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| Case file: O. J. Simpson On June 12, 1994, officers from Los Angeles Police Department were called to the home of Nicole Brown Simpson, former wife of renowned American football player O.J Simpson. They found the bodies of Mrs Simpson and her, Ron Goldman, both stabbed to death. Investigators discovered a wealth of forensic evidence at the the scene: both bodies covered in blood, blood on the gate, bloody shoe prints, and a blood-stained left-hand glove. Suspicion fell on O.J Simpson, whp tried to flee by car. Police vehicles gave chase, while the whole episode was being film by TV news helicopters. Eventually, Simpson gave himself up. When forensic tests were carried out on the evidence, the case against Simpson appeared overwhelming. The blood on the gate produced so close a match to his DNA that only one person in 57 billion was likely to have had same genetic profile. The shoe prints were Simpson's size and came from unusual designer shoe he had been seen wearing. When arrested he had a cut on his left hand, while a right-hand glove that matched the glove from the scene was discovered outsiode his home. Traces of the victims' blood were in his car and home. Despite the amount of forensic evidence, Simpson was acquitted. The defense argued that the officers handling the case were racist and cast doubt on the way the forensic tests had been conducted. Witnesses swore they had seen Simpson on the day of the murders, at a time that would have prevented him from carrying them out. There was a suggestion that a second killer could have been present. Sufficient doubt was sown in the mind of the jurors that they found Simpson not guilty. That was the end of the story, though. Relatives of the victims brought a civil prosecution against Simpson that found him responsible for both deaths. Damages of the $33.5 million were awarded against him, but Simpson was broke, and the money is yet to be paid. |
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