The Unfolding Case of O.J. Simpson
Rachel S. Hillyard
Utah State University
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. 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
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was scheduled to leave on a plane for Chicago at 11:45pm.
- 10:40pm Kaelin heard three loud thumps on the outside wall of the guest house.
- 10:40 -10:55pm Allan Park buzzes O.J.’s intercom several times with on answer.
- 10:58pm Allan Park sees a shadowy figure. When asked to describe this figure, he says the person was about 6 feet tall and approximately 200 pounds walking across the driveway towards the house.
- 11:00pm Allan Park tries buzzing O.J.’s intercom again 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
Steven Crook’s, the husband of the victim returned home that same day in the afternoon. Mr. Crook contacted the police after not being able to find his wife and noticing that his home had been ransacked. A fisherman discovered Mrs. Crook’s body in the river that same afternoon.
Do you know what a unsolved mystery is it is a case or trial that has never been solved. Have you ever heard of oj simpson's case he was accused of murdering his ex wife nicole brown simpson and her friend. He also had ten other charges some were kidnaping and armed robbery. Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were found dead in los angeles on June 12, 1994.
A guy with no remorse of the death of his ex-wife writes a book about hypothetically killing her and evidence points to him and he walks. Nicole had numerous reports of telling a close friend and a therapist she feared that OJ would kill her one day. She even had her sister take pictures of bruises where he had hit her so she would have proof because, “The public thinks he’s a hero who can do no
On the murder night of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, was a massive outburst on the media. As stated (Turvey December 1995) both bodies were found at 12:10Am, June 13 1994 inside of Nicole’s house located at 875 South Bundy reported by witnesses seeing a river of blood. As we get closer to the murder care of both Nicole and Ron many unanswered question starts to pile up, from who could had possibly had done this to why they ever did this.
The book that I am going to introduce is Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Got Away With Murder, written by Vincent Bugliosi, and was published on June 17, 1996. We all know that Nichole Simpson and Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death and their bodies were discovered on June 12, 1994 early morning. It was said that after a car chase, O.J. was found with $9,000 I cash, his passport, disguise, and a gun. O.J. Simpson who is her ex-husband was acquitted October 3, 1995, for their deaths in a trial that riveted the nation and divided people along racial differences. In 1997, he was ordered to pay a little over $33 million for their deaths. O.J. Simpson is still serving time in prison for things like kidnapping, robbery, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and numerous other charges. Mr. Bugliosi sums up five reason why the case was lost. Those five can be labeled as the jury, the change in venue or settings, the judge allowing the defense to play the race card, the stupidity of the prosecution throughout the trial, and lastly the summation of what should really have been done. But in honesty when the media started reporting about this case it was already falling apart.
Through mistakes made within the investigative process of the case, the outcome of the case was affected. On the collection of evidence many pieces were contaminated causing flaws in this evidence. When packaging blood swabs the cotton swatches used were packed in plastic bags and then left in a hot truck. This blood was also contaminated as the technician who handled it still had the blood voluntarily given by Simpson on his gloves (Jones, 2009). Degradation of missed blood, which was left for three weeks after the initial run through, may have turned unusable by the time investigators examined it. It was weeks after finding the socks at O.J. Simpson’s house that the police noted the blood on them. Destruction of evidence may have been caused through the bodies not being taken to be autopsied till 10 hours after they were found. During evidence collection the majority was compiled by a Junior Detective, who was taped dropping blood swabs as well as wiping tweezers with dirty hands, this made the evidence highly contaminated (Deutsch, 1995). To conceal the body of Nicole Simpson a police officer place a blanket over the body, this was done to
Imagine a police chase being broadcasted on tv for millions of people to see, a man who is running now with a gun, money, and a disguise less than twenty four hours after his ex wife and new lover were murdered. Now he is being arrested and tried with their murders and against all evidence pointing towards the rest of his life in prison, he is released after 16 months of awaiting a verdict. Well this isn’t a soap opera and that isn’t Sonny Corinthos, that is your favorite athlete, former heisman trophy winner and celebrity, Oj Simpson. On October 3rd 1995, Oj Simpson was found innocent of killing Nicole Simpson and her believed lover Ron Goldman in one of the most controversial and corrupt court cases ever. Many people
O.J Simpson should have been found guilty due to his violent actions on June 12th, 1994. There were many actions or causes that led up to his violent act. The main and most known cause of Simpson’s act was “infidelity”. Simpson’s wife Nicole Simpson had been spending too much time with a man by the name of Ronald Goldman. When O.J became suspicious, he took immediate action.
The New York Times bestseller book titled Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case examines the O.J. Simpson criminal trial of the mid-1990s. The author, Alan M. Dershowitz, relates the Simpson case to the broad functions and perspectives of the American criminal justice system as a whole. A Harvard law school teacher at the time and one of the most renowned legal minds in the country, Dershowitz served as one of O.J. Simpson’s twelve defense lawyers during the trial. Dershowitz utilizes the Simpson case to illustrate how today’s criminal justice system operates and relates it to the misperceptions of the public. Many outside spectators of the case firmly believed that Simpson committed the
“On June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found dead outside of Nicole Brown Simpson’s condo in Brentwood, California at approximately midnight” (Case). “A few days later on June 17, 1994, as police go to arrest OJ Simpson as a suspect in the murders, Simpson and a friend attempted to flee in Simpson’s white Bronco but Simpson was eventually apprehended at his house after the chase concluded” (Linder). “On July 22, 1994, Simpson pleaded not guilty to charges of two counts of first degree murder” (Linder). The trial lasted from “January 29th, 1995 to October 3rd, 1995” when Simpson was ultimately found not guilty for the murders because there was not sufficient enough evidence to convict Simpson
On June 17, 1994 when police charged Orenthal James Simpson, Brown's ex-husband, and after leading police on a 60 mile low speed chase down the highways of southern Los Angeles in his friend Al Cowling's white Bronco, was arrested and jailed without bail, the story became even more complicated. This was when the police knew this would not be just any murder case. This was OJ Simpson, the famous football player, this would be complicated. Their only hope of conviction was the evidence that would place him as the murderer.
On June 12, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found dead at her home in Brentwood, CA. Orenthal James Simpson, or O.J. Simpson was notified of their deaths and immediately taken into custody for questions. Upon the collection of various pieces of evidence from the crime scene, all avenues pointed to Simpson as the culprit for the double murder. The conclusion of Simpson criminal trial resulted in his acquittal. There were various reasons for this acquittal. The most prominent reasons include accusations of racism, evidence contamination, and the lack of faith in DNA profiling. This paper will discuss the issues that arose with the trial in depth and offer an explanation and solution to resolving issues
A crime being committed is the first event to initiate our criminal justice system. On June 12th 1994 a double murder was reported at the residence of Nicole Brown Simpson the ex-wife of the then beloved Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson. It was discovered that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman had been brutally murdered and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began their investigation, this being the second step in our criminal justice system.
It is difficult to believe that O.J. Simpson was once a respected and celebrated professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. However, his image was irrevocably shattered on June 17, 1994 when Simpson was involved in a car chase that lasted about an hour on California's I-405 (O.J. Simpson leads L.A. police on a high-speed chase, 2013). Dubbed the "Crime of the Century," O.J. Simpson's trial was a media circus and was sensationalized for a number of reasons including Simpson's status as a celebrity, the mishandling of evidence, and the issue of race.
They gathered enough evidence to charge him with two counts of first-degree murder. The prosecution, therefore, had to prove that O.J knowingly caused the demise of both Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson’s house guest was recorded saying that he saw O.J Simpson, shortly after the murder, being pulled up in his white Bronco. Moreover, the limo driver stated that he waited for him for fifteen minutes before driving him to the airport. Interestingly, the times given by the witnesses coincided with suspected murder time proving that Simpson actually had planned the crime. His alibi was also precarious. He also had a record of spousal abuse. All evidence was against him and after the police established all crime elements, Simpson was charged