O.J. Simpson has no plans to return to Los Angeles, and his reason may raise a few eyebrows.
The former football player and convicted felon revealed in a recent interview with The Athletic that he has no desire to return to Los Angeles because he fears the “real killer” of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman may still be out there.
“I have trouble with L.A.,” Simpson said. “People may think this is self-serving, but I might be sitting next to whoever did it. I really don’t know who did this.”
In 1994, Simpson was arrested and tried for the murders of his former wife, Brown, and her companion, Goldman. Dubbed the “Trial of the Century," it lasted eight months, and for many began with the infamous car chase in California, to him later being found not guilty of the slayings but liable in a civil suit.
In The Athletic piece published on Friday, authored by Tim Graham, Simpson calls the murder trial, "The L.A. Thing."
“The L.A. thing, unfortunately, some people wrongfully believe something, but I moved on. I still think I’m a good guy. I didn’t let it change me. It did for a while. I was angry for a while, but I treat everybody the way I want to be treated,” Simpson said.
When asked about if the murder of his ex-wife and Goldman will ever be solved Simpson says, “I figured eventually somebody would confess to something, you know?
“I had one suspect I told my lawyers to look at. I still think he might be involved, but I can’t talk about it.”
Simpson also added that he believes the legal system in the United States is a fair one, and that he gets angry with those that still judge him.
“I did my time better than anybody can do time,” Simpson says. “I got out, and you’ll never hear me dog the jury, because I believe in the system.
“How can you tell me you believe in the g*ddamn system, but you got problems with me living my life now? Because your attitude was different than the jury, who heard all the evidence and didn’t have the media influence? Then you try to present yourself as a good American. Bull**it, you’re not. You don’t believe in the American system.”
One thing that is made clear in the article, is that people still come up to him for photos and autographs when he is in public.
“Fame is a weird thing. Doesn’t matter if you’re a good person or a bad person in this day and age. If you’re famous, you’ve got an edge in America. Fame supersedes whether you’re good or bad, and everybody is after the fame,” said Simpson.
With everything that Simpson has been through, he says when he contracted COVID last year, that was the first time he contemplated death.
“I felt vulnerable and for the first time thought I might be near the end. Since that day, I have wondered. Do I want to be buried? Do I want to be cremated? Years ago, I would have left it up to Nicole because I know she would have done the right thing,” said Simpson.
While many believe Simpson dodged a guilty verdict and jail time, he served nine years in prison after he was found guilty in 2007 of robbing a sports memorabilia dealer in Las Vegas after he claimed the dealer had acquired his memorabilia illegally. Simpson was sentenced to 9-to-33 years in jail, but was later granted parole in 2017.
The article also caught some flak from those on social media.
But Graham says he was simply given an assignment and did the best job he could.
You can read the entire piece here.
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