All language subtitles for How.It.Really.Happened.S01E04_English

♪♪

Well, you know,
you learn more about yourself

during times of adversity.

You know, I use, you know,

Jim Ryun as an example of a guy
who was a great talent,

but when he first came up
against some competition,

adversity, he quit
in the middle of the race.

Well, I found out about myself
that I wasn't a quitter,

you know, in Buffalo when things
weren't going well,

that, hey,
I was still willing

to finish the race
and work hard,

and it just made me
understand myself a little more

and what wasreally
is character, in the end.

♪♪

♪♪

Hey, everyone.
I'm Hill Harper.

And welcome to
"How It Really Happened,"

in part two of our
O.J. Simpson story.

With no conviction,
Orenthal James Simpson's guilt

in the bloody murders
of Ron Goldman

and Nicole Brown-Simpson
is in doubt.

The question is, who did it?

And in looking for answers,

people turned to possible
culprits other than O.J.

Was it the drifter
serial killer from Kentucky

who wrote a so-called
confession letter,

the career criminal
from Virginia

who says he was offered money

in a murder-for-hire
plot to kill Nicole?

Or some even thought
it might have been O.J.'s

oldest-born son,
Jason Lamar Simpson.

Tonight, we explore several
of the most widely

discussed theories that caused
some to begin to wonder

who might have killed
Ron and Nicole.

♪♪

We begin tonight with
a murder investigation

where speculation is fierce,
official words are few,

and legal comings
and goings are plenty.

All focus on the slayings

of O.J. Simpson's ex-wife
and a male friend.

HILL:
What we have is a female white
in the vicinity of 30 years old

and a male white
probably the same age.

Both victims,
Nicole Brown-Simpson

and Ronald Goldman,
had been savagely attacked.

Both dead on the sidewalk right
in front of the residence here.

The criminal made a mess
of the crime scene.

I mean, there was blood
everywhere.

There was also a knit cap,
what appeared to be a knit cap,

and what looked like a glove
at the feet of the male victim.

Reporter:
O.J. Simpson in cuffs yesterday
and possibly in trouble today

as police investigate
the killing of his ex-wife.

This letter was written by
O.J. today.

"I have nothing to do
with Nicole's murder.

I loved her, always have
and always will."

Mr. Simpson, in agreement
with his attorney,

was scheduled to surrender
this morning

to the Los Angeles
Police Department.

[ Sirens wail ]

Reporter:
Simpson, who became a fugitive,
was pursued by police,

news people,
and hundreds of spectators

over Los Angeles freeways...

Cowlings: this is A.C.,
I have O.J. in the car.

9-1-1 Operator:
Okay. Where are you?

Cowlings: You got to tell police
just to back off.

He's still alive,
but he's a gun to his head.

Reporter:
...and eventually surrendered
to police at his Brentwood home.

Reporter 2: Tonight, a beloved
sports star one moment,

subject of serious
questions the next.

The press whirls
on O.J. Simpson.

Man:
Juice! Juice! Juice!

Harper:
There are numerous theories

about who committed
the killings.

Detectives will tell you
that often

when you have a spouse
who's murdered,

their spouse or former spouse
is the one responsible,

so they suspected
that O.J. Simpson

might have been
involved in this killing.

Man: O.J., can you tell us
anything, O.J.?

Moret: A lot of people didn't
want to believe it because,

let's face it,
he had crafted a public image

that was impeccable.

People loved him.

Well, well-wishers have been
coming by O.J. Simpson's home,

some stopping to place placards
on the gate to his driveway.

One saying, "We love O.J."

Another saying,
"Say it ain't so, Joe,"

and another one saying,
"O.J. Is not guilty."

People don't want to believe
that a guy that likable,

that handsome, that charming,
that charismatic,

somebody that perfect
can be so awful.

♪♪

In all, both victims
were stabbed nearly 20 times.

Watts: Ronald Goldman was
a self-defense-trained person

20 years younger
than O.J. Simpson,

but he had
24 different wounds and cuts

and scratches on his hands,
defense wounds,

and the perpetrator
of that crime would've,

I thought, had more scratches,
cuts or bruises,

and when O.J. Simpson came back
in town,

all he had on his entire body

was just a cut on one
of his fingers on his left hand.

Everyone
step back, please.

Some people have their mind
set that O.J. Simpson

is not guilty
in their head,

and some people want to believe
there's another theory.

Man: Please,
get out of the way.

Velez-Mitchell:
Almost from the very beginning,
O.J.'s defense team

presented this alternate reality
that O.J. Simpson was innocent

and the real killer or killers
were out there somewhere.

Man 2: Have you been told
you're under arrest, O.J.?

Watts: We would hear
different theories,

and different murder plots
and conspiracy theories

came forward all the time.

People are falling over
each other

trying to claim that
they're

[ Siren wail ]

Reporter:
His capture in rural Kentucky

was like something out
of a Hollywood movie.

Glen Rogers is immediately
linked

to the murders
of at least four women,

including one in Los Angeles.

Glen Rogers was a seedy
character, a drifter.

Velez-Mitchell: He is a very,
very frightening guy.

They called him
the Casanova killer.

They also called him
the cross country killer.

Well, how about the story
in "The New York Post"

yesterday that the serial
killer
that you have under arrest,

I think, for four or five
serial
killings may have done this.

I mean, Rogers made
some interesting claims.

Velez-Mitchell:
He claimed at one point
that he murdered 70 women,

and he tells a friend of his

that one of those women
was Nicole.

According to Norman Pardo,
O.J.'s business manager,

he received a letter from Rogers
from prison on death row,

if you would,

that states that he, Rogers,

is the one that
killed Nicole Brown-Simpson.

Ortega:
He came forward and said that,

"Oh, by the way, I was painting
Nicole Simpson's house

and decided that
I'd kill her, too."

Alright.
Now, there's a story he painted

a house two houses
away from Nicole's, right?

We're doing -- that is what
"The New York Post" said.

We're doing follow-up
on these issues right now.

Velez-Mitchell: And after
the Northridge earthquake,

he ended up in Los Angeles.

He was a drifter, and he came
to be part of a repair crew,

and so he then claims
that somehow he ends up

with a painting company

and is painting the outside
of Nicole's condo on Bundy.

There's actually an hour
documentary about this case

and Glen Rogers called
"My Brother The Serial Killer,"

and it's narrated by
Glen Rogers' brother,

Clay Rogers.

I'm absolutely certain
that my brother, Glen,

killed Nicole Simpson
and Ron Goldman.

Watts: And the story goes,
according to Rogers' brother,

Clay, that his brother
took a piece of jewelry,

an angel pin, off the body
of Nicole Brown-Simpson

from the murder scene,
sent it to his mom in Florida.

Velez-Mitchell: Glen Rogers is
essentially saying,

"Hey, I can tell you thatO.J.
didn't kill Nicole.

I
I'm

The idea that he had the access,
the motive,

the opportunity,
and actual evidence

that he did anything to Nicole

on that night in June
is nonexistent.

In a murder investigation,

you go where
the evidence takes you,

not where the bs takes you,
where the evidence takes you.

There's nothing of
an evidentiary value

to show you that Glen Rogers had
anything to do with this case.

It's not his blood at the scene.

Velez-Mitchell: Bill Wasz was
this convict, tough guy.

He was a drug runner.

Wasz claimed that he met O.J.

and Robert Kardashian
at the Roxbury.

Bill Wasz did play
a central role

in one of the notable conspiracy
so-called alternative theories

of what happened
to Nicole and Ron.

Velez-Mitchell:
He was a mob enforcer.

He was a guy who bragged

about dangling somebody
upside down over a balcony.

Bill Wasz claims he was offered
$1,000 to tail or follow Nicole

and offered $15,000
to kill her.

Velez-Mitchell:
He claims that Robert Kardashian
offers him $1,000

to track Nicole,
to literally spy on Nicole,

and follow her around
and find out

what men Nicole
is hooking up with.

Man:
Why did they hire you
to follow Nicole?

They wanted to know who she
was seeing, who she was meeting.

He supposedly kept copious notes
in a 10-page, detailed notebook,

and it allegedly
contained detailed notes

of Nicole's coming

and goings to the gym,
hairdresser, lunch dates.

Her going to school
with the kids,

what she did around town.

Reporter 3:
The O.J. Simpson case
has unleashed

moment-by-moment action,

questions that remain
unanswered,

and now there is
a new tantalizing mystery:

A mysterious notebook.

It was found
inside a vehicle

owned by O.J. Simpson's
girlfriend, Paula Barbieri.

Barbieri, a model who
was out with Simpson

on a date the night before
Nicole Simpson and her friend,

Ron Goldman, were killed.

So there's one thing
that's really in Wasz's favor.

A forensic expert checked the
handwriting on this notebook.

Even a handwriting expert

who examined Wasz's so-called
diary book of Nicole's comings

and goings determined that it
was Wasz's original handwriting.

So it kind of shows that,
unless he's psychic,

he was doing something
vis-a-vis Nicole

before she was murdered.

We sent a team down there and
spent some time with Bill Wasz,

and they interviewed Bill Wasz.

Man:
When you heard that Nicole
had been murdered,

what did you think?

I thought a lot of things.

I didn't think he did it.

To this day,
I don't think he did it.

Now, I probably know
who did it, yeah.

I wouldn't maybe know
the exact assailants,

but I probably know
who is responsible.

Bill Wasz was fine in
answering questions

to a point where what
he says cannot be corroborated,

and he says, "I'm not going
to talk to you anymore

unless I'm going
to get paid."

Sooner or later, you have
to say, "Enough nonsense.

Let's get on to the evidence."

If there was any evidence at all
to connect Wasz to this case,

we would have pursued it.

Velez-Mitchell:
Out of the woodwork
comes the Texas private eye

named Bill Dear,
who used to be a cop

and who loves to attach himself
to high-profile cases,

and suddenly he appears
and says,

"I know the killer,
and it's not O.J.

It's O.J.'s son Jason."

-Hi.
-Hi.

Woman: Good morning.

Here begins videotape number one
in the deposition

of Jason Simpson.

Moret: The nation was transfixed
by this case,

but as the case progressed,

there was a series of bombshell
revelations and allegations

and theories that continued
to shock everyone.

Velez-Mitchell:
Out of the woodwork
comes the Texas private eye

named Bill Dear,
who used to be a cop

and who loves to attach himself
to high-profile cases,

and suddenly he appears
and says,

"I know the killer,
and it's not O.J.

It's O.J.'s son Jason."

William Dear believes
that O.J.'s son Jason

is the real killer
and that O.J.

didn't kill Ron or Nicole.

He simply went to the location

and then decided to take
the fall for his son.

I realized based on what I have
been told so far that O.J.

didn't do it, but I believe

he had to have been
at the crime scene.

Jason Simpson was
a normal kid of a celebrity.

He had some problems.

Dear: When we checked his
criminal record,

he was on probation at the time
of the murders for assault

with a knife
to his former employer.

A man named Paul Goldberg,

that Jason struck
and threatened with a knife --

Man:
You assaulted a man named
Paul Goldberg, correct?

Yes, sir.

At Revival Cafe Restaurant
in Los Angeles, right?

Yes, sir.

Jason had a storage unit
that he stopped paying for,

and so the contents
of that storage unit

went up for auction.

Bill Dear is able to purchase

the contents
of the storage locker,

and it contains these diaries,
these diaries of Jason

that talked about how dark
and how troubled

and how difficult life was.

He talks about, "It's the year
of the knife for me.

I cut away my problems
with a knife.

If anyone hurts a member
of my family, I will kill them."

Lange:
At the time of the murders,

Jason Simpson is working
as a chef

or an assistant chef
at Jackson's restaurant.

On the night of the murders,

Jason was all set to cook
for the Brown family

and Justin and Sydney,

and his expectation
was after a recital

at Paul Revere Middle School
that night,

that they were all going
to come to his restaurant.

The day of the recital,

Nicole calls and says,
"I can't make it.

I'm not going to go
to that restaurant.

It's too expensive.

We're going to go to
Mezzaluna instead."

How did you find out that
the plan had been changed?

In the conversation,
she said, "We can't come.

It's just a little bit
too expensive,

so we were just going to go
right up the street."

I was kind of hurt.

I wished they would've come
to the restaurant.

Now I really wish they would've
come to the restaurant,

but she wanted
to go to Mezzaluna.

I interviewed several people
who were there that actual night

and who told me that
Jason appeared to be very upset,

and they attributed it to the
fact that she didn't show up,

and then I think
whatever happened escalated.

Moret: And the big question,
"Did he have the means?

Did he have the murder weapon?"

Did you have a set
of cooking knives?

Yeah.

And did you ever take
those knives off of,

you know,
your work premises?

All the time.

Watts: Dear says that Jason
likely headed over

to the Bundy address,
knocked on the door,

got into a disagreement
with Nicole.

William Dear claims
that Jason hits her

with the blunt end of the knife,
knocks her to the ground

and then turns his attention
to Ron Goldman

with the sharp end
of the blade.

This is a really crucial part,

and maybe the most crucial part,
of Dear's theory

and that is, he comes out
of that rage and realizes,

"Oh, my God.
What have I done?"

So William Dear claims that
Jason calls his dad in a panic.

His dad comes to the house.

That's what places O.J. Simpson
at the scene.

Dear: We know that the knit cap
was found at the crime scene.

But they couldn't definitely
say that it belonged to

O.J. Simpson.

Moret: William Dear says
that there's a photo

in the storage locker
of Jason wearing a knit cap.

William Dear says O.J. Simpson
simply wanted to protect his son

and would even take the fall
for his son to protect him.

[ Siren wails ]

Bill Dear points out
that O.J. Simpson

immediately hires
an attorney for his son.

We checked the records and found
that Jason Lamar Simpson

was never interviewed by the
Los Angeles Police Department

because he was represented
by an attorney,

and he refused
to cooperate.

Lange: He did not want to
talk to us initially.

We wanted to talk to him.

He would not want
to talk to us.

We cannot compel him
to talk to us.

Rightly so, there are a lot of
naysayers to Bill Dear's work.

There are a lot of things
that have to happen

in William Dear's scenario in
a very limited period of time.

It's ludicrous.

Woman: Nearly 2 decades later,
some still feel

O.J. Simpson
got away with murder.

Moret:
William Dear has been fighting
for one thing for 22 years.

He wants this case reopened.

He wants a grand jury
to investigate this case

because William Dear believes
that the real killer

was never put on trial.

Rightly so, there were a lot of
naysayers to Bill Dear's work.

Moret:
Even if they occurred at 10:40,
there are a lot of things

that have to happen
in William Dear's scenario

in a very limited period
of time for Jason Simpson

to have committed
these crimes.

Dear's explanation is that once
he committed these murders,

Jason called O.J.

Ortega:
O.J. Simpson then puts together
this outfit with his gloves,

goes out the back of his estate,
crawls over a fence,

which is important,
because Bill Dear claims

that that's when O.J.
sliced open his finger

on his left hand.

He puts on the gloves,
gets in his car,

drives the 2 miles to Bundy,
arrives on the scene,

is horrified to see Ron Goldman
and Nicole Brown

laying in pools of blood,
pulls off his glove

and only then,
when he pulls off the glove

does it open up the left finger,
and then O.J. begins to bleed.

Then O.J.
gets back in his Bronco,

drives back to
the Rockingham estate,

runs into the air conditioner
and drops the other glove

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

and finally gets back
into the house,

and all that has to occur
in 12 minutes.

It's ludicrous.

Moret:
And the real question is,
do Jason's motive, means,

and opportunity
really trump O.J.'s?

The prosecution would say no.

The police would say no.

Most investigators will say no.

Jason Simpson was an individual
we wanted to talk to.

We wanted to interview him.

He's the son of our suspect.

He knew Nicole.

He was in the area and that
he worked at a restaurant.

We want to talk to him.

It would be negligent for us

not to want to talk
to Jason Simpson.

He was not a suspect because
there was nothing to lead him

to be a suspect.

If you're going to entertain,
seriously entertain,

one of these other theories,

you have to disregard
all the evidence

that shows it's O.J. Simpson.

Reporter: Prosecutors say they
have collected

about 60 pieces
of evidence thus far.

They include blood samples

and a sample of O.J. Simpson's
hair for comparison

with black curly hairs

found inside a cap
at the murder scene.

You have to disregard
that totally,

and I don't think
that's a good faith thing to do.

I just don't.

Everybody wants
a conspiracy theory.

They don't want just the plain,
obvious fact that,

hey, a guy was rageful that
his beautiful wife had left him

and was starting
a fresh life.

People are interested
in a good story.

That's why we are still
doing this 22 years later.

They're not interested in facts.

There are no unanswered
questions in this case.

Mr. Simpson is charged alone

because he is
the sole murderer,

and that is why he is
the only one charged.

I think prosecutors
will tell you

theynever
this much evidence

pinning a person
to the scene of a crime.

And it's part of the
prosecution's theory,

if you will,
that O.J. was driven

to excessive jealousy

and that that was part of what
led to the explosive attack

on the night of June 12th.

O.J. Simpson

was a jealous man
and forcefully so.

Dispatcher:
911 emergency operator 461.

When you hear Nicole's voice
on the 911 calls,

you hear fear, pure fear.

Not only has William Dear's
Jason theory

been widely discredited,

but according to the LAPD
and the prosecutors,

O.J. Simpson's son Jason Simpson

was never a suspect in the
murders of Ron and Nicole.

Detectives say they wanted
to question Jason,

but on the advice
of his lawyer,

Jason exercised his right
to refuse a police interview.

Various attempts were made
to reach Jason

and his representatives,
but no statement was offered.

O.J. has always insisted
he is innocent,

and whether you believe O.J.
did it or not,

there is no question
O.J. Simpson had a dark side

to his character,

and his ex-wife,
Nicole Brown-Simpson,

more than anyone else
was a victim of his violence.

Reporter: Until the killing,
Simpson's marriage

had looked ideal
to outsiders.

But police 911 tapes
revealed afterwards

that there had been troubles.

People see people
on television

and assume
that they know them.

Ever need to rent a car fast?

Ortega: We've seen O.J. Simpson
in movies

and commercials,
playing football.

And that gives us the idea that
we know something about him,

but we don't know anything
about O.J. Simpson.

♪♪

Moret: He was O.J.,

and most people didn't know
about his violent tendencies.

That came out later.

Reporter:
Officers found Nicole Simpson,

half dressed,
badly bruised, crying,

and saying her husband
had threatened to kill her.

Reporter 2:
Detective John Edwards described
a shaking and hysterical woman

crying that her husband
was going to kill her.

She collapsed and started
yelling, "He's going to kill me.

He's going to kill me."

Watts: He pleaded no contest
to spousal battery charges,

and in typical L.A.
media fashion...

This major thing had happened,
you know?

...he went on
Roy Firestone's show.

The day after this was over,
we looked at each other.

We had, you know,
we had a fight.

We were both guilty.
No one was hurt.

It was no big deal,
and we got on with our life.

As a matter of fact --
He totally downplayed it.

He acted like,
"Oh, things got out of hand.

Nicole and I got
in a little tiff.

It was no big deal."

Ortega: The people who were
in his life knew O.J. Simpson.

What did they say?

You know, that Nicole
was afraid for her life.

Yes, Nicole did ask him
to come back.

She did try to put her family
back together.

She was the classic case
of the battered syndrome,

and she felt
that she could change him.

When you hear Nicole's voice
on the 911 calls,

you hear fear,
pure fear.

Estes: She was absolutely
terrified for her life.

I recognized her voice.

I recognized his voice,
and it broke my heart.

At one point, Nicole was saying
that she saw someone

outside her place,
keeping an eye on her.

I get there, and she says,

"Someone was peeking
through my window.

I think O.J. was stalking me.

I think I saw O.J."

Woman:
Nicole told me that he would
show up at restaurants

or bars where she had gone,
and she had no idea how he knew

she was going to be there other
than he must have followed her.

I knew there were isolated
incidences,

and that's exactly
what I thought that they were,

and --
-The people in

O.J. Simpson's life did believe

that he was capable
of this kind of crime

and that Nicole was telling
people she believed

that O.J.
was going to kill her.

Reporter:
She said what?

"He's going to kill me, and he's
going to get away with it."

♪♪

Velez-Mitchell:
The limo driver, Allan Park,

shows up at
the Rockingham estate

of O.J. Simpson to get him
for the ride to LAX

so he can go to Chicago.

He notices no cars parked
on the street,

and there's no O.J. Simpson.

Toobin: The house is dark.

There is no one answering his
repeated rings of the intercom.

That suggests that O.J.
is not home.

I believe Goldman came in first,

and I believe
shortly thereafter,

maybe right behind him,
Simpson entered.

The contusion to the rear
of Nicole's head

could have been at a time
when she was struck initially,

perhaps with the butt
of the knife.

We have defense wounds
on the hands of Goldman,

so as he was
getting slashed at,

he was trying to
defend off the knife.

He sustains several wounds,
four fatal wounds.

There's slashes to his neck

indicating he was still alive
at the time,

so this went on for a while.

There are several of
these slashes to the neck.

Then I believe
after Goldman went down,

Simpson returns to Nicole,
who is 3 to 4 feet away,

where it appears he grabbed her
and threw her head back

and sliced her throat,
nearly decapitating her.

Reporter: Jill Shively:
The first potential witness

to be branded a liar.

Jill Shively says she sees
a crazed-looking O.J. Simpson

driving wildly
in precisely the route

that someone would go
from the murder scene at Bundy

drive to his home
on Rockingham.

Reporter: Shively said Simpson
was driving a white Bronco

and almost got into a wreck
around the time

that Nicole Brown-Simpson
and Ron Goldman were killed.

Toobin: What gave particular
creditability

to Jill Shively's account

is she said she was so startled
by seeing O.J. Simpson

in this very
uncharacteristic way

that she tried to write down
his license plate,

and she came up
with a number

that was very close,
in fact,

to O.J. Simpson's license plate.

The problem was
that Jill Shively took money

from a tabloid TV show,

and the prosecutors decided
that her credibility had been

so tainted they couldn't
use her at the trial.

You know, because of 3 seconds,

my whole life has been
turned upside-down.

Jill Shively is one of the great

what-might-have-been stories
of the O.J. Simpson case.

Reporter: 10:56,
limousine driver Park

says he sees
a large black person

slip into the Simpson house.

Toobin: As it gets closer
to 11 o'clock, O.J. Simpson

answers the intercom
and says, "I was in the shower.

I'll be right down."

He told me he overslept,

and he just got out
of the shower

and that he'd be out --
be down in a minute.

There is an hour and 16 minutes
where O.J. Simpson has no alibi.

If you believe that
Allan Park saw

O.J. Simpson
arriving back at his home,

that certainly fits
with a time line

that allows O.J. to go Bundy,
kill Ron and Nicole

and come back
and make his flight.

Moret: We're in the midst
of a court recess right now.

In about 10 minutes,
the jurors will be brought

into the courtroom,
and that is when

opening statements
are scheduled to begin.

I don't think anybody
really knew

how big this case
would become.

I certainly didn't.

[ Indistinct chatter ]

This case was the first
major case,

certainly of this magnitude,

that had cameras
in the courtroom,

and it created an industry
that we'd never seen before

and probably never will again.

The press area near
criminal courts building

is a frenzy of reporters
and producers

amid a sea of satellite dishes
and scaffolding.

♪♪

Did O.J. Simpson really kill
Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman?

The answer to the question
is yes.

Watts: The suspect is black,
and the victims are white.

But beyond that what role will
race play in the upcoming trial?

The O.J. Simpson trial came
at the very end of some racial,

polarizing incidents
in Los Angeles:

Rodney King beating, 1991.

Judge: Not guilty of the crime
of assault by force --

Watts:
Following the "not guilty"
verdicts of the four officers

charged in the Rodney King
beating,

there was the 1992 L.A. Riots

and the Latasha Harlins
murder case,

in which Soon Ja Du was ordered
to spend 0 days behind bars

after being found liable
for that killing.

Reporter: They are still
outraged over judge

Joyce Karlin's decision
not to send

Latasha Harlins' killer to jail.

Woman:
We just have a judicial system

that seems to work
in the favor of some folks

and work against
African America.

Reporter: Public opinion polls
have indicated

because of race,
many African-Americans feel

Simpson cannot get a fair trial.

They do it all the time.

They have a double set
of standards in America.

Race plays no part.

Race is not an issue
in the O.J. Simpson case,

nor will we bring it up.

You say on your oath
that you have not addressed

any black person as a nigger
or spoken about black people

as niggers in the past
10 years, Detective Fuhrman?

That's what I'm saying, sir.

People ask me all the time,

"What were some of the key
trial moments?"

Number one was Mark Fuhrman.

He was one of
the lead detectives.

He supposedly found
the right-handed glove

at the Rockingham address.

He was a disaster
for the prosecution.

Moret: You have the perception
that the police are biased,

and who do you have
as the star witness there?

You got Mark Fuhrman, who says,

"I've never used
the n-word ever."

Judge: Anyone who comes to this
court and quotes you

as using that word
in dealing with

African-Americans
would be a liar?

Would they not,
detective Fuhrman?

-Yes, they would.
-All of them, correct?

All of them.

And it turns out
that he was lying.

I just kind of paused,
and then he said,

"If I had my way,
I'd gather up --

All the niggers would be
gathered together and burned."

So if he's lying about that,

maybe he lied
about planting the glove.

Watts: Instead of it turning out
to be O.J. Simpson on trial,

Mark Fuhrman became on trial.

His credibility was on trial.

The Los Angeles Police
Department's credibility

was on trial.

Mr. Simpson is a man,

not a stereotype,
but flesh and blood,

who can do both good and evil.

Watts: Another important point
of the trial

is Marcia Clark's inability
to control her witnesses

and really connect
to the jury,

and then it all boiled
over one day

when she had Kato Kaelin
on the witness stand.

Clark: Are you changing your
testimony now,

Mr. Kaelin?
-No.

Clark:
Was he upset, or wasn't he
when he talked about Nicole

and her tight dresses?

No, not real upset.
It --

I'm going to ask the court

to take this witness
as a hostile witness.

And he actually did the
prosecution more bad than good.

The day nobody will ever forget,
when Darden had

O.J. Simpson try on the gloves.

Your honor,
I think that Mr. Simpson

seems to be having a problem
putting the glove on his hand.

And that was a major
turning point

because if O.J.
wasn't a very good actor,

back in those 1970 movies,
in 1995 in the courthouse,

he really portrayed himself well

as a guy who
couldn't fit those gloves.

Velez-Mitchell:
All along, the defense
was picking away

at the prosecution's case,
and then came closing arguments.

So much of the essential facts
in this case

are just shot through
with reasonable doubt.

If you were already convinced
that O.J. Simpson

simply didn't have it
in him to do this,

those closing arguments
would have sealed the deal.

Somebody manufactured evidence
in this case.

There's missing blood.

There's EDTA.

There's questions, serious,
deeply troubling questions.

And then came the closing
argument's finale,

Johnnie Cochran.

I'm not going to be
part of the cover-up.

That's what I'm asking you do.

Stop this cover-up.

Judge: Mr. Cochran, you may make
your concluding remarks.

Cochran: Thank you, your honor,
Judge Ito.

Good afternoon again,
ladies and gentlemen.

It's been a long, long,
long road to get to this point.

Whether or not you disagree with
the defense and their theories,

Johnnie Cochran put on a show
with his closing statements...

Cochran: Something's wrong.

There's a cancer here.

Guilty?
Maybe not.

"Maybe not" not's good enough
when you're talking

about somebody's freedom
for the rest of their lives.

...including that famous moment.

O.J. Simpson in a knit cap

from two blocks away
is still O.J. 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.

It was controversial
but masterful.

♪♪

After 9 months and more than
100 witnesses, the verdict.

Alright. Mrs. Robertson,
would you --

Do you have the envelope

with the sealed
verdict forms, please?

-Yes, your honor.
-Alright.

Would you give those
to Deputy Trower?

Alright.
Mr. Cochran and Mr. Simpson,

would you please stand and face
the jury?

Hill: I was in the courthouse
when the verdict was read,

out in the hallway.

Woman:
In the matter of the people
of the state of California

versus Orenthal James Simpson
case number BA 097211,

we, the jury,
in the above-entitled action,

find the defendant,
Orenthal James Simpson,

not guilty of the crime
of murder

in violation of
penal code section 187.

-O.J.! O.J.!
-Not guilty!

Hill: Outside, the crowd reacted
with a lot of cheers.

And one or more crimes of murder
of the first or second-degree

to be not true.

And I could remember I saw
the families

of Nicole Brown-Simpson
and Ron Goldman.

It was such a horrible sight.

Did you feel sorry
for the families

when you came walking back in?

-Very sad.
-Oh, that's putting it mildly.

-Oh, yeah.
-Yeah, we cried.

I mean, we actually cried back
in the deliberation room

because there was nothing

that we could do
to help these families.

You know, they had lost
they loved ones,

and somebody out
there had killed them,

but there's nothing
we personally could do.

We had to -- and you just feel
a certain responsibility.

You're out there looking
at these people every day.

Brown: I was numb.

I thought it was going to be
a hung jury.

I did not think that they were
going convict him,

but I did not think that they
were going to let him off.

I see this, and I can see
a white backlash out of this.

I was elated because I felt
that he didn't do it.

I just feel like my team
just lost the Super Bowl.

-Celebrate.
-He's free.

-Yes.
-After 9 whole months,

and then we get this reaction
that we were stupid, illiterate,

that, you know, they didn't
deliberate long enough.

How could they have gone
over the evidence?

Jury made a decision,
and I'm sure they had

all of the evidence
to make the decision from.

He's innocent.
Jury says.

It's our system.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Brown:
They had to use the race card

in order to get a guilty man
off, you know,

and that still just
irks me like you have no idea

because it was never
about black and white.

Ever a racial feeling
about this to you?

None whatsoever.
No.

So you never said --
when Johnnie argued,

"Make a statement for black
people," that didn't move you?

No, it did not move me.

We're talking about a human
being's life

that's on the life here.

I definitely believe
there was planting.

The theory of planting was
very strong in my mind,

so I definitely had a lot
of doubt about the evidence

and how it was collected.

I have more black people,
African-Americans

that come up to me now
and say, "You know what?

We knew he was guilty."

The prosecution
did not prove to me

within a reasonable doubt
that O.J. Simpson

committed those murders.

Ortega:
I really don't blame people

for looking into alternative
theories about this case.

Any other person, I think
prosecutors would tell you

that they never get
this much evidence

pinning a person
to the scene of a crime.

The fact that he was famous,
that he was able to afford

such a high-profile,
high-priced defense team

and other things that happened
in that trial led to the result

that's left people
really unsatisfied.

They want to fill that void
and figure out,

"Well, if O.J. did it,
why wasn't he convicted?

If he didn't do it,
who else did it?"

Jason Simpson,
the eldest male child

of O.J. Simpson,
will read a statement.

A statement from my father.

"I am relieved that this part
of the incredible nightmare

that occurred on
June 12th, 1994, is over.

But when things have
settled a bit,

I will pursue
as my primary goal in life,

the killer or killers
who slaughtered Nicole

and Mr. Goldman.

They are out there somewhere.

Whatever it takes to identify
them and bring them in,

I will provide somehow."

♪♪

O.J.'s legal troubles
did not end

with his acquittal
in the criminal trial.

In a civil trial,

where the burden of proof
is much lower,

O.J. was held liable for the
slayings of Ron and Nicole,

and he was ordered
to pay $33.5 million

in damages to the families
of the victims.

The families say
they brought the lawsuit

against O.J.
for closure and justice.

Now, in December of 2008,

Simpson was sentenced
to 33 years for armed robbery

and kidnapping
over sports memorabilia.

This bizarre crime raises
a final and striking irony

that the man who earned
extraordinary levels of fame

from his legendary successes
in the game of football

forfeited his freedom
in a bumbling attempt

to steal his own
football collectibles.

Thanks for watching.

Good night.

♪♪