On June 12th, 1994, Ron Goldman was working at a
restaurant in LA called Mezzaluna.
Nicole Brown Simpson and her family went to the restaurant
that day.
Ron was friends with Nicole,
but was not their waiter.
Later that night, Nicole's mother phoned the restaurant about a
pair of glasses that were left behind.
They were placed in an envelope and Ron brought them
to Nicole's home after he finished work.
That night, Ron and Nicole were brutally murdered.
Nicole's estranged husband, OJ Simpson,
was charged with the double murder.
It was the trial the nation watched.
It was the trial that made court TVA household name
and now the man who was found not guilty by
the criminal jury and found liable for the wrongful deaths
by a civil jury has died.
OJ Simpson passed away today at the age of
76 and tonight we will take a look at the
impact of O JS death and the murders on the
families of the victims.
We will examine the shocking verdict and look at reaction
from around the world as we investigate the life and
death
of O JS.
I'm Vinnie Politan. Thank you for joining us tonight here
in closing arguments.
Wasn't expecting to be doing this story tonight.
Really. A strange day.
A really strange day.
I've been in television news and court TV for years.
And when when someone passes away,
there's the the normal reaction that you have
usually, regardless of who they were
or what happened and what the circumstances were,
and you know what that normal reaction is for someone
that died.
And this is different. This just has a different feeling.
I think it's because of
what happened, the trial, working,
having a career at court,
TV and speaking with so many victims through the years.
It's it's just different. And it's and it's and it's
very unusual because of OJ Simpson,
who he was before the murders,
who he was at the trial than who he became
after all of it.
It's a different feeling. And I'm,
I'm still processing all of this tonight.
But I think the the place you have to start
on this day is to recall
that what happened to Nicole and Ron
was a rage fueled attack.
This was personal, this was brutal,
this was violent
and that's how their lives ended.
And
we
at court TV, me as someone who's worked here a
long time and then been a prosecutor and am a
lawyer and all of that,
I understand
that according to the criminal trial and the verdict,
OJ Simpson was presumptively innocent,
right? The verdict is not guilty.
Every defendant is presumed innocent.
So if you're found not guilty and it's not proven
to that jury,
then you are presumptively innocent.
But that doesn't make you factually innocent.
And a civil jury looked at this case,
looked at even more evidence.
OJ Simpson was compelled to testify,
and the burden of proof was lower.
Yes,
obviously in a civil case,
but there a jury determined that he took the lives
of Ron and Nicole.
So that's why I I
you can't dismiss that. That part can't be dismissed.
We can't focus that. Oh,
just not guilty yet. Look,
the whole picture. But what I always look to hear
on this program is the truth.
What is the truth of what happened?
The one part of this case that when anyone talks
about this trial that comes to my mind
is Ron's father, Fred Goldman.
And the moment that that those words were uttered and
his reaction and you could,
you could see and feel his pain throughout the trial.
But in that moment that the camera swooned over to
Ron Goldman as he had to hear those words.
And he's suffered ever since.
I mean, he's suffered ever since the loss of his
son,
obviously. But this was the gut punch.
This was the gut punch.
After losing your son,
you don't get over that.
And and that's why in every verdict since and in
covering court,
TVI always think about victims,
families, because of that man and that image and that
moment
and what they are seeking inside of a courtroom.
Their loved one never comes back.
But at a minimum what they can get is,
is some sense of justice.
And when they don't get it,
it is the gut punch that Fred Goldman got.
OJ Simpson went to prison.
Let's not forget nine years in prison.
Why did he go to prison?
Because of that civil case,
because of that civil judgment against him.
It started at 33 million and with interest became astronomical.
You see, OJ Simpson went to prison
because of that, that robbery at the hotel,
that stupid case in the hotel where he's going after
his own memorabilia that was stolen from him.
But he couldn't
get the police or he couldn't go into a civil
court to retrieve the stuff that was stolen from him,
because if he did, it would have been seized as
part of the judgement.
So the only way OJ Simpson,
because of that civil judgement,
was going to get his memorabilia back was he'd have
to use force
and commit a crime, which is what he did.
So he was punished nine years in prison for that.
But the reason he had to do that,
in his mind was because there was no legal way
using the system to retrieve his stuff because it would
have been seized as an asset as part of the
civil judgement.
So that I hope everyone understands that that the the
civil case had an impact on OJ Simpson and it
really
put him in prison for nine years.
Finally here in my in in my open,
I mean
the second thing that we think about tonight.
You know someone died, OJ Simpson died.
But I think everyone's first thought,
not everyone, but many people's first thoughts were
well, let's hope that that Ron and Nicole can rest
in peace now.
Right?
That they can rest in peace.
You know, the the family's not going to recover.
It's not making them feel any,
any any better necessarily.
I want to read for you a Fred Goldman's statement.
Right. Fred Goldman again. Who got the gut punch when
that verdict was read inside the courtroom
what he told People magazine today after the death of
OJ Simpson.
Reminder for us how long Ron has begun,
has been gone, how long we have missed him
and nothing more than that.
This is heartbreaking, right? That is the only thing that
is important today.
It is the pain from then until now.
There is nothing today that is more important than the
loss of my son
and the loss of Nicole.
And when I think about
you personally, for me the significance of of this case
and this trial
was for the first time in a big way really
understanding
what happens to murder victims,
families
and how they try to recover from this,
which is impossible. Kim Goldman joined me here at Court
TV and Studio back in 2019
to talk about being a victim.
Sometimes we we forget how how much deeper it can
go and the collateral damage.
I think that, you know,
a lot of people think that once you turn the
TV off that it's done,
it stays with you forever.
I mean there's just there's no other way around it
and you figure out a way to move within it.
And just because it was my brother or you know,
Nicole's family that suffered a loss,
the people that are part of it on the periphery
also have to figure out a way to move within
it.
It's difficult. It's so difficult.
What I want to do now
is is play for you.
So you understand and we go back,
We understand what happened, the crime that was committed and
everything that led up to that trial
that you watched on court TV
so many years ago. Let's take a look
from the beginning. It is referred to as the Trial
of the century,
the People's case, OJ Simpson killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown
and Ron Goldman.
The timeline works. The evidence is clear.
The defense Simpson has been framed.
Investigators were incompetent, biased and rushed to judgement in a
way that underscores a history of systemic problems within the
LAPD.
But before there are attorneys,
before any courtroom moments, and before any of the non-stop
news coverage,
there's a story of murder.
Two victims brutally killed on the night of June
12th, 1994.
Their bodies are discovered on the walkway leading up to
Nicole's condo in Brentwood.
The crime itself was about as horrific as you can
imagine.
There was so much blood,
you have to remember that
Nicole was nearly decapitated and bled out on the sidewalk.
Ron was stabbed
a couple dozen times, and there was lots of blood,
and it was a very small area.
And there were two little kids,
their little kids, her little kids,
sleeping upstairs.
The brutal murders occur in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of
Los Angeles,
a safe place where wealthy people live
with manicured lawns and a sense of security and quiet.
Where it happened in Brentwood
was a very safe community.
I mean, you don't expect anything like that to happen
there.
People always say that never happens here.
That's what people would say about Brentwood
during that June night. While watching the 10:00 news,
one of Nicole's neighbors hears a barking dog wailing,
as if sounding an alarm.
Another neighbor decides to take the lost dog for a
walk
and has led to the bodies of Nicole and Ron.
During that same night of June 12th,
OJ Simpson is picked up by a limo at his
home on Rockingham Ave.
He takes the red eye to Chicago for a business
trip.
Shortly after he arrives, the LAPD calls OJ and tells
him that Nicole has been killed and asks him to
come back.
They had seen a trail of blood at his house,
and when they learned that Simpson is unharmed,
they suspect he may have been involved in the murders.
He returns to LA immediately,
the police waiting for him at his home.
He was briefly handcuffed when he was talking to police,
and a camera crew that had made their way around
to the other part of the property captured it.
Meanwhile, the families of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman are
coming to grips with the sudden and awful loss of
their loved ones.
First and foremost, Nicole was involved in her
children's lives. Nicole was like a hands on mom.
She looked glamorous, she was beautiful,
she was vibrant, she was full of life.
Ron was amazing from the
practically the day he was born.
Always an amazing young man,
always kind, always thoughtful. He was
Kim's brother and best friend forever.
My brother was coming into his own at 25 years
old.
The closeness that we shared was undeniable.
And that feeling of knowing that
you always have someone that has your back
and that didn't change the older we got.
And obviously, the last act of his life proved that
my brother had
and his soul was a protector.
Today, my office filed murder charges against OJ Simpson.
Simpson agrees to turn himself in,
but he never shows when he didn't show up.
And then Robert Kardashian, his friend,
reads this letter. I think of my life
and feel I've done most
of the right things.
So why do I end up like this?
I can't go on.
The Los Angeles Police Department right now
is actively searching for Mr.
Simpson. It's like when the space shuttle Challenger blew up,
or when the Twin Towers were hit.
You know where you were when that happened.
It wasn't a chase in a traditional sense.
It was OJ Simpson, reportedly in the back seat of
a Bronco with a gun to his head.
And you'd see people lining the overpasses.
Go OJ go, that type of thing.
Homemade signs. Because at this point
OJ Simpson was still beloved,
right? Nobody could believe that he would be a killer.
It just didn't seem to make sense.
Mr. Simpson is a wanted murder suspect.
2 counts of murder. A terrible crime,
OJ Wherever you are, for the sake of your family,
for the sake of your children,
please surrender immediately. Simpson eventually surrenders to police and is
taken into custody
at the time of his arrest.
OJ Simpson is 46 years old,
a legendary Heisman Trophy winner,
a Pro Football Hall of Famer,
a star with movie and TV fame.
He has pioneered American advertising as one of the first
African Americans to be a spokesperson for a major company.
But now he's a celebrity behind bars
when they meet in 1977.
Thirty year old OJ is married and Nicole is just
18 years old.
They have two children during their seven-year marriage.
They're very much in love.
I mean, they they loved each other.
They were husband, wife. They did.
You know, they traveled together.
It was for a long time,
a very good family unit.
But what looks like an ideal marriage is actually a
toxic relationship filled with violence.
Nicole. Oh, you still on the line?
Yeah.
You think he's still going to hit you?
I don't know. You're going to leave?
You just said that. You just said he
ain't. Please. He looked me in the eye and he
said,
how can anybody think I'm guilty?
And I said, OJ, everybody thinks you're guilty.
And the voice you heard there,
that was from OJ 25,
incredible series produced here at Court TV.
The Voice you heard.
Rodger Cossack is now joining us from Los Angeles,
former deputy DA, former Pepperdine Law School professor.
Of course you know him from television,
someone who knows more about this case than anyone I
know.
Rodger, great to see you.
Thank you so much. I know everybody in the world's
calling you today,
Benny, it's always a pleasure to be with you.
So when you first heard this news today,
what was the first thing that that sort of popped
into your mind?
Well, I I just couldn't believe that this had happened.
I knew that Simpson had cancer
and but I had no idea how serious it was
or that his death would be intimate,
imminent. He he had told people that he had cancer
but still of course it brought back all those memories
of when we first met.
And so of course doing the Simpson issues,
Simpson case and and all of the
all of the trial and everything that happened and of
course the terrible,
terrible murders of Nicole and Ron and
it all came back to me.
And then you know I had to sit down for
a second and think about it.
I mean, listen, it changed my life.
And it also I think in some ways changed the
way people in many ways changed the way people looked
at the criminal justice system in America.
ABS, I agree with you
10,000% on that. And so by way of back,
like, what was your connection to the case?
Because you're out in LA at that time,
right?
I was practicing law in LA and
I
I knew the lawyers. You know,
I knew
Robert Shapiro. I knew him from
as an undergraduate in college.
I knew Johnny Cochran because we had,
I was practicing criminal defense work and he was a
very prominent lawyer and I knew him
and I that my connection was,
is that I was a
California lawyer who knew California law.
And I was called by the New York Times
by reporter who had seen some cases that I had
done some work on and called me and asked me
for a few quotes.
And that's what happened. And the next thing I know
is I started getting calls to come in and
and talk on television. And you know,
that's how it all got started with me.
But I had a very close connection because I knew
Shapiro and Cochran,
you know, pretty well and judge Edo.
So, you know, I was able to
talk to them and get things that
perhaps others didn't. And you know,
next thing I knew I had a full time job.
I want to go back to the trial.
I want to show you
two moments from the trial and I want to get
your analysis because
for many people, myself included,
the verdict was shocking to me.
But looking back now at some of this,
it may not be as shocking to me.
I want to play two moments.
We We begin first with the one that everyone talks
about here.
Here's Johnny Cochran.
OJ Simpson in a knit cap
from two blocks away is still OJ Simpson.
It's no disguise. It's no disguise.
It makes no sense. It doesn't fit.
If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
OK, so a lot of people remember and talk about
that,
But I want to play one other moment
from Mark Fuhrman and his testimony.
Let's watch this.
Detective Fuhrman, did you plant or manufacture any evidence in
this case?
I assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.
OK. Which of those two moments do you think are
more important in,
in, in, you know, what happened in this trial?
So first of all, you know,
that's a great question, Vinny,
of course. But let let me just start off by
telling your viewers that there was a conviction in the
OJ Simpson trial and that conviction was Mark Furman,
the only one whoever got convicted out of all of
the events.
Remember, he got convicted of perjury.
So the irony is that of course the cop got
convicted,
I have always said and you know,
and I differentiate between what I think happened.
And what happened with the verdict?
You know, they don't ask
the jury whether or not Simpson was whether he did
it.
They don't. The the question to the jury is OK,
do you think
you think Simpson did it or not?
They ask him. They ask the jury.
Did the prosecution prove its case
beyond a reasonable doubt? Now what's reasonable doubt?
I'm a reasonable person. So I would say my doubt
is reasonable.
You're a reasonable person. You would say yours is and
so would very so that's why you have 12 on
the jury.
That's 12 different people. And we asked them all to
reach over their reasonable doubt.
But in this case,
you know, it's easy to say,
yeah, they should have tried this case in Santa Monica.
They've got a different verdict.
And they tried it downtown.
It was a loaded jury.
It was a prejudice jury,
whatever it may be. But there were some problems with
this case,
Vinny. There were some problems.
First of all, the Marcia Clark timeline of when this
crime was committed and how he got to from the
scene of the crime to the airport never added up.
And you remember, I don't know,
people remember. You know, I course do.
There were these two young people who were out on
a date and heard the dog crying.
And that's what Marcia Clark said,
Well, that's when the murder must have happened,
when the dog was crying.
But truthfully, who the heck knows while the dog was
crying.
And so that was an issue.
The timeline just never added up the DNA,
which everybody thought was definitive evidence,
and it is definitive evidence,
but there were problems with how that DNA was collected.
And you know, the old saying,
garbage in, garbage out. And so if you doubt that
DNA,
then it's no good. And finally,
this is a jury that a large part was was
made-up of African Americans and the one of the lead
police officers.
As I said, Mark Furman
is a man who lied on the witness stand.
What did he lie about?
He lied, among other things.
How many times he had said the N word.
Now if I'm an African American and I'm sitting on
that jury,
believe me, I'm not going to believe one word of
what that guy says.
So he's the guy that found the glove.
And you have to he's,
it's an integral part of what this case is all
about.
So I thought that the
prosecution's case was flawed. Now,
if you ask me, what I think did OJ do
it,
You know, I'll give you an answer,
a personal answer, but do I think that there were
some issues that could have caused problems with that jury?
And we'll never know exactly why that jury came to
this verdict.
You know, people put, you know,
race and other things in there.
But I'm a lawyer and I look at this thing
strictly,
try to at least strictly neutral.
And I'm always said there was some issues in that
case that were just never resolved for the prosecution.
And that's why Rodger Cossack lived up to the building
tonight.
Made it super clear. Rodger,
great to see you. Thank you so much.
I know everyone wants to talk to you,
so we'll let you go.
But hopefully we'll see you again really,
really soon. Have a have a great day Rodger.
Hi folks. We've got much more to get to.
Much more of this. Plus coming up next hour
in Boise, ID day two of the doomsday prophet triple
murder death penalty trial.
Chad Daybell accused of murdering his wife and his new
wife's children.
We have a live report from the courthouse after the
X-rated and took the beard off the plastic.
It
what appeared to be a small body
wrapped in black plastic with that date around it.
We are underway in the trial of Doomsday prophet Chad
Dabell.
Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against him.
Investigators have recovered human remains at Chad Dabell's residence.
That's no way wrong
ever come up with this.
His wife, Lori Valley Daybell,
has already been convicted. Now will her husband end up
with the same fate?
It's just so hard to know where the truth
ends. It's the doomsday prophet Chad Daybell on trial.
We, the jury in the above entitled action,
find the defendant or Oranthal James Simpson not guilty of
the crime of murder in violation of Penal Code Section
187AA felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson,
a human being, as charged.
And count one of the information.
We, the jury in the above entitled action,
find the defendant Oranthal James Simpson not guilty of the
crime of murder in violation of Penal Code Section
187AA felony on Ronald Lyle Goldman,
a human being, as charged in count two of the
information.
Still, when I watch this,
when I when I watch,
There's the gut punch for Fred Goldman,
that's the gut punch. I was like,
literally, He's like killing over.
Can't believe it. But you know who else can't believe
what just happened?
If you watch OJ Simpson and everyone around him,
they couldn't believe it either.
The verdict. You know, looking back when you see
the lead detective take the 5th when asked if he
planted evidence,
well, you look back and then you say you put
put that fact in any case
on, you know that you watch here on court TV
if you have the lead investigator with the key piece
of evidence
taking the fifth one asked if you planted evidence,
you're going to lose. The
prosecution's going to lose. I don't think it matters who's
in the jury
at that point,
but what a big story today.
OJ Simpson pass away cancer.
Joining me tonight in Los Angeles,
CA entertainment reporter, host of Kinsey's LA Diaries on talk
TV,
Kinsey Schofield. Kinsey, great to see you.
Thank you for joining us tonight.
You know, this was, this was
OJ Simpson was a celebrity,
he was a an incredible athlete,
but he was like Mr.
LA, Mr. USC then lived in LA afterwards.
Obviously the murders happened in LA as well.
What's the reaction that you're seeing and hearing out in
LA today?
Yeah, you're absolutely right. The Golden Boy.
It's almost as if, I mean,
he really was truly one of the first athletes that
transitioned seamlessly into pop culture.
All the sudden. He's not just a football player,
he's a hurt spokesperson. He's that handsome guy on TV
and in movies.
So LA had LA was hit hard by that trial,
as you know. And I do think that they're hit
hard by his death,
not necessarily remembering him for the movies or,
you know, some of the his more charming qualities,
but remembering him ultimately for the deaths of Nicole Brown
Simpson and Ron Goldman.
You know, the the thing about.
And I look at OJ Simpson,
There's like 3 of him,
right? There's the first OJ Simpson,
who is the. Everyone loved him.
Yeah. I met him once at court TV.
He came in.
It was 2004. It had been 10 years
and he was doing his first live television interview and
I was sort of the backup in case he walked
out.
In the middle of the interview,
I would sit down with our incredible anchor,
Catherine Crier. But he sat there for the hour
and I'm walking past the green room and he recognized
me.
And the reason he recognized me was because
he was obsessed with court TV.
After the trial, he would watch other trials and anytime
anyone mentioned something about the trial,
he would call and and he it seemed like he
continued that.
You know in his later years when Twitter,
as soon as he got a Twitter account,
when he got out of prison,
he was tweeting about everything,
right. Well, and don't forget there was that blow up
interview that happened when
Nicole's sister was on Fox talking to Shepard Smith.
OJ Simpson just happened to be watching,
called in and started fighting with Shepard Smith and Nicole's
sister accused
Nicole's sister of wanting to sleep with him alive on
national television.
So he was very, I think he was very invested
in
crime and true crime and very invested not only in
himself,
obviously, but invested in the process of law and order
after something.
So after experiencing something as chaotic as he did,
yeah, he became sort of an expert,
which was really fascinating. I want to put up on
the screen
Caitlyn Jenner reacting today on Twitter.
Good riddance,
good riddance. It's all Caitlin had to say.
You know there have been recent TV movies and and
in one of them,
you know, they really focused on the Kardashian aspect of
all this because there was a Kardashian connection like that
was O JS first attorney
was, it was the Kardashian.
Have we heard anything from Kardashians today?
We haven't heard anything from the Kardashians,
but you're absolutely right. I mean,
so many people in Hollywood today have acknowledged the fact
that OJ really started the reality TV train.
They got thousands of letters,
these stations, these TV stations,
local stations complaining that people have been cut off from
their soap operas.
And then those people that typically watch soap operas actually
sat back and started watching this trial,
became obsessed and were devastated.
When it was over, Marcia Clark actually said,
who's also commented today and said she sent her condolences
to O JS family.
But she said people would walk up to her after
the trial and say to her,
I loved your show, assume it,
you know, because they it felt like it was a
show and it didn't feel like it was a real
trial and you had all of these different characters.
And we saw that it when you watch that FX
show,
that scripted drama with Cuba Gooding Junior at all of
the Betty,
all of the craziest moments that feel like it's just
written for TV,
those those moments really happened,
you know, actually happened.
Yes. I mean, it was perfect for TV.
Nothing else like it. Kenzie Schofield,
great to see you tonight.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We've got more to get to when we come back,
joining us live, Kato Kaelin,
how is he feeling today?
What emotions are he, Is he going through?
We'll speak with Kato Live when we return.
I've been asked to comment on the death of OJ
Simpson.
Foremost, I'd like to express my condolences to the children,
to Sydney and to Justin,
to Jason and Arnell. They lost their father and that
is never easy.
I wish to express my
love and compassion to the Goldmans,
to Fred and to Kim.
I hope you find closure.
And finally,
to the family of the beautiful Nicole Brown Simpson.
May we always cherish your memories.
Nicole was a beacon of of light that burned bright.
May we never forget her
so incredibly well stated. That was Kato Kaelin posting that
on X Today and other social media
spots. Again, this was someone who was in the middle
of it all.
And joining us now is our special guest.
That man who was staying in OJ Simpson's guest house
at the time of the murders testified at the trial.
Cato Kalin is with us.
Cato, thank you so much for joining us.
I know everyone is calling you.
Everyone wants to speak to you.
So we really appreciate your time tonight.
What are I'm just an anchor.
I'm just an anchor of court TV.
And I'm. I have these really strange emotions today that
it is really unusual for me.
You're in the middle of of all of this.
How what what are you feeling today?
Well first of all I I sort of feel like
I was born born from court TV
because you ran the the trial for every day and
from your last guest I really was
a soap opera character. I was cater,
I wasn't a real person to many people.
But when I woke up this morning and I saw
at least 98 messages and they were just starting,
I immediately didn't know anything what was happening,
but I immediately thought death
and and then I saw the message of what happened
and I sat down and I because I I had
so many people wanted to talk to me.
I thought it best if I just post something which
you which you just ran.
And it really is from the heart.
It really is and it's
you know, I always wondered
if OJ Simpson on his deathbed had a penance if
he said a penance.
I, I, I, I know he had mentioned in other
movies he always believed in heaven and I don't know
if he got there or not.
I've stated in many interviews I think he's a guilty
person
but my condolences really do go to the kids of
of Sidney and Justin who just were kids when I
was there
Arnelle and and and Jason and you know losing a
father that's it's not easy but my compassion and everything
else would really go to Fred and Kim the Goldmans
for losing the son and a brother.
And like I said Nicole really was of any a
beacon of light bright fun.
And
we can't we can't forget that memory because it's really
about
it's really about two people
that lost their lives in the in the peak of
their youth their youth really and had so much to
live for.
And so that's that's sort of encapsulated everything in that
30 years right here with on your show.
Now,
how well did you know Nicole?
How much time did you did?
Did you interact? You're living,
you know, with OJ at the time.
And I know they had issues obviously in their relationship,
but they had children together as well.
How, how much did you see her get to know
her and how much did you see her and and
and OJ together?
Yeah, I was, I was closer to Nicole.
I was at Nicole's Gretna Green estate.
That's where she lived before Bundy.
I was there for 6 1/2 months,
6 1/2 at OJ's. So I was sort of like
the room with the view.
I saw everything that was going on in in with
the people in Brentwood and with them,
both of them. And you know,
I didn't. I I saw them in arguments.
I never saw anything violence or anything hitting.
But I I always go back to my childhood of
growing up with a large family in Milwaukee,
WI. And I said these people have,
they have everything, They've got money,
they're beautiful kids and yet there's fighting and they can't
make it work.
And I just remember my mom and dad rarely fighting.
But when they did my dad would just kiss mom
and it would be over.
And I didn't see that with them.
And I I just, it's it's unfortunate.
But I just think it's from being from simple simple
background that I was from.
And I tried to always say why don't you guys
when you why don't you guys ever try to do
that.
So
anyways we are where we are today
and you're right. I mean,
OJ Simpson, like, there's a generation that didn't know about
OJ Simpson before this date.
Like before that one day this guy had it all,
the huge personality. Everyone loved him,
sports fans. And you watched him in the commercials and
he just had that aura about him of celebrity and
warmth.
And you know he was that type of guy,
which is what really I think struck a lot of
us like this was like out of left field for
those of us who didn't know about the problems he
was having with Nicole.
Well, Vinny, Vinny, you're exactly right.
And he was adulated by people he had,
he had that charisma you're talking about.
But he, he also had the thing where you want
to make sure everybody would love him and and shake.
So he loved the the public persona
of himself. They didn't know the private,
they just know the public persona and I don't think
he could live with that.
People not liking that and finding out that his private
life,
they would not have liked that.
OJ Simpson, which is probably why he wrote that letter
and took that Bronco ride and was going to take
his life until
he was talked out of it.
He was convinced not to do that.
Looking back now from from the view where we are
now,
what do you think is the biggest misperception
of of of you know,
everything that happened, all that transpired.
What is the biggest public misperception about this story?
Well, you know, the story's divided up into so many
elements of different perceptions of of possible corruption of TV's
in a courtroom,
of playing the cameras. You know,
Vinny, I, like I said,
I had this, this somewhat humble background coming from Milwaukee
and I'd never been in a courtroom in my entire
life,
not even a parking ticket,
until I got into the trial at age 34.
And then I was there for a double homicide
and I did. I I think
if I could speak about a misconception about me,
I was called everything from liar to freeloader to dummy
to
a pariah to an Assassin's target even.
But that was one of the misconceptions.
The other misconceptions were I I
I don't. I thought it was sort of
they they made the trial more entertainment.
And I I saw jurors waving
to OJ. So certain things weren't caught on camera.
And I was like, is is this a show?
So I I it. They did ATV show,
the Ryan Murphy show, which was brought up before.
And if that's not and that's entertaining.
People love trials, people love to see people in worse
pain than they have.
And I've always said that,
that everybody wants to see more people in trouble.
That's why they want to watch it.
And that's why these shows got so many Emmys.
And
I guess crime does pay in
a certain respect.
What about your reaction to the verdict?
Where were you when the verdict was read?
And were you prepared for what that jury said?
Well
while the trial went out for almost a year,
I went up and down with emotions of where it
was going to go.
What was they thinking? But towards the end I said
that he is going to be not guilty.
I I think he is guilty in my opinion.
I always thought he's he's guilty at when it got
later in the trial and I was sitting at the
Century Plaza Hotel Century City,
CA and sitting next to me was Barbara Walters.
And off camera,
after they came out with the verdict,
I said they they made a mistake and they showed
a split screen of white and black making reactions.
And the media from that moment
made such a divide in America
because it was repetition. They showed it over and over
and that just put Los Angeles backwards many,
many years. And now it's
as bad. Vinnie now with the George Floyd situation and
and everything that comes out with media and and running
certain stories
and it just keeps going back and back and we
can never have that,
that unity. At least I live in Los Angeles.
I see that all the time.
I see crime. I see people being able to shoplift
and run out of a store or not be convicted.
I see D as not convicting criminals.
And it's it's the wrong way to do it.
It's just the wrong way,
Vinny. And it's not going to get better until
there's more education and until we start convicting criminals.
So we have just about a minute left here.
Cato and I and I know again you you're being
pulled in a million directions today.
OJ Simpson. Like have you had any did you had
after this verdict,
did you ever have contact
with OJ Simpson? Did you ever have contact with any
member of his family?
Did you have contact with anyone from Ron's family,
Nicole's family? What what happened after that moment
in terms of your life and interacting with with these
people,
right. Yes, I had. I had
contact with Fred Goldman and Kim Goldman.
I've done Kim's podcast and
I I share a story with her.
I don't know if we have time for it but
the Browns.
I've reached out to Tanya and Facebook.
We follow each other. As far as the
OJ side of the family,
No, not at all. I always thought that it's best
to leave that behind.
Vinny. I don't. We don't know each other,
but my spirit is really,
I hate the dark. I love living in the light
and paying things forward and I'm all about that.
So I try not to look at the past and
so bringing this up,
you know, 30 years coming up,
it's very cathartic for me and it's I'm embracing at
this good and the blueprint of my life to take
it on.
And for whatever reason, that was my blueprint and I've
dealt with it.
You know, people can make a judgement on me,
you know, of what they want to think,
good or bad. But it's been so much more positive
in my life and I think it's because of my
Wisconsin upbringing,
believe it or not. And and is it America's Dairyland
and cream does always rise to the top,
I could say. But as far as all the contact,
no. I did see OJ one time,
though, and that was after I did the first hour
of a deposition where I was very negative on him.
I end up going to the men's room.
And he was there after I said all these terrible
things.
And I was scared in my mind and he just
said hey to me in the bathroom and I I
kind of just took off.
Kato Kaelin, nice to see you tonight.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share
your thoughts and insight tonight.
We appreciate it.
Thank you for your time.