Murder in Brentwood (23 page)

The defense questioned the domestic violence motive, and with good reason. Uelmen made some pertinent arguments about domestic violence, and the one almost indisputable fact was that even domestic violence cases that lead to murder usually do not involve multiple victims killed with a knife. But Uelmen didn’t take the argument far enough (he couldn’t, because it would have implicated his client). There is one profile that often produces cases involving multiple victims: the love triangle.

We couldn’t expect Uelmen to offer the prosecution a motive they hadn’t explored, but when he made this argument, surely the prosecution had to see that after ten years of violent domestic disputes, something must have changed in the Simpson’s’ relationship Hint turned wife beating into murder.

I expressed these thoughts to Marcia, reminding her that I had obtained one interview that clearly indicated Ron and Nicole were at least casual lovers. Marcia was not interested in connecting the two romantically, I believe for no other reason than she felt it would have tainted the images of the two victims. I argued that there was nothing wrong with two healthy, single adults having a sexual relationship. I also pointed out that there was one person who would be outraged at the fact that Nicole chose a mere waiter to replace him in bed, and that was O.J. Simpson.

Jealousy was a better motive than domestic violence, because the situation between Simpson and Nicole had changed dramatically just before the murders. In his interrogation, Simpson described their relationship this way: “I always have problems with her, you know? Our relationship has been a problem relationship.” In another part of the interview, he said, “we both knew it wasn’t working, and probably three weeks ago or so we said it just wasn’t working and we went our separate ways” (emphasis added). Simpson also told the detectives that Nicole had returned a bracelet and earrings that he had given her around the same time. Her returning those gifts seemed to indicate that she wanted to end the relationship for good. While they had broken up many times, this time seemed to be final, at least for Nicole. But did Simpson accept it? Did Nicole’s final break-up, combined with what at least appeared to be a sexual relationship with a younger man, push Simpson over the edge? What about Paula Barbieri; hadn’t she also just broken up with Simpson? Was he, as rumored, taking illegal drugs at the time? Did other unnoticed or undocumented personal problems cause him to snap?

Marcia didn’t ask these questions. She was obsessed with the idea of Nicole as a victim of domestic violence, and refused to consider the possibility of jealous rage. Here is one possible scenario: Simpson could not deal with the fact that a twenty-five-year-old waiter had taken his place in Nicole’s bed. He stalked her, and when he saw them together, flew into a jealous rage and killed them both. This would explain Ron s presence, the brutality of the murders, and the fact that the killer was so beside himself that he left damning evidence all over two crime scenes.

I made it very clear to Marcia that it didn’t matter whether Ron and Nicole were lovers or just good friends, what mattered was what O.J. Simpson believed. We knew that Simpson had seen Nicole and Ron together at coffee shops and in her Ferrari. What effect did this have on an already insanely jealous man?

Marcia wanted this to be a classic case of domestic violence which resulted in murder. For all the right reasons she wanted this to be so, but I don’t believe it was that clear-cut. But I think Marcia was too wedded to the spousal abuse issue because of her own personal history.

How much Marcia’s personal life affected her judgment was evident one afternoon when I entered her office. As I walked in I could see that she was crying. I asked if she wanted to be alone, and she said, “No, come on in,” while trying to force a smile. I asked what was wrong, and she explained that her ex-husband was trying to get custody of her children.

I felt for her, having two small children of my own and knowing that they come before anything else in my life. I could sense her desperation and tried to console her. “Don’t let this case come between you and your kids; it’s not worth it. Anytime you want me to stop it, let me know. I’ll just go to the press about Ito and York.”

Marcia smiled and replied, “No, not yet, but it’s always nice to know we have a silver bullet.”

Of course she never used it, but I wonder whether she wishes she had. Presented with a mountain of evidence, Marcia Clark felt she could pick and choose those pieces she felt most comfortable presenting, and throw away those she considered tainted, or did not fit her precise theories. In doing so, she started an avalanche-and the mountain quickly crumbled around her.

TEN BIGGEST MISTAKES MADE BY THE PROSECUTORS

1.
        
They knew they had more than enough evidence to convict, and thus became self-righteous and picky about what they presented.

2.
        
They allowed personal history and feelings to affect their prosecution of the case.

3.
        
They felt uncomfortable prosecuting a popular celebrity. And they wanted to be celebrities themselves.

4.
        
By trying to appear overtly racially fair, they helped select a jury that was almost entirely favorable to the defense.

5.
        
As they tried to defuse racial issues, they actually introduced them into the trial, precluding their subsequent arguments that they shouldn’t be part of the trial.

6.
        
They locked themselves into precise hypotheses without evidence to completely corroborate them, instead of remaining flexible within the boundaries of the evidence.

7.
        
They got bogged down in scientific details that most of the attorneys prosecuting the case did not completely understand. Could you imagine how the jury felt?

8.
        
They did not have either Lange or Vannatter at the prosecution table during the trial to help ask questions only a detective would know to ask. Conversely, by not having a detective there, they in essence told the jury that the police had nothing to offer except their testimony.

9.
        
They covered up for the errors of the lead detectives and left other witnesses vulnerable to the defenses allegations.

10.
      
They forgot they represented the people of California, not themselves.

Chapter 15

THE MURDER WEAPON

The prosecution and investigating detectives were obsessed with finding a smoking gun (or a bloody knife) that would put the case away. But they weren’t willing to do the detailed and sometimes tedious work to track it down.

THE AUTHOR

THE DISCOVERY OF THE MURDER WEAPON would have been a substantial piece of incriminating evidence. Why wasn’t the murder weapon ever found?

In the weeks immediately following Simpson s arrest, Ron Phillips, Brad Roberts, and I were often called by Robbery/Homicide to follow up on tips, leads, and to interview possible witnesses. One of our most important tasks was the search for a murder weapon. Following citizen tips, Brad and I were sent by RHD detectives to search fields, drain pipes, and alleys. At one point, I found myself scouring an empty lot with a metal detector, wearing a suit and crawling through weeds and tall grass.

Brad and I thought the piece of old fence I found by the Bronco was evidence that might lead to the murder weapon. We thought the Bronco collided with a fence or pile of wood just after the murders. In a panic, we reasoned, Simpson attempted to find some place to throw the knife from the car. He could have stopped in an alley, opened the passenger window, and thrown the knife out, leaving blood smudges on the seat and passenger door panel. When he stopped, the Bronco collided with a fence and the piece of wood got stuck in the bumper, grill, or suspension, dislodging only when Simpson quickly stopped in front of the Rockingham estate.

Brad and I searched the neighborhood, and the only place where we found similar fencing was in some alleys a block from Nicole’s condominium. We informed Lange and Vannatter, but they weren’t interested. My suggestion to use police academy cadets to search the alleys and yards was politely ignored.

So Brad and I searched it ourselves. The neighborhood was older, with unkempt backyards and debris in almost every alleyway. Behind many homes was old white fencing that looked just as weathered as the piece I had found by the Bronco. The knife could be anywhere, but it seemed that this was a good place to begin the search. If the murderer needed to dispose of a weapon, this was a good spot. It was the only area within miles that had old-fashioned alleys that led onto back yards and garages, and the alleys were overgrown with weeds and tall grass.

Robbery/Homicide had received a phone tip that on the night of the murders, within the proper time frame, a resident of the neighborhood had heard a car in the alley behind his house. The car was described as a sports utility vehicle, a “Bronco or Blazer.” Although the witness thought it was light blue in color, a white car could have looked blue in the streetlight. The witness noticed the car because he did not recognize it as common to the neighborhood. The vehicle entered the alleyway, stopped momentarily, and then drove off. The alley had the same type of old white fencing.

This tip was not followed up on adequately, for reasons I do not know or understand. If it had been my case, instead of just relying only on Brad and me searching the whole area would Not only did the prosecution not have the murder weapon; they also didn’t have a credible theory of how the murders happened.

have been checked out completely, with a large-scale search for the weapon. I would have sent paint samples to the FBI for comparative analysis between random fence samples in the area and the piece of wood found by the Bronco. But none of this was done, and now we will never know if Simpson stopped in that alley to dispose of the weapon.
    

[Not only did the prosecution not have the murder weapon; they also didn’t have a credible theory of how the murders happened.

The police investigation did not use the resources it had or needed to pursue a case of this magnitude. No one ever took tire impressions of the Bronco, or searched the alleys for tire marks, or checked for possible debris or dirt caught in the tires. Had we found tire tracks or soil samples that put the Bronco in the alleys near the

Bundy residence, it would not by itself have proved Simpson’s guilt, but it could have placed him in the alley, it would have been good policework, and would have helped build a solid case. A single piece of irrefutable evidence doesn’t often simply fall in your lap. It takes time and effort to collect evidence that may not have obvious or dramatic value, but when taken with other evidence builds a strong case.

Why didn’t Robbery/Homicide follow up on these and other clues? Was it the fear of media attention or just laziness? Did they stop looking for the murder weapon simply because they felt it was destroyed or dumped in Chicago? I don’t believe he got rid of the weapon there, because that would suggest that Simpson was organized and cool, a description that his behavior and the evidence does not support. Simpson was in a panic after the murders. He lost a glove and his knit cap and never retrieved them. Change fell from his pocket while he reached for his keys. A witness saw him driving fast and recklessly from the scene. He left blood everywhere he went. For some reason, he went behind Kato s bungalow, where he dropped another glove. He was still sweating and probably bleeding when the limo picked him up. This was not a cool character. I believe that Simpson got rid of the knife in a hurry. Perhaps he or someone close to him came back to dispose of it later.

The prosecution and investigating detectives were obsessed with finding a smoking gun (or a bloody knife) that would put the case away. But they weren’t willing to do the detailed and sometimes tedious work necessary to track it down.

The owners and an employee of Ross Cutlery, a knife store in downtown Los Angeles, reported that Simpson bought a large German Stiletto with a 65/8 inch blade from their store on May 3. On this clue alone, the prosecution decided this knife had to be the murder weapon. Before testifying in the preliminary hearing, the cutlery store owners and employee sold their story to the National Enquirer. Cash-for-trash scandals had discouraged the prosecution from pursuing sound evidence, but in the case of the German Stiletto, they were willing to forget the tabloid taint, even though we didn’t have the weapon and had no proof that he had used it.

As an initial assumption, the idea that this Stiletto was the murder weapon was not unreasonable: when a murder suspect buys a knife whose only purpose is a stabbing instrument just prior to the killings, that knife has to be considered as a possibility. However, like many of its other pet theories, the prosecution took the Stiletto hypothesis too far.

As soon as I heard about the prosecution’s plans to use the Stiletto, I asked why we were locking ourselves into a murder weapon that we couldn’t prove had killed the victims, and didn’t even have in our possession. We could not connect the knife directly with the murder. If Simpson had purchased the knife immediately before the murders, the inference would have been stronger, but he bought it several weeks prior. If Simpson had been seen within days, or at all, with this very distinctive knife, again the connection would have been stronger. But we had no such information and, more importantly, no knife. All the prosecution did have was the knowledge that Simpson had bought a knife, and the coroners opinion that this knife type and size could have caused the wounds which killed

both victims. After the prosecution wed themselves to the Stiletto, any evidence that conflicted with their theory was either ignored or dismissed.

After the first search on June 13 proved fruitless (except for the Swiss Army knife box I found in the master bath), we returned to the Rockingham estate on June 28 to execute another search warrant. The second time through the house, I was once again impressed by how meticulous Simpson was. All his belongings were so neatly arranged, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he alphabetized his wardrobe.