Cops testing knife reportedly found at O.J. Simpson’s former home

[spaminator]

Cops testing knife reportedly found at O.J. Simpson’s former home
Possible 'the whole story is bogus from the get-go,' police spokesman says
Reuters
First posted: Friday, March 04, 2016 11:08 AM EST | Updated: Friday, March 04, 2016 05:45 PM EST
LOS ANGELES - Police said on Friday they were examining a knife purportedly found at the former home of O.J. Simpson, the onetime football star acquitted of stabbing to death his ex-wife and her friend in the "Trial of the Century" two decades ago.
Forensic investigators were conducting DNA tests on the blade, which was recently turned over to the Los Angeles Police Department by a retired motorcycle officer, Lieutenant Andrew Neiman told reporters at a news conference.
Neiman said the officer told investigators he was given the knife by a construction worker, who in turn claimed to have found it on Simpson's property in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles when the house was being torn down in 1998.
Simpson's former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death on June 12, 1994, at her condominium a few miles away.
The murder weapon had not been recovered at the time of his sensational trial, which was carried live on major television networks in the United States and transfixed much of the nation.
A medical examiner testified for the prosecution at the time that Brown Simpson and Goldman were likely slain with a single-bladed, six-inch knife.
Police declined to elaborate on the timeline of when the knife was recovered but Neiman said it was possible that "the whole story is bogus from the get-go."
He also would not name the retired police officer or speculate on why the weapon had been given to police only in the past two months.
"We still don't know if that is an accurate account of how this item came into our possession," Neiman said, adding: "If you are the individual that provided that knife (to the police officer) we would love to have you contact our Robbery Homicide Division."
Authorities have not described the knife but the celebrity website TMZ reported it was a kind of folding knife typically used in hunting and fishing.
NBC News, citing unnamed law enforcement officials, reported that it was a smaller, relatively inexpensive utility-style blade typically carried by construction workers or other laborers and inconsistent with it being the murder weapon.
Legal experts said Simpson could not be put on trial for the murders again because of the doctrine of double jeopardy.
"There really are no exceptions. Once somebody has been found not guilty of a crime, he cannot be charged with that crime again, under any circumstances," said University of Southern California law professor Michael Brennan, a former criminal defense attorney. "O.J. could confess to the crimes and he couldn't be charged again."
Simpson was found liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman by a civil court jury in 1997 and ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to the victims' families, a judgment that has remained largely unfulfilled.
He was convicted in Las Vegas in 2008 of kidnapping and robbery in a bungled attempt to recover memorabilia from his storied football career and was sentenced to a prison term of up to 33 years.
Highlighting the enduring fascination the case holds for the American public, there were roughly 150 tweets per minute about O.J. Simpson on Friday, according to social media analytics firm Zoomph.
Reports about the knife surfaced just as a popular new FX cable television drama series, "The People v. O.J. Simpson," chronicling the trial, is airing.
Cops testing knife reportedly found at O.J. Simpson’s former home | World | News

 

[Locutus]

 

[spaminator]

Tests on knife linked to O.J. Simpson estate to take weeks: LAPD
Amanda Lee Myers, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Wednesday, March 09, 2016 09:20 PM EST | Updated: Wednesday, March 09, 2016 09:59 PM EST
LOS ANGELES -- The knife reportedly found at O.J. Simpson's former estate likely isn't connected to the killings of his ex-wife and her friend, a law enforcement official said.
But it will take at least three weeks to know for sure.
Investigators are examining the knife for DNA or other material that could possibly link the weapon to the 1994 murders of Simpson's ex-wife and her friend. Results aren't expected for at least three weeks, Capt. Andy Neiman said Wednesday.
Meanwhile a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that detectives doubt the knife is connected to the killings.
The official said the knife is commonly used among gardeners and was too small to make the wounds that killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
Both Simpson and Goldman had deep gashes to their necks, in addition to a number of other extensive knife wounds.
The weapon used in the killings has been a mystery for decades. Other knives have surfaced during the case, but they were not linked to the crimes.
On Friday, Los Angeles police revealed that they were examining a knife reportedly found at Simpson's estate years ago.
Police said a construction worker gave the knife to an officer working as a security guard at a filming location. The officer then kept the knife for a number of years, police said.
Trent Copeland, an attorney who represents the officer, said his client retired in 1998 and that the construction worker gave him the knife in 2002 or 2003, well after a jury found Simpson not guilty of the murders.
Copeland said the officer, George Maycott, immediately called LAPD to report the knife.
"Someone put him on hold, that person came back several minutes later, said he spoke to a supervisor who said 'Double jeopardy is attached to this case, O.J.'s been acquitted. If that knife had blood on it there's really nothing we can do about it, so we don't want anything to do with this,' " Copeland said.
Maycott then kept the knife in a toolbox for the next 13 years or so.
"He was not this sort of bumbling keystone cop who cavalierly decided he would take what could have been a pivotal piece of evidence and put it in his bag," Copeland said. "He knows that he did exactly what any diligent professional officer would have done and that is you call LAPD immediately -- and that's what he did."
The bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed multiple times outside her home on June 12, 1994.
The discovery led to the so-called "Trial of the Century," in which Simpson was represented by a team of high-profile attorneys led by the flamboyant Johnnie Cochran. A jury acquitted Simpson in 1995 after deliberating only four hours.
In 1997, a civil court jury found him liable for the killings and awarded $33.5 million in damages to the victims' families.
Simpson, who has always maintained his innocence, is now serving a sentence of nine to 33 years in a Nevada prison for a 2007 armed robbery and kidnapping conviction in which he tried to retrieve football memorabilia. He is eligible for parole next year.
Tests on knife linked to O.J. Simpson estate to take weeks: LAPD | World | News