OJ Simpson

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Dispersion. It's two bloody gloves.
One was found at the scene of a

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double homicide and the other at the
number one suspects home. It seemed like

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an easy case to close the problem. The gloves didn't fit the man they

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thought was the killer. One of
America's greatest athletes became the center of one

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of the most controversial trials of our
time. Orenthal James or O. J.

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Simpson was born in nineteen forty seven
in San Francisco, California. He

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was an All city football player in
high school. He had the talent to

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play at a university, but he
did not have the grades. He attended

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a junior college where he would play
football while focusing on his academics. In

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nineteen sixty seven, he was able
to transfer to the University of Southern California,

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a childhood dream come true. He
was a Trojan. He was determined

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to make it to the pros,
and he wanted to be famous. He

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got the nickname the Juice, not
only because his name was oj, although

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that did help, but because he
was so energetic. He went on to

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set records, be an MVP,
win the Heisman Trophy, and in nineteen

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sixty nine, at the NFL Draft, he was selected first by the Buffalo

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Bills. He became one of the
greatest running backs of all time. He

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also achieved success off the field.
He secured sponsorships and his face was often

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seen promoting their products. He married
his teenage love, Marguerite, and by

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nineteen seventy seven they were expecting their
third child. He was on top of

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the world, but his world was
about to turn upside down. He went

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to a nightclub in Beverly Hills called
The Daisy. It was there that he

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met eighteen year old waitress Nicole Brown. She was not only beautiful, but

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she was smart and compassionate. Even
though Simpson was married and his wife was

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pregnant, Nicole and Ojay began dating. Over the next few years, Simpson

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got divorced, he retired from the
NFL, and by nineteen eighty five,

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that night club waitress was Ojay's wife. Oj and Nicole went on to have

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two children of their own. They
were a very attractive family, full of

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charisma. People were drawn to them
everywhere they went. They were photographed.

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They seemed so happy together until they
didn't. In nineteen ninety two, they

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got divorced, stating irreconcilable differences.
So what happened? Oj and Nicole had

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a tumultuous relationship. He abused her
physically, verbally and emotionally. Those closest

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to him knew the truth and cringed
every time arguments would start. They seemed

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to know what was coming. The
police had been called to the Simpson residents

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multiple times, once actually resulting in
an arrest in nineteen eighty nine. When

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Nicole called the police, she told
the operator that she thought OJ was going

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to kill her. OJ pleaded not
guilty to spousal abuse, even though the

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police found Nicole in the shrubs near
their home half naked, bloody and beaten.

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Supposedly, she dropped the charges against
him after being encouraged to seek reconciliation,

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but things did not get better,
and divorce seemed the only way out.

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They shared custody of their two children, and even after the divorce,

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they tried to rekindle the relationship because
sometimes after someone is gone, we tend

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to embrace the memories of the good
times forgetting about the bad. But it

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wasn't long before Nichole was reminded of
all the bad times. She called the

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cops after OJ was at her place
and found a picture of a man that

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she dated after their divorce. He
was in a fit of rage and she

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wanted the police to make him leave. Nichole had told her mother that o

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J was stalking her. She would
be getting gas or shopping for shoes,

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and there he would be watching her. On June twelfth, nineteen ninety four,

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Nicole took her daughter, a friend, and her mother out to dinner

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after a dance recital. Nicholl's mother
forgot her glasses at the restaurant. Ron

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Goldman, Nicholl's friend was not their
waiter that night, but he did work

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there at the restaurant. She called
him and asked if he could find the

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glasses and just drop them off after
he left work. He lived within walking

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distance from Nichole's home. Although the
twenty five year old Ron was currently working

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as a waiter, he had plans
to open his own bar. He was

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learning all he could about running a
business and he was excited for the future.

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Unfortunately, he would never get a
chance to open his own bar.

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He was killed that night in June, so was Nicole. The police weren't

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sure if he went to drop off
the glasses and he walked up on Nicole

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being attacked, or if the two
of them were talking when the attacker approached

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them. A neighbor reported hearing a
man yelling Hey over and over. Nikole

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was stabbed multiple times in the neck
and the head. She had a gash

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across her throats that had severed both
carotid arteries. It was so deep that

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she was nearly decapitated. She had
defensive wounds on her hands, and she

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was found in the fetal position in
a pool of blood right outside of her

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Brentwin home in Los Angeles. Ron's
autopsy showed signs of a struggle and twenty

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five stab wounds. There was a
bloody leather glove at the scene. The

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glove was later found to have blood
from Nicole Ron and O. J.

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Simpson. When the police went to
OJ's house that night, they found the

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match to that bloody glove there.
It was also covered in the same blood.

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On June seventeenth, Oj agreed to
turn himself in. When he didn't

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show up, one of the most
famous car chases in American history took place.

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His white Ford Bronco was spotted,
only he wasn't driving it. His

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friend was and Ojy was in the
back with a gun pointed under his own

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chin. They weren't speeding. In
fact, it was called a low speed

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pursuit. News stations all over the
country covered the chase live, even interrupting

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the nineteen ninety four NBA Finals to
air it. Over ninety five million people

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tuned in to see what would happen. He was finally captured. His friend

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driving said OJ was not thinking clearly. OJ Simpson was charged with both murders

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in a highly publicized, extremely controversial
trial. That trial started in January of

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nineteen ninety five and lasted nine months. They showed pictures, called witnesses,

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played nine one one recordings, and
brought in forensic evidence, including the gloves

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with the dried blood. The country
was torn over the case. It became

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about abuse, it became about race, it became about fame, and the

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debates got heated. In one of
the nine to one one recordings, Nicole

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can be heard saying, quote,
he gets this animalistic look in him.

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All his veins pop out, his
eyes are black and just black, I

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mean cold, like an animal.
But perhaps the most memorable line from the

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trial was spoken by OJ's defense attorney, If it doesn't fit, you must

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acquit. What was he talking about
fitting the bloody gloves that co prosecutor Christopher

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Darden asked OJ to try on the
gloves left to dry out after the murders

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had shrunk, and on top of
that, OJ was wearing latex gloves under

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them. OJ, who suffered from
arthritis, was also advised not to take

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his medicine leading up to that day
so his hands would be swollen. Simpson

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tried on the gloves in court to
prove they wouldn't fit his hands, and

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big shocker, they didn't. Whatever
the reason, the gloves didn't fit,

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and after only four hours, the
jury composed of mostly African American women,

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acquitted O. J. Simpson of
the charges. The verdict seemed to divide

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many people across race lines. His
not guilty verdict came on the heels of

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another racially tense not guilty verdict when
several LAPD officers were acquitted of beating unarmed

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Rodney King while another man recorded from
his home balcony. That case caused public

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uproar and led to violent riots in
Los Angeles. OJ not only walked out

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a free man, but he maintained
complete custody of his children, even though

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Nicole's parents fought for them in court. The Browns were not the only ones

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that took OJ to court. In
nineteen ninety seven, Ron Goldman's father brought

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a civil suit against OJ Simpson.
Simpson was found liable for wrongful death,

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and the Goldmans were awarded thirty three
million dollars, although there seemed to always

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be a problem with collecting the money
from OJ Simpson. In two thousand and

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seven, he finished a book titled
If I Did It. The original publisher

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of the book backed out, but
not before one of the only people brave

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enough to interview O. J.
Simpson got some answers. Judith Reagan was

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the original purchaser of the book's publication
under a parent company. She eventually interviewed

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Simpson herself, although she ended up
losing her job and the interview wasn't even

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aired for ten years. She asked
about the topics the country had been discussing.

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O J, referencing the book,
said he was also at his daughter's

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dance recital that night in June,
and noted that Nikole was wearing a short

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skirt that he did not approve of. While there, he said a friend

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told him that Nikole had been having
wild parties with sex and drugs at her

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house. He was outraged since his
children were there. He went to her

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house to demand that she stopped what
she was doing. The next thing he

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knew, there was a pool of
blood and his friend Charlie was holding the

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knife that had been in his car. But when he looked down, he

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was holding the knife. I should
note that there was no evidence of anyone

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else at the scene, no other
footprints leading to or from, no DNA

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from anyone other than the two victims
plus O. J. Simpson, and

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no one knows if a friend named
Charlie even existed. The ghostwriter on the

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book suggested that Charlie was a person
created by Simpson to remove himself from the

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murders. He mostly acknowledged that he
committed OJ then said that he went home

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to catch a flight for a celebrity
golf tournament in Chicago and left in a

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hurry, leaving a trail of evidence
behind him. In the interview, he

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said if Nicole had been more stable
as a person, a better spouse,

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a more responsible mother, that her
murder could have been prevented. Reagan said

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that after the five hour long interview
quote. If you listen, he hangs

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himself on every word. His basic
view was that she had it coming,

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and he saw himself as a victim. When the Goldmans learned about the book,

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they saw a way to get their
money. They went to court over

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the unpublished book and one copyrights and
movie rights. They changed the title to

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If I Did It Confessions of the
Killer, and had a different company publish

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it. O J. Simpson did
eventually serve time in prison. In two

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thousand and eight, he was found
guilty of armed robbery in Las Vegas.

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He was released in twenty seventeen.
In twenty twenty three, OJ announced he

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had prostate cancer, but said he
was determined to beat it. He died

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April tenth of this year. Simpson
was remembered by many on social media.

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Pictures of him at parties with smiles
all around were shared. The sports world

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recognized a loss of legend. Others, like Ron Goldman's dad, did not

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have kind words to say. David
Zucker, the director of the Naked Gun

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movies in which Simpson had acted,
shared a picture and wrote quote, his

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acting was a lot like his murdering. He got away with it, but

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no one believed him. That's ten
minute Murder for today Brief and binge able

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true Crime. I'm Joe. I'm
the host, and thank you so much

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for taking the time to listen to
my podcast today. If you want to

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get in touch with me for any
reason whatsoever, Joe at ten minute murder

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dot com is my email address,
the website ten minute murder dot com.

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And also be sure to follow any
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murder and it's going to pop up
for you. And I already know concerning

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today's story, a couple of the
things that you're going to say, Joe,

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he was found not guilty. He's
not guilty. I'm not saying he's

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guilty. I do believe that oj
Simpson is guilty, but I didn't say

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that he was guilty in this story. So let me head that off at

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the past because I know that's coming. And number two, there's so much

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more to the story than you just
told. Uh. Yeah, I've got

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ten minutes to tell the story and
that's as condensed as I can possibly get

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it within those ten minutes. So
there's a lot more. Yeah, there's

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I could talk about OJ Simpson.
I can talk about this case for hours.

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This was the case that I've mentioned
it before. They got me super

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duper interested in true crime. I
watched this for the nine months that this

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was on Court TV. I watched
so much of it. I don't think

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I missed any of it. This
story I probably know more than any other

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homicide case out there. Okay,
that's going to do it. That is

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your episode for today. Thank you
so much for listening to ten minute murder