effectively tainting the evidence regardless of whether or not it was true.

The jury was made up of 8 black people, 1 Hispanic person, 1 white person, and 2 people of mixed race. All of these things considered, the jury reached the verdict of Not Guilty after less than 4 hours of deliberation. However, it is worth mentioning that O.J. lost the eventual civil case for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, with the jury awarding their families over $33.5 million in damages. But the question remains, if O.J. didn’t kill Nicole and Goldman, then who did?

Alternate Suspects

Glen Rogers (Convicted serial killer)

Clay Rogers, the brother of Serial Killer Glen Rogers, while on the death row, Glen confessed to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman. Even if this theory was true, O.J. would still be guilty. Glen Rogers reportedly had been hired by O.J. to steal a pair of Nicole’s earrings from her condo and told to “kill her if she got in the way”. However, it’s possible that Rogers was serving a 6-week jail sentence at the time of the murders, thus lied about his involvement.

Jason Simpson (O.J.’s Son)

The soul theory of private investigator Bill Dear, who is one of the few private investigators to be inducted into the police hall of fame. Though, worth mentioning that many have discredited Dear’s case as almost entirely circumstantial. None the less, Dear presents his theory in a book titled O.J. is Innocent and I can Prove it. The highlights are as follows:

- At the time of Nicole’s and Goldman’s murders, Jason was on probation after having attacked his former boss with a knife. According to a former girlfriend, Jennifer Green, Jason had also attacked her. Dear also spoke to another former girlfriend of Jason’s, Dee Dee, who claimed that Jason almost broke her back after throwing her into a bathtub and even more suspiciously cut off her hair with a knife.

- Dear also reportedly obtained medical records of Jason’s (illegally some might add) by dressing up and impersonating a doctor for two weeks at the hospital where Jason had been a patient. According to Dear, Jason had been diagnosed with Intermittent Rage Disorder and around the time of the murders, Jason had stopped taking the prescribed antipsychotic drugs. This was also reportedly during the time Jason told doctors he was “…going to rage.”

- 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 time card is reportedly hand-written. Which could suggest that it was foraged after the murders. This reportedly hand-written time card looks even more suspicious when you consider that fact that the electronic time clock was reportedly functional that night.

- To top this off, Dear suggests that O.J. was only present at the scene of the crime to protect his son and that would explain his bazar 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. was connected to a robbery in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the 2008 trial that followed, O.J. was found guilty on 12 accounts, including armed robbery and kidnapping and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. According to CNN, the percentage of Americans who believe O.J. murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has increased from 66% in 1994 to 83% in 2014. The deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman remain a mystery to this day remain a mystery. Maybe O.J. is guilty, and maybe he’s innocent, and maybe someday the case will be solved.