The LAPD held a press conference on Friday morning due to the reported discovery of a knife buried at the former estate of O.J. Simpson.
LAPD Capt. Andrew Neiman confirmed that a now-retired LAPD officer came into possession of the knife “back in the ’90s,” and but the department only learned of the discovery within the last month when it was handed over to investigators.
“I would think that an LAPD officer — if this story is accurate — any time you come into contact with evidence you should and shall submit that into evidence,” Neiman said. However, Neiman added that “I don’t know what the circumstances are, why that didn’t happen, or if that’s entirely accurate, or if this whole story is possibly bogus from the get-go.”
He declined to provide the name of the former officer in question and said that it is now known at this time if the officer will face criminal charges.
Neiman also corrected himself when he referred to the matter as the “O.J. Simpson case.” “This is the Nicole Brown case, a double homicide case that is still ongoing,” he said. In 1995, the former football star was found not guilty of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman in the Brentwood neighborhood of L.A. The case officially remains open.
A construction worker is said to have found the knife buried at Simpson’s home on Rockingham Ave. back in the ’90s, Nieman said, and subsequently turned it over to an off-duty police officer who happened to be nearby.
But rather than turn it over to authorities, the retired officer apparently kept it. Nieman noted that the former officer might have mistakenly believed that the case was closed.
The officer, who retired in the late ’90s, planned to frame the knife as a keepsake and recently reached out to a friend at the LAPD for the case number of the murder investigation to include on a plaque with the knife.
The former officer’s friend alerted higher-ranking LAPD officers, who demanded the knife be turned over as evidence.
Even if the knife proves to have any blood, hair, or fingerprint evidence which links Simpson to the murders of his ex-wife and Goldman, Simpson cannot be retried due to double jeopardy.
No murder weapon was ever found in the case, but a bloody glove was found on Simpson’s property by Det. Mark Fuhrman. The glove proved central to the case, as it appeared to not fit Simpson’s hand when he tried it on in court. Defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran famously quipped, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
Simpson is currently serving a 33-year prison sentence in Nevada stemming from an incident at a Las Vegas hotel in 2007. He was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping after confronting men he claimed had stolen memorabilia from his NFL days.