Learning of the death of O.J. Simpson, I thought it best to crank up the personal memories I have of the infamy he attained back in 1994.
Monday June 13th 1994. I was producing the JD and The Katman Show on US*99. During the show, John Katman Katzbeck and I were writing in our tiny morning show office just outside the air studio. A newswire machine in the room rang its bells which meant a big story was coming across. That’s when we learned O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were found murdered outside her townhome in Brentwood. At this point O.J. was not a suspect but it was still a big story. Then later that same morning came newswire information that Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg was retiring, effective immediately! Katman and I talked about what a crazy news day it was becoming.
As circus-like as the whole O.J. trial was, at the heart of it was the brutal murder of two innocent people. This pic is one of the less graphic ones of the death scene outside Nicole Brown Simpson’s townhome.
The slow speed Bronco chase. Four days later, O.J. Simpson was a runaway murder suspect who had not turned himself in to authorities as his lawyer Robert Shapiro promised he would. Police cars were in a line behind the Bronco and network TV covered every mile up to the point they made it back to O.J.’s house to turn himself in. Many people remember where they were during this chase. I was with my US*99 co-workers, sitting in a luxury skybox at Comiskey Park watching the White Sox play. We had one eye on the ballgame and one on the skybox TVs as the chase continued.
The infamous slow speed Bronco chase. Most folks remember where they were when this insanity happened.
The trial of the century. January 24th, 1995 is when the trial began and CNN had gavel to gavel coverage every weekday from L.A. Most days I’d get home from work around 11 a.m. so the trial was what I watched most of the day. Like me, my mom was totally glued to everything that happened with Judge Lance Ito and the whole legal procedure.
A few weeks after the trial started, I was at an Eagles concert at the United Center. As the band launched into the haunting dirge start of Don Henley’s solo hit “Dirty Laundry,” Henley asked the crowd, “Are you sick of this trial yet?” The whole crowd roared its approval. That was February of 1995 and the trial didn’t wrap up until eight months later in early October!
The Jury. I remember the O.J. jury got the instructions and the case to debate late in the day on the last Friday in September. (The 29th) Throughout the trial, they were sequestered in a hotel but had the weekend off from formal deliberations.
Monday October 2nd. I was taking a nap after work and woke to find my mom standing at my bedroom doorway with a sick look on her face. I asked what was wrong and she said, “They already have a verdict.” “Who has a verdict?” I asked. My mom replied “The O.J. jury!” I was stunned. Everyone figured all the months of evidence meant the jury would be out for a week or two and make a carefully reasoned decision. This kind of quick verdict meant only one thing. O.J. would be found not guilty. That’s how most murder trials roll. While the country may have been divided on Simpson’s guilt or innocence, me, my mom and most folks I know felt he was guilty of those brutal murders.
Tuesday October 3rd. The verdict in L.A. was to be announced around 1 p.m. Chicago time. Security measures in all major cities across the country were put in place. Race played a massive part in this story and depending on how the verdict turned out, things could get crazy. O.J. of course was found not guilty.
After the verdict was read, one of the legal experts on CNN was asked what was next. The answer was, “O.J. Simpson gets released right away and is a free man.” As the TV crews in helicopters tracked O.J. being driven back to his home at 360 Rockingham, I remember sitting on my bed feeling so helpless and in total shock. I had no doubt a miscarriage of justice had happened thanks to race issues and a piss poor prosecution team that made idiotic strategies.
O.J. and his legal dream team react to the news that he was found not guilty…Verdict notwithstanding, rational people know he did it.
Yes, not long after the criminal trial, O.J. was found liable for the murders in a civil case but that meant no jail time and barely any of the awarded money ever went to the families of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. Many years later Simpson did do 9 years jail time for armed robbery charges as he tried to steal back some of his old memorabilia but real justice for him was still missing.
Now O.J. Simpson is dead. And now he’s faced the ultimate judgment from his maker. Enough said.
NEXT BLOG: Lots of things on my mind.