IF I DID IT AUTHOR's NOTE: If I Did It, This Is What Happened
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IF I DID IT AUTHOR'S NOTE: If I did it, this is what happened. IF I DID IT. Copyright © 2006 by O.J. Simpson. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without writ- ten permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Harper Collins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. Harper Collins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department, HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. For editorial inquiries, please contact Regan, 10100 Santa Monica Blvd., 10th floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067. FIRST EDITION Designed by Kris Tobiassen Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for. ISBN 10: 0-06-123828-7 ISBN 13: 978-0-06-123828-4 CONTENTS 1. THE LUCKIEST GUY IN THE WORLD ................... 1 2. SO HAPPY TOGETHER ................................................. 35 3. PERIOD OF CONFUSION ............................................ 65 4. THE TWO NICOLES ...................................................... 97 5. THINGS FALL APART .................................................... 113 6. THE NIGHT IN QUESTION ..................................... 135 7. THE INTERROGATION ................................................ 173 8. THE FIGHT OF MY LIFE .......................................... 205 1 THE LUCKIEST GUY I N THE WORLD Im going to tell you a story youve never heard before, because no one knows this story the way I know it. It takes place on the night of June 12, 1994, and it concerns the murder of my ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her young friend, Ronald Goldman. I want you to forget everything you think you know about that night because I know the facts better than anyone. I know the players. Ive seen the evidence. Ive heard the theories. And, of course, Ive read all the stories: That I did it. That I did it but I dont know I did it. That I can no longer tell fact from fiction. That I wake up in the middle of the night, consumed by guilt, screaming. Man, they even had me wondering, What if I did it? Well, sit back, people. The things I know, and the things I believe, you cant even imagine. And Im going to share them 2 O.J. SIMPSON IF I DID IT I 3 with you. Because the story you know, or think you know—thats number of years, and at one point had actually separated, but we not the story. Not even close. This is one story the whole world reconciled for the sake of our two kids, Arnelle, then nine, and got wrong. Jason, seven. A few months into it, though, while Marguerite and First, though, for those of you who dont know me, my name I were in the middle of dinner, she set down her fork and gave me is Orenthal James Simpson—"O.J." to most people. Many years a hard look. ago, a lifetime ago, really, I was a pretty good football player. I set "What?" I asked. a few NCAA records, won the Heisman trophy, and was named "This isnt working," she said. And Im five months pregnant." the American Football Conferences Most Valuable Player three I knew the marriage wasnt working, but the news of the preg- times. When I retired from football, in 1978, I went to work for nancy was a real shock. NBC, as a football analyst, and in the years ahead I was inducted We finished dinner in silence—we were at the house on into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Rockingham, in Brentwood—and after dinner went to bed, still Hall of Fame. silent. I lay there in the dark, thinking about the unborn baby. I I did a little acting, too, and for a number of years I was a knew Marguerite would never consider an abortion, and it made pitchman for Hertz, the rental car people. Some of you might for a very strange situation: The youngest Simpson would be join- remember me from the television spots: I was always running late, ing a family that had already fallen apart. pressed for time, leaping over fences and cars and piles of luggage to In the morning, I told Marguerite that I was going to go to catch my flight. If you dont see the irony in that, you will. the mountains for a night or two, to think things through, and I All of that was a long time ago, though, a lifetime ago, as I packed a small bag and took off. said—all of that was before the fall. And as I sit here now, trying to On my way out of town, I stopped at a Beverly Hills jewelry tell my story, Im having a tough time knowing where to begin. store to pick out an anniversary present for her—wed been married Still, Ive heard it said that all stories are basically love stories, and a decade earlier, on June 24, 1967—then paid for it and left. As I my story is no exception. This is a love story, too. And, like a lot of made my way down the street, heading back to my car, I ran into a love stories, it doesnt have a happy ending. guy I knew, and we went off to have breakfast at The Daisy, a cou- Let me take you back a few years, to the summer of 1977. I ple of blocks away. We found a quiet, corner table, and our young was married then, to my first wife, Marguerite, and we were about waitress came over. She was a stunner: Blonde, slim, and bright- to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, but it was not a good eyed, with a smile that could knock a man over. time for us. Marguerite and I had been on shaky ground for a " Who are you?" I asked. "Nicole." That was in June 1977. For the next month, I saw her almost "Nicole what?" every single day, until it was time to leave for football. I missed her, "Nicole Brown." and I spoke to her constantly. I also spoke to Marguerite, of "How come Ive never seen you before?" course, to see how the kids were doing, and to make sure the preg- "I just started here," she said, laughing. nancy was going okay, but I was pretty confused. I had a wife back She was from Dana Point, she told me, about an hour south home, with a third kid on the way, and I was already falling in love of Los Angeles, and shed come up for the summer to make a few with another woman. bucks. I came home in time for the delivery of the baby, but split "How old are you?" I asked. almost immediately after to rejoin the Buffalo Bills, the team I "I just turned eighteen last month," she said. "On May 19." was playing with back then. When football season ended, I "Im sorry I missed your birthday," I said. returned to L.A. and took a room at the Westwood Marquis, and She smiled that bright smile again. "Me, too," she said. I found myself pretty much living two lives—one with After breakfast, I made the two-hour drive to Lake Arrow- Marguerite, as an estranged husband and father of three, and the head, and I spent the night up there thinking about my failing mar- other with Nicole, my new love. I spent most of my time with riage, and trying not to think about the gorgeous young waitress Nicole, of course, at the hotel or at her little apartment, and from who had served me breakfast. When I got back from the moun- time to time—when I was called away on business—shed hit the tains, I went home, having resolved absolutely nothing, and a few road with me. nights later I went back to The Daisy. Nicole was there, and I took her Eventualy , I met Nicoles family—two sisters, Denise and aside. "I want you to know that Im married, but that my marriage Dominique, who were living in New York back then; a third sister, is ending," I said. "So, you know—Im still technically a married Tanya; and their mother, Juditha, who lived in Dana Point with her man. I dont know if that bothers you, but if it does Im just letting husband, Lou. I didnt meet Lou till later, but that was only because you know that things are going to change soon." the situation never presented itself. He knew about me, of course, "Is that the truth?" she asked. and I dont think he had any objections, and if he did nobody "Its the truth," I said. shared them with me. Later that same night, I stopped by her apartment, on Nicole also met my kids, but I waited an entire year before I Wilshire Boulevard, and took her to a party. By the end of the made the introductions. I was a little wary, for obvious reasons, but evening, I was hooked. Nicole took to them as if they were her own. They liked her, too. Before long, the kids wouldnt go anywhere with me unless Nicole She was happy. Sort of. The fact is, we still werent married, was part of it. and I couldnt go a week without hearing about it: Didnt I love Ive got to tell you: Life was pretty good. I felt like the luckiest her? Didnt we have a future? Couldnt we have children now, while guy in the world.