Killing Time: The First Full Investigation into the Unsolved Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman [Hardcover]

Donald Freed (Author), Raymond P. Briggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

This compelling investigation focuses on the literal time when the murders occurred and analyzes groundbreaking forensic evidence to produce different scenarios.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The authors of this provocative inquiry into the O.J. Simpson double-murder case maintain that "[t]he prosecution was shackled by their obsession with O.J. as a berserk Othello," a jealous lone killer. In their estimate, "Simpson's alibi certainly has 'the ring of truth.'" Using detailed time lines and maps, they propose several alternative scenarios for the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Some scenarios posit two killers, with Simpson as a co-conspirator or bystander. In other scenarios, Goldman was the primary target, and the authors point to a pattern of drug- and mob-related violence surrounding Goldman and O.J. Simpson. Another theory advanced is that a professional assassin employed by a drug cartel committed the murders. The authors sift numerous details that their own investigative team reportedly uncovered, plus evidence that, in their opinion, has been unexplored by the LAPD. Their presentation, however, relies too much on anonymous sources, which weakens their case considerably. Freed, historian and screenwriter, wrote The Killing of RFK. Briggs is director of research at the Southern California College of Optometry. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 307 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan General Reference; 1st edition (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028613406
• ISBN-13: 978-0028613406
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Killing Time: Questions yet unanswered, January 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Killing Time: The First Full Investigation into the Unsolved Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman (Hardcover)

Author Donald Freed ventures past the evening headlines to uncover evidence and circumstances surrounding the Brentwood Murders in Kiling Time: The First Full Investigation. On the face of it, the media has not reported the entire story surrounding the Bundy murders. Evidence indicating drug use of many of the participants in the trial of the century, may lead to revelations of possible motive other than the domestic violence issue highlighted in the prosecution's defense during the first trial. The relationship between Columbia Pictures/Heidi Fleiss/ and the participants in the trial is telling, and Killing Time begins what could be a long journey to fact finding in this case. The police may have got the right man, Mark Furman, the second most trajic "patsy" in modern history. Only in a bizarre senario, could we imagine the greatest defense attorney of all time, F. Lee Bailey snaring his witness in perjured testimony. Killing Time asks more questions than it answers, but is a light in the darkness that has been the trial of the century.

35 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If the Glove doesn't fit...blah, blah, blah., February 10, 2005

By 

Bookworm (michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killing Time: The First Full Investigation into the Unsolved Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman (Hardcover)

The only book I read after the OJ trial was Chris Darden's In Contempt. After reading it, I was convinced OJ was the killer, though I'd never doubted it. Then along came this book and for lack of anything to read, I picked it up recently at my library. The front boasts, "The First Full Investigation". This book is nothing but ridiculous junk. Like another reviewer who thought this guy (the author) might have been on the jury, I thought Simpson probably paid him to write it. This entire waste of paper is about--put simply--everything the prosecution did wrong and how inept they all were and everything the defense did right and how brilliant they all were. All I read is how wrong, wrong, wrong the prosecution was. Well here's a newsflash. Neither Marcia Clark or Chris Darden witnessed the murders, therefore they cannot and never will be absolutely certain how everything went down there that night. The only one who knows that is the killer and I still believe, after reading this rubbish, that OJ is that person. This book was geared to steer guilt away from OJ and point it anywhere else but at him.

There is a line in the book that says, "Picture a killer with a knife in a struggle against 2 strong, fit victims and dangerous guard dog", with the author once again trying to steer OJ out of the crime. 1. The dog knew OJ. 2. It's pretty difficult to put up much of a fight when one, you've been whacked in the head and then two, your throat is slashed so viciously that both jugular veins are severed.

Then we're told that LAPD logged a 911 call at 10:30 and the caller asked if a double murder had been reported. The author explains, "Did someone--perhaps even OJ--pass by Bundy, see what happened and report it anonymously?" Portraying OJ as an innocent witness. Why couldn't OJ have had someone call because it was possible he was concerned about his children being there alone after he killed his wife and her friend? Is it possible he didn't want the kids to see the carnage he left behind? Why not that point of view? And if OJ had been the one behind the call, what kind of man would witness (if he's innocent like the author believes) a murder at the place his children reside, then go home, hop on a plane and head to Chicago? And aren't 911 calls immediately traceable?

A big deal was made about the bruises on Ron's knuckles while putting up a fight? Obviously, according to the book, he hit the killer several times. There were also scrapes on his knuckles, according to the autopsy report. So, instead of hitting someone that should be bruised in turn and OJ was not bruised so he can't be guilty--isn't it possible Ron's fists hit the pavement as he fell? The author keeps telling us about the bruised knuckles but fails to tell us there were also abrasions on those knuckles, which I don't believe would get there simply from punching someone. But the author doesn't speculate that the bruises could have occurred when he fell.

Then there is "Nicole & Ron - Amended Timeline"--So the author now would have us believe that Ron is in Nicole's house preparing to bathe, Nicole is out front talking to someone for almost a half hour when someone hears a woman's scream. The author assumes this is Nicole's scream, so I have to assume that Ron comes out to help her, right? Yes, according to the author. So before he comes back out of the house to assist her, he grabs the keys and the envelope with the glasses and runs to her assistance? Because those two things are photographed by his body. That idea is just nonsense.

Further into the book, the author says, "Let us for now eliminate Simpson as a suspect". You mean, he actually was a suspect somewhere in this garbage? The last few chapters of the book have Ron being the target, Faye Resnick being the target and OJ being the target. A professional hit? A professional hit done so sloppily? And if Ron were the target, why wasn't he killed at his apartment instead of outside Nicole's house? If OJ was the target, why is the man still alive today? If Resnick was the target, why is she still alive today? All the wasted pages of drugs and sex and mafia and the other mumbo jumbo is all speculation.

The "two killer timeline" is also a laugh. That Nicole would call Mezzaluna and ask Ron to come over at 9:42 if he is the man she is sleeping with and then "Nicole's date arrives" (another man) at 9:44. At 10:00, she's done with this date (?) and walks him out to the car, then goes back inside at 10:05 and 'in preparation for Goldman's arrival, she slips back into her dress'. WHAT? So now, the ruckus begins at 10:31 and continues until 10:45? An attack that lasts nearly 15 minutes, where supposedly Ron and Nicole are fighting viciously back and all we hear is one thing from Ron and one little scream from Nicole? I don't think so.

The book is an entire waste of paper. We don't know what exact time these two people were killed, although I'm guessing that it was very close to 10:03 when Nicole's watch stopped. But then, according to the author, OJ can't be the killer because he was making a cellphone call that noone answered at 10:03. Is it possible (???) that Nicole's watch could have been a minute or two off? Now there's an idea. OJ pulls up, makes the call to try to create a flimsy alibi, gets out of his bronco and proceeds to attack her? I'm guessing that Nicole was attacked first and was in the process of being killed by her psycho ex-husband when Ron came upon the attack, yelled, "Hey, hey, hey", tried to intervene and then he was killed? I don't believe one killer attacked both of them at once. Why didn't the author address the photograph that was produced after the trial of OJ wearing Bruno Magli shoes? The author portrays OJ as being the one who is stalked by Nicole. Give me a break. He admitted looking in her windows.

I realize my review is somewhat confusing, but so was this entire book. It threw a hundred different scenarios out at you and I think they were meant to confuse. None of them made any sense and I think Simpson is just as guilty today even after reading this junk.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A confusing mishmash of facts, gossip and speculation, February 20, 2009

By 

Justbooking - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Killing Time: The First Full Investigation into the Unsolved Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman (Hardcover)

This book had the potential to be very good - presenting the murder from the point of view of each of the main participants, taking into account their actions and seeing how well their stories meshed together. Multiple scenarios emerge, each with different timelines and suspects.

Its downfall is that it soon becomes a compendium of every imaginable theory set forth in this case by the prosecution, the defense, secret "sources" and the authors. It relies heavily on facts, testimony, and evidence presented at the trial, and then goes a step further by also adding other evidence and testimony not presented at the trial (regardless of the reason, even if witnesses were not reliable), including hearsay and gossip, such as when it mentions that both Goldman and Fuhrman might have had affairs with Nicole. Oh please.

Wild theories are presented - maybe Ron Goldman murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and was then murdered by OJ (pg 176) or maybe (Nicole's) dog carried the glove to Rockingham (pg 215).

With countless scenarios flying by, you might miss some interesting points. For example, that there were four light colored Broncos and three African American men in Simpson's circle of friends, or that most of the blood from the Rockingham Bronco was collected several weeks after the murder, after it had been broken into. Or an interesting Appendix that includes: a trial timeline listing all witnesses, the arrest warrant, Simpson's statement to the LAPD, the Investigator's report, the autopsy reports of the two victims (text only), and the Bill of Rights.

However, this cannot make up for what the rest of the book lacks. News sources are all given equal weight, whether it comes from tabloids or established media. Leads and sources are anonymous for the most part. In the end it boils down to a shell game of sorts, with smoke and mirrors added to boot.

For readers looking for analysis, instead of speculation, "Outrage" by top prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi does a far better job of dissecting alibis, witnesses and all critical evidence, with great insight into what should have been presented but wasn't.