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Evidence in the O.J. Simpson Murder Case  
JUST THE FACTS 

Tags: OJ, Simpson, murder, case, evidence, glove, trial, facts

The O.J. Simpson murder case was a highly-publicized U.S. criminal trial in which former American football star for the National Football League (NFL) and actor O. J. Simpson was charged with the murder of his ex-wife and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Simpson was acquitted after the lengthy criminal trial, but was later found liable for the wrongful death of Goldman in a civil trial. Shortly before midnight on June 12, 1994, Simpson's former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside Brown's Bundy Drive Brentwood-area condominium in Los Angeles, California, with the Simpson children sleeping in an upstairs bedroom. The Simpsons had been divorced since 1992. Evidence found and collected at the scene led police to suspect O.J. Simpson as the murderer. Simpson's lawyers convinced the Los Angeles Police Department to allow Simpson to turn himself in at 11 a.m. on June 17 even though the double murder charge meant no bail and a possible death penalty verdict if convicted. Double homicide is a capital offense in California. The prosecution later elected not to ask for the death penalty and instead sought a life sentence. Here is the evidence from the case:

	DNA analysis of the blood found in, on, and near Simpson’s Bronco revealed traces of Simpson’s, Nicole’s, and Ronald Goldman’s blood.
	DNA testing of the blood under Nicole's finger nails was from an unidentified person who was never found.
	DNA analysis of bloody socks found in Simpson's bedroom were proven to be Nicole’s blood; however, the blood on the socks had the same identical shape on both sides. Leading medical examiner Dr. Henry Lee of the New Jersey State Medical Examiners Office testified in court that the only way this could happen was if he had a "hole" in his ankle and that the more likely scenario is that someone intentionally placed the blood on the socks while they were on the floor of OJ Simpsons' bedroom. Lee also noted the the collection procedure of the socks was inappropriate and caused contamination.
	Simpson’s hair was found on Goldman’s shirt even though Simpson claims to have not been at the house and to have never met Goldman.
	DNA analysis of blood on the left-glove, found outside Nicole Simpson's home, was proven to be a mixture of Simpson’s, Nicole’s, and Ronald Goldman’s. However, even though the glove was soaked in blood, there were no blood drops leading up to, or away from the glove. No other blood was found in the area of the glove except on the glove.
	The LA County District Attoney's Office and the Medical Examiners Office never had an explanation as to why there were 4 cc's of blood missing from the original 10 cc amount taken from Simpson and placed into evidence.
	LA Police Detective Phillip Vanatter also could not give a reasonable explanation why after taking Simpsons blood, and before recording the mountain of evidence why he walked around for hours with OJ Simpsons' blood on his person. Every police department in the civilized world requires that evidence custody logs be kept and that no one officer and detective hold evidence of this type on their person for any extended period of time.
	LA Police Detective Phillip Vanatter also testified that he saw photographs of press personnel leaning on and contaminating the Bronco before the evidence was collected. The exchange recorded on the trial transcript between Vanatter and Shapiro listed below: MR. SHAPIRO: AND YOU LATER FOUND OUT THAT THE PRESS WAS NOT ONLY IN THE VICINITY OF THE BRONCO, BUT HAD SPILLED COFFEE ON THE HOOD OF THE BRONCO WHILE IT WAS BEING SECURED BY YOUR OFFICERS, DID YOU NOT? MR. VANNATTER:I SAW THAT THERE WERE COFFEE STAINS TO BE DISREGARDED IN THE TOW REPORT, YES. MR. SHAPIRO: AND YOU ALSO HAVE SEEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF A CIVILIAN RUNNING UP AND TOUCHING THE EXACT AREA WHERE YOU SAW THE BLOOD, DID YOU NOT? MR. VANNATTER: I SAW PHOTOGRAPHS OF A -- WHAT APPEARED TO BE A WOMAN LOOKING INTO THE VEHICLE, YES.
	The gloves also contained particles of Goldman’s hair and carpet fibers from Simpson’s Bronco.
	Officers found arrest records indicating that Simpson was charged with the beating of his wife Nicole. Photos of Nicole’s bruised and battered face emerge. Simpson was sentenced with 3 years of community service for this crime.
	Police discovered the dome light in the Bronco had been removed. A search of the vehicle revealed the light was carefully placed under the passenger seat and was in good working condition. Puzzling blood smears on the passenger floorboard indicate that Simpson may have purposely removed the light and placed it under the seat before the murders. Then, after the murders, he may have unsuccessfully tried to find it to put it back in the socket. Police on stakeouts routinely remove the dome lights from their vehicles to avoid detection when the car doors are opened.
	It was discovered that Nicole had one set of keys to her home missing. She had indicated to several family members and friends that she feared Simpson had stolen them to gain entry into her home. The keys were later found in Simpson’s home.
	Paula Barbieri indicated that she had broken up with Simpson the day of the murders. She indicated he seemed very disturbed at the news. Phone records proved that Simpson attempted to contact her shortly before the murders from his Bronco’s cellular phone.
	The lions share of the evidence - bloody glove, bloody socks, blood on the Bronco - was found by LA Detective Mark Fuhrman, who in turned committed perjury on the witness stand and then pleaded the 5th Amendment against self incrimination to avoid questioning after his integrity was shown to be non-existent.
	The left-hand glove found at Nicole’s home and the right-hand glove found at O.J.’s home proved to be a match.
	They also proved to be Simpson’s size. Even though Simpson claimed under oath that he did not own a pair of Aris Isotoner gloves, several media pictures emerged showing Simpson wearing these exact gloves.
	The bloody footprints are quite easily identified as being made from a pair of Bruno Magli shoes. These shoes are quite expensive and extremely rare. The large size 12 prints matched Simpson’s shoe size.
	An LAPD criminologist, Dennis Fung's collection of the evidence was suspect at best and he admitted to "having missed a few drops of blood on a fence near the bodies, but said that he returned several weeks afterwards to collect them" on the stand. Clearly collecting evidence which had been outside for more than two weeks speaks to the lack of integrity of the information; however, somehow it was admitted into evidence for the trial.
	Fung also admitted that he had not used rubber gloves when collecting all of the evidence, obviously further contaminating the evidence.
	Following his testimony, Fung was greeted with handshakes and hugs from the defense table where he was viewed as a hero.
	Friends and family indicated that Nicole was quite consistent in her claims that Simpson had been stalking her. She claimed that everywhere she went she noticed Simpson would be there, watching her. She was afraid because Simpson had already told her he would kill her if he ever found her with another man.
	Ross Cutlery provided store receipts indicating that Simpson had purchased a 12 inch stiletto knife six weeks before the murders. A replica of the knife was purchased by the police and provided an exact match to the wounds on Nicole and Ronald Goldman.

Lister: ryan
Source: Wikipedia – All text in this list shared under the GNU License

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