New evidence suggests possible O.J. Simpson accomplice
NEW YORK (CBS, KYMA) - It is arguably the most infamous murder case in American history. 31 years after the O.J. Simpson trial, a new investigation offers a different account of what might have happened the night his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death.
The murder weapon was never found and Simpson was acquitted, but he was found liable for the murders in a civil trial.
Now, there is new evidence to suggest someone may have helped clean up the alleged crime.
After O.J. Simpson was acquitted in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, Los Angeles prosecutors received information from O.J.'s friend about the murder weapon's disposal, according to newly unsealed court documents obtained by the New York Times.
Legal analyst Rikki Klieman covered the case at the time for Court TV.
"You would think that there could not possibly be anything new, and now, for the public, there certainly is," Klieman shared.
According to the court records, a letter from an Assistant U.S. Attorney to a federal judge requested a lenient sentence for Joey Ippolito on a prison escape charge because the convicted drug trafficker had become a federal informant.
The letter described Ippolito as a valuable source who "…had become privy to many facts relevant to the [O.J. Simpson] case…" including Simpson's "…disposal of the murder weapon," which was never found.
Ippolito allegedly met Simpson through Al Cowlings, the man behind the wheel during Simpson's infamous Bronco chase.
Ippolito died in 2006 but his brother, Sam, told the Times Ippolito left the night of the killings to help a friend, only to return with what appeared to be blood on his hands and a bag containing a heavy object.
He then allegedly told Sam to dispose of it while he showered. Sam said he tossed the bag into a dumpster at a nearby construction site.
"What gets complicated here is that you're not only dealing with the original informant, Joey Ippolito, but you're dealing now with the embellishment by his brother," Klieman remarked. "And there's no real reason to trust the word of the brother."
Others close to the case are also skeptical.
Former prosecutor Marcia Clark told the Times she had no knowledge of Ippolito and because of that, he must have "had no credible or relevant evidence to provide."
The Times, meanwhile, reports that San insisted he was 100% certain his brother was at the crime scene, but after the paper turned down his request for compensation for providing them this story he attempted to retract those statements.
Still, the account bears striking similarities to Simpson's book "If I Did It," in which he gave a "hypothetical" account of an accomplice who helps him dispose of the weapon.
"The authorities, that is, police and the current district attorney of Los Angeles County, cannot simply discount it. They have got to look at it, or continue to look at it," Klieman spoke.
In a statement to CBS News, the executor of Simpson's estate said, "The only three people whose first-hand accounts of that night matter the most are now dead, and that at some point, we must recognized that continued production of theories may do little to bring meaningful resolution to those who have already suffered so much."
