TMZ breaks a lot of stories there’s no doubt. They have spies, they pay for tips and they encourage people to send tips to the point where I’ve accidentally clicked on their tip line on the mobile version of their site. Once in a while, they’ll get a story wrong. It’s the nature of the business, it’s very fast-paced and competitive and it happens. Plus we glom off their stories and I’m just trying to give them their due for helping create careers for those of us who sit back and comment on the work they do. So when I question TMZ, I’m coming from a place of admiration. (Pls link us TMZ.)
This is all me leading up to say holy sh*t, this OJ knife story sounds way too good to be true:
A construction worker found a knife buried on the perimeter of the former O.J. Simpson estate … and it’s currently being tested by the LAPD in a top secret investigation … law enforcement sources tell TMZ.
The story is incredible. We’re told a construction worker found the knife years ago — we have heard several different stories, ranging from “several years ago” to 1998, when the house was demolished.
The weapon is a folding buck knife.Our law enforcement sources say the construction worker took the knife to the street, where he saw an LAPD cop. He told the officer where he found the knife and the cop took it.
Turns out the cop — who worked in the traffic division — was off duty at the time, working security for a movie shoot at a house across the street on Rockingham. Our sources say the officer took the knife home and kept it … kept it for years.
In late January of this year, after the cop retired from the LAPD, he contacted a friend who worked in
LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division (RHD). The cop told the friend about the knife and said he was getting it framed to put on his wall. He wanted his friend to get the DR (Departmental Record) number for the Nicole Brown Simpson/Ronald Goldman murder case, which he planned on engraving in the frame.We’re told the friend was indignant, and told his superiors. The brass was outraged and demanded that the retired cop turn the knife over, which he did.
Our sources say the knife is currently being tested for hair and fingerprints. It will be moved to the Serology Unit next week, where it will be tested for DNA and other biological evidence.
Here’s my question: are their law enforcement sources people they knew already and what is their fact-checking process? This sounds so crazy and out there.
Harvey Levin has a video up on TMZ now where he tells us not to “Jump to the conclusion that this is automatically the murder weapon. We know cops are very interested in this and they are handling it on a top secret basis. They don’t want anybody really even knowing about this.” That ship has obviously sailed.
He added that they’re testing the knife for hair, finger prints, DNA, etc. Levin also said “there is some evidence there might be blood on this knife. They don’t know because it is rusted out, but they are very interested.” The knife was most likely found around 1998 when OJ’s property was demolished. Levin asserts that this entire story is true and that it happened the way it’s described in their story, but that even if the knife is the murder weapon and ties OJ to the crime with DNA he can never be prosecuted for that crime again because of double jeopardy.
Levin also reminds us that another knife was found a couple of weeks after the murders (in June 1994) on the adjoining property to OJ’s place but it wasn’t the murder weapon.
What I want to know is, if this is true, how could an actual police officer hold on to a knife like this for so long? Like how corrupt do you have to be not to turn over a possible murder weapon in possibly the highest profile murder case of the 20th century and to keep it in your possession for almost 30 years? We don’t really know the timeline though, so maybe it was an unused prop in OJ’s brief-lived prank show.
Update by Hecate The LAPD has confirmed that the elite Robbery-Homicide Division is testing a knife allegedly recovered from OJ’s property however at this point they emphasize that there is no way to tell whether it is genuine or a hoax.
Even if this buck knife would be considered the killer´s weapon, wouldn´t this be irrelevant re chain of custody in court?
Yes, kind of. If it has Nicole’s or Goldman’s blood on it, then the retired cop, whose prints are likely on it, could be considered a suspect! It would only be interesting if they can somehow determine who owned the knife. Did it come from OJ’s collection, etc.?
And by 1998, the criminal trial was well over. There is nothing they could’ve used it for except perhaps in the civil trial or to make OJ go into hiding for the rest of his life. I don’t even think they could charge OJ with anything related to their deaths, but perhaps something else. Like criminal mischief or stalking or assault with a deadly weapon. Something that was not brought up in any way in the criminal trial. But I’m no expert.
-TheRealPinky
They could possibly make an argument for a new trial on the grounds of new evidence that wasn’t available at the time. I don’t know how the laws of double jeopardy would or wouldn’t apply though.
Harvey wasn’t pranked, LAPD are now testing the knife found. “Nothing much will come of it” they are saying , since Double Jeopardy has attached since the end of the second trial. Interesting though..
If anyone ends up charged, it would be the cop.
This story seems too crazy to be true but you never know
While it would be interesting to find OJ’s DNA along with Nicole and Ron’s DNA on that knife, they cannot try OJ again. It will go in a file of police evidence that gets boxed up and put into storage somewhere.
The people who really believe OJ is innocent will say the evidence was planted on the knife and those of us who are convinced of his guilt will just nod our heads and say, “Told you so.”
Two people are still dead and though OJ is in jail for a different crime, I doubt he will ever see the light of freedom again.
Karma got him in the end.
The trial was made solely about race… Yes, OJ is in jail due to Karma winning in the end. But he was convicted in a Civil, Wrongful Death Trial, and has yet to pay one cent to the Goldman family. Having been acquitted in the murder trial, even if Ron and Nicoles blood is found on the knife, as well as Simpsons DNA, he can not be tried again. So, basically he got away with murder! With or without the knife.
This sounds insane. If it’s true, I hope the office who kept it for a trophy instead of doing the right thing has to face serious music on that one.. Whatever the case, the history of it sounds so jumbled, even if they could try him again.
On a different note, that was a lovely house. But I do understand why the new owners wanted to start over.
What about the house where the murder happened? Was it ever torn down? That space would need serious energy clearing.
It’s been remodeled and had an address change, but is still standing. It’s a condo though, not a single family home, so not so easy to demo. I wouldn’t want to live there though.
And the murders happened outside the actual condo. I’d be having a priest over there to clean up any bad spirits inside and out though.
I feel O.J was/is guilty. I know, as it was shown that he was abusive. I believe in doing things by the book especially in this case. It was a highly controversial case and the world was watching it. The police did do sloppy work and that certainly played apart in the verdict. Even now, it’s still talked about.
Karma did get him in the end. Maybe in some way, shape and form that is some justice.
I feel he’s guilty but I’m also intrigued by a doctor recently saying he’s certain OJ is suffering from CTE due to playing football.
It doesn’t make it right but it’s an interesting thought. I hope his brain is tested after he dies.
I doubt it is the murder weapon. I think it’s too small and he wouldn’t have had time to bury it. He dumped clothes and murder weapon in trash can at airport
Agree. The murder weapon wound up in a landfill full of airport garbage somewhere.
And it’s irrelevant in terms of OJ prosecution anyway – he was acquitted.
This exactly. He was running like a madman between where he parked and the house (via the passageway behind Kato’s cottage) and didn’t have time to bury things on the perimeter. He was panicked late for the limo and dropping his bloody gloves left and right. I think the knife was shoved in the same bag as his bloody clothes and shoes and dumped at the airport or in Chicago.
Yeah if he had buried it in on his own property or a nearby property the investigators would have been able to spot out the area fairly quickly as you can tell when sod/grass has been dug up and re-planted. I just feel bad for the families of the two victims…they have to keep reliving this over and over again.
For the idiot cop, I am not surprised. It’s funny because cops are supposed to go through rigorous testing, physical and psychological before getting hired. Yet, it’s like only the most corrupt get hired. Just proves that assholes are good at faking it.
Regardless karma caught up with him in the end and Pistorius too. The court on SA threw out his appeal request and how does he react, by being abusive to a reporter – so much for being reformed and remorseful. The photos of Pistorius leaving court yesterday showed his true colours, the look of petulant thunder of his face said it all- he was pissed he didn’t get his way.
I hope the both rot in a jail cell.
Thanks for posting this. I hated that he got off so lightly. Hopefully this means a much longer sentence?
Here’s a link to the washington post article for anyone interested.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/03/03/oscar-pistorius-to-be-sentenced-for-murder-after-his-appeal-is-denied/?tid=pm_sports_pop_b
Also, I’m watching the People vs OJ tv show and didn’t realize how complicated the case got. I’m two episodes in and it seems very pro OJ right now. I’m guessing it changes? I wonder if the increased exposure from public interest is linked to finding the knife.
read the entire article fully. I was totally off base. An officer kept the knife? What a ninny. If he realized his mistake before retiring, no wonder he waited. If this is true of course.
I want to know why people are burying knives. One found buried in the neighbors yard, another in OJ’s yard. Maybe I’ll go dig up my yard, I need kitchen knives.
Could be the cop kept the knife because he knew OJ couldn’t be tried again, it’s a closed case. Not very smart of the cop, and he was assuming it was “the” knife wanting the case # and having it framed. Doesn’t sound like a very smart cop to me.
But it is not a closed case. The article makes it clear that since no one was convicted of the murders, it is still technically and open case. Definitely a cold case, but not closed.
You’re right. In my mind OJ is guilty, can’t be tried again, therefore closed. The possibility of it being someone else just doesn’t cross my mind. LOL
Right. The story sounds like clickbait bullshit. I wish TMZ would focus on The Donald. I’d pay them!
It’s real CNN is covering it,LAPD had press conference.
Yep – I caught a headline in passing about it. I don’t think it will make a difference though, the case is long over, double jeopardy, etc. Curious what testing will turn up on a metal object buried all these years. I guess it will depend on the condition of the soil.
This is a little off-topic, but there was a very interesting article in the The New Yorker from Feb. 22 about TMZ and Harvey Levin. Sounds like a miserable place to work and it’s kind of horrifying where they have spies planted.
One day all of the dirty secrets that Harvey Levin and TMZ have kept on lockdown will see the light of day. Eventually one of their “sources” will turn the tables on them.
I’m suspicious considering that the timing is strange. A murder weapon found during the course of the much-talked about mini series? Meh. We’ll see.
It was found years ago
That crossed my mind also. @Colette – while found years ago it is just now being brought to light. Yes, it was just “found” in a way.
Definitely not the murder weapon. In OJ’s book If I Did It, he allegedly describes how the murders went down. He said that he gave the knife to his accomplice to get rid of. That knife is long gone.
Who was his accomplice?
LAPD have confirmed this is true – the cop thought the case was closed and he could keep it.
(As no conviction had been secured, it technically remained, and remains, open.)
Who buries knives on their property? What a weird thing to do.
If it’s a folding knife wonder if it could have fallen out of a workers pocket during construction or landscaping. There could be nothing sinister about it.
That’s probably exactly what happened.
I still can’t believe the cop didn’t get it checked out right away though, and thought it was OK to keep.
True, but when they said “buried,” I assumed actually buried, not under leaf litter or just an accumulation of dirt.
Wasn’t it removed whilst building work was happening? Perhaps knowing the ins and outs of the property, OJ dropped the knife into the “gubbins” or workings of the exterior of the house. Which is why cops didn’t find it during the investigation, and was only found during renovations.
Plus, if you were OJ, would it not make sense to separate the weapon from the clothes? If by any chance you are stopped by police prior to having the opportunity to dump them or destroy them, you could say.”I conveniently had a clean set of clothes with me, and I have the clothes I found my dead wife and her friend wrapped up in this bag, especially for you Mr police man. I was just on my way to you now, even though I am going in the opposite direction. I am totally disoriented due to the shock.” Had OJ not dropped the gloves he could have had an explanation for those. “Oh and those blood stained gloves, I had in my car and I put them on at the scene so as not to interfere with the integrity of the crime scene but it became apparent I could not help my wife or her friend. Whereas if you have the murder weapon as well as the clothes you have no benefit of the doubt to play upon. All straws to clutch at are disintegrated.
Perhaps I watch too much T.V. Maybe I am miss Marbles.
On another note perhaps OJ will prompt change in the double jepeordy laws in the USA. A high profile case in the UK, which stretched 20 odd years prompted an overhaul of the UK double jepeordy law.
Although he’s already jailed for a separate crime, the powers that be, would love to get him for this as he made them look like fools, all news and entertainment industries would love it as well It truly was the crime of the decade in the USA. So it would be a total money spinner for many industries along with justice seen to be done.
Deepest Sympathies to their children and her family.
Change double jeopardy because of this one crime? Dear god I hope not. Laws such as that protect us from malicious persecution by the state and the Donald Trumps of the country.
God bless you Love Scandal. It drives me crazy people don’t get it. They’re just as bad as the jury.
Makes me cry all over again.
Too @Goo up there, it wasn’t made solely about race. It was about celebrity, witness credibility, shockingly sloppy police work and probable (there was) planted evidence. Anyone seen the movie Arbitrage with Richard Gere? You should. It’s excellent. Please don’t let anyone forget OJ was in a rage. God only knows what he could have done with the knife or knives. He did so many stupid things (write a book, pretend to be suicidal, drink a glass of ORANGE JUICE when he surrendered at the police station) the stupid never ends. He has no conscience so he doesn’t really GAF about anything. I want his guilt PROVEN. It was a horrendously complicated trial left in the hands of a weak-minded jury. People are meant to think for themselves. It is a disgrace that it became about who could persuade and manipulate better- the prosecution or the defense.
The man is a dangerous psychopath who will probably get out on parole in 2017. Don’t anyone thank karma yet. The U.S. should raise hell and demand justice- and that means making a motion to prosecute and praying a judge has the cojones to make history and scrap the ancient double jeopardy laws. A JUDGE WITH HONOR. Give me that. CALIFORNIA.
If you’re the LAPD traffic cop with the knife, then what you do before you turn it in is you cover your ass. You might want to bleach it and make sure there’s no biological evidence left on it so that if it was the murder weapon, nobody can now say that it was. Also, you grate away some of nicks and blade portion and any other unique feature to it, so that it can’t be collaborated with any unique characteristics of the forensics of the wounds they have on file. You do whatever it takes to lessen whatever trouble you might get into. Is this ethical? Nope. But then again, you’re an LAPD cop, traffic or not, and you cover your ass so that you’re not culpable in any way, right?
OJ might not be able to retried on the same murder charges due to double jeopardy, but if there was still evidence on that knife that he touched it and it did forensically have biological or physical evidence that it was the murder weapon or that it came into contact with Nichole and/or Ronald, then I’m guessing you might be able to try to convict him on a new set of charges like this related case of obstruction of justice and/or conspiracy in homicide.
Anyhoo, if it was the murder knife, it would be awfully stupid of OJ to leave it on his property before he moved out.
But then again, if as some conspiracists say, it was OJ’s son who did the murders and if as they say, he’s not mentally stable and he buried on the property and for whatever reason never went back to dig it up and get if off the property, then that might be one way the murder weapon stayed on the property until a construction worker dug it up.
But I think the chance of it being the murder weapon is slim.
Wait, who thinks it was OJ’s son? I’ve never heard that. It was definitely OJ but definitely not him who was able to dispose of all the evidence. He didn’t have time.
Seriously, his son, that’s a theory? The one who tried to get him to come out of the Bronco when he finally pulled in his home driveway. Huh. But OJ could never hold himself together. I know psychopathy/sociopathy is genetic (1 in 24 Americans, lock your doors, everyone, more importantly look out for the charismatic, friendly smart ones you least expect). If you hear all the 911 phone calls Nicole made with OJ in the background, she kept begging for help because he was going to kill her and you could hear him in the background. He fits the psychopath (not socio) profile perfectly. Criminals are so stupid. Really curious who disposed of the evidence. Kato? He’s stupid. The bronco driver what’s his face? I don’t know. I really feel this is the knife. I truly, truly do. Nicole and Ron’s spirits are NOT at rest. I want peace for them and their families and just as importantly, violent psycho and sociopaths off our streets. He’s in jail AGAIN for a reason! But not for long. Please, God, let this lead to something.
By the way, I haven’t watched any of the OJ tv show. I hear it’s good, but I don’t see the point. It does make sense why this ridiculous cop would want to engrave this piece of “evidence” he thought he’d keep for himself like all gollum-style with the LAPD case number. Moron. And then he retired immediately after receiving it. How convenient. I’m so happy to be a Texas girl. California is a mess. Sorry for everyone who has to pay taxes there. Especially lala land.
I feel bad for his son. NO his son didn’t do it for goodness sakes. It sucks enough being OJs son and Jason has built his own life as a chef. I suspect OJ beat him too on occasion and from his depositions in OJs civil trial, he cared a lot more about Nicole than OJ did (as did Al Cowlings btw)
As far as possibly getting OJ on related charges if this was The Knife–Naw even if a videotape comes out now of him murdering Nicole and Ron he is untouchable on the whole event criminally because of double jeopardy.