13 ore 35 min, 13 giug 1994 anni - Simpson's statement to the LAPD

Descrizione:

OJ gives a statement to the LAPD

The interview was conducted by Philip Vannatter and Thomas Lange, the Los Angeles Police Department's chief investigators of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman.

"O.J. Simpson surrenders to LAPD after chase in white Ford Bronco NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
June 18, 1994 by Michelle Caruso, Jonathan T. Lovitt, Larry Hackett, and Laurie C. Merrill

After holding a gun to his head during a harrowing police chase and threatening to shoot himself, accused killer O.J. Simpson surrendered to authorities last night as millions of stunned television viewers watched the tragic journey of a great American hero unfold.

The dramatic, daylong manhunt came to an end when a distraught Simpson, clutching a blue steel revolver, allowed police to coax him out of the back seat of his friend's white Ford Bronco that was parked in the driveway of his $3 million mansion.

Police reportedly had instructions to "take him out" had Simpson not cooperated.

After leaving the vehicle, police said Simpson entered the mansion, spoke with his mother and drank some orange juice. Police said he was cooperative.

Later last night, Simpson's mother Eunice, 72, was admitted to the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, after suffering from the stress of her son's arrest.

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The former Buffalo Bills legend was taken into police custody last night and was booked and processed at police headquarters.

Simpson, who was charged with the grisly slaying of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her companion, Ronald Goldman, was to spend the night in the LA County main central jail.

If convicted of the grisly double slayings, Simpson could face the death penalty. Sources said last night that Simpson killed his former wife, and then killed Goldman when he tried to come to her aid.

Al Cowlings, Simpson's childhood friend and former teammate who fled with Simpson, was booked for aiding and abetting a fugitive. He was taken to jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, police said.

An extremely agitated Simpson eluded police for some five hours yesterday after fleeing a San Fernando Valley residence with Cowlings, minutes before he was to be arrested.

Simpson's attorney, Robert Shapiro, praised police for resolving the situation in a "very very peaceful manner."

"I can't express the fear I have that this matter would not ended the way it did," said Shapiro, who voiced concerns earlier that Simpson would take his own life.

Earlier in the day, Simpson left behind three suicide notes, one for his mother, one for his children in which he said, "I can't go on" and proclaimed his innocence.

Police located Simpson when he made a cellular phone call just before 6 p.m. PDT near the lake Forrest cemetery where the ex-wife he is accused of murdering is buried.

News helicopters captured the chase that involved more than a dozen squad cars speeding along freeways in Orange County south of Los Angeles and continued into the evening.

Police cruisers followed the Bronco at a distance and at a speed of about 40 mph, while another group of squad cars cleared the path to keep other motorists away.

Friends and sportcasters who knew Simpson took to the airwave to plead with him to give himself up.

Former pro football player Jim Hill, now a sportscaster on KCBS-TV, was on the air live on AM KNX is broadcasting live, hoping OJ had the radio on so that he can hear the message to surrender.

"O.J. and Al, if you can hear me, please, please stop. Put on the emergency blinkers and pull over. O.J., you don't want to be remembered as someone who ran. Please guys, pull over. Stop."

"O.J., please stop. Please stop. We love you man," friend Vince Evans said tearfully on television station KCBS.

At one point police spoke with OJ - but he refused to submit. As Cowlings drove, he kept the gun to his head and demanded to speak to his mother.

Hundreds of police swarmed inside surrounded Simpson's mansion while nearby, thousands gathered in a circus-like atmosphere chanting, "Juice! Juice! Juice!"

All along the highway, people waved signs that said, "Honk if you love the Juice" and "We Love you Juice!"

Simpson - one the most popular sports heroes in America - apparently balk at a deal to surrender at a Los Angeles courthouse yesterday morning in the slaying of his ex-wife Nicole, 35, an Goldman, 25.

"The Los Angeles Police Department is very unhappy with the activities surrounding his failure to surrender, and we will be looking further into those activities, including anyone who may have intervened on his behalf," Los Angeles Police Cmdr. David Gascon said.

Authorities warned that anyone helping Simpson would be treated as a felon.

But there was concern among his legal team that Simpson may take his own life.

"I hope he doesn't hurt himself," said former New York City Medical Examiner Michael Baden, who spent several hours with Simpson before he was supposed to surrender. "I am concerned about him."

Gascon said police had "expressed their displeasure" to Simpson's lawyer, Robert Shapiro, but District Attorney Gil Garcetti said Shapiro expressed "grave surprise" when Simpson disappeared.

Shapiro said Simpson was with him and several doctors yesterday morning when police called to say they were coming to arrest him. Simpson and Cowlings, who were alone on a separate floor, then vanished, Shapiro said.

Garcetti refused to blame police for losing Simpson. He said police were not certain of his whereabouts in hours leading to his disappearance, but that he was not considered a risk for flight.

"LAPD is busting their butt doing a fine job with this investigation," Garcetti said.

He said Shapiro was notified of Simpson's imminent arrest at 8:30 a.m. Los Angeles time yesterday. Simpson was scheduled to surrender at 11 a.m., which then was pushed back to 11:45. By 2 p.m., it became clear he had fled.

"I am very confident we will find O.J. Simpson," Garcetti said. "This is a man who can't hide easily."

He added that "the fact that O.J. fled can be used against him with a jury as an indicator of guilt."

Minutes following the announcement of Simpson's disappearance, authorities rushed to Nicole Simpson's condominium in tony Brentwood - where the killings took place - after a 911 call from her father, who was at the condo collecting her belongings.

News of Simpson's disappearance came hours after the Los Angeles district attorney announced that the former football star had been charged with two counts of murder.

The murder charges were accompanied by a ride incorporating "special circumstances," meaning that Simpson could be sentenced to death. But Garcetti said a decision to seek the death penalty would not be made until after a trial.

At the least, conviction would require a life prison sentence without parole.

The charges came after five days of revelations that pointed relentlessly to Simpson's involvement in the killings. Police said yesterday the charges followed an "exhaustive investigation," including interviews with dozens of people.

Simpson, 46, had denied any part in the killings, insisting he was home waiting for a limousine to take him to Los Angeles International Airport for a flight to Chicago. He was grilled by police for more than three hours Monday, and except for an appearance at the funeral remained holed up in his $3 million home.

But since the Sunday night killings, police - searching sites in Los Angeles and Chicago - amassed a formidable amount of evidence against Simpson, reported including:

- A glove matching another bloody glove found at the scene.

- A bloody ski mask found in his house.

- A match of his blood type found at the slaying site.

- A possible murder weapon, a sharp-edged, military-style digging tool.

- Blood-soaked laundry found in Simpson's washing machine.

Garcetti, however, said yesterday that the murder weapon - a knife - had not been found.

NBC News reported last night that a DNA match had been made between Simpson and blood found at the slay scene.

Police also impounded Simpson's Ford Bronco, too a pair of sneakers from his home and examined red blotched found on his driveway."


Sourced from:

Famous Trials

https://famous-trials.com/simpson/1860-ojstatement


The New York Daily News

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/o-simpson-apprehended-police-chase-1994-article-1.2253270

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