This is private eye William C. Dear's second stab (pun intended) at the O.J. Simpson case. His first book, O.J. Is Guilty But Not of Murder, quite frankly, was a self-congratulatory hagiographical piece of dreck. Dear's thesis in that book was that Simpson was an accessory after the fact, and took the rap for his son Jason. But most of that book was about William C. Dear, not the Simpson case. I bought this book, struggled with the first 100 pages or so, then stuck it in an out-of-the-way bookcase where the sun never shines. If I were to review it, maybe I'd give it 2 stars if I were feeling charitable.
Thus it was with some trepidation that I bought this book. The many on Amazon who reviewed it mostly gave it 5 stars, with about 20 die-hard "No-Jays" giving it 1 star, because they can't accept the fact that maybe the LAPD and the DA's office framed O.J. and that the criminal jury which acquitted him wasn't quite as dumb as it was made out to be. Based upon those recommendations, and following a TV special which pinned the guilt on serial killer Glen Rogers, I decided to buy the book, and Amazon had it on sale, deeply discounted.
Dear's second book on the Simpson case is infinitely better, carefully researched, and not mostly about Dear instead of the nominal subject. I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 because of some issues I have with his conclusion that this was a crime of passion, as well as his speculation that O.J. Simpson came to the crime scene before flying to Chicago. I consider this mandatory reading not just for Simpson buffs, but for anyone whose interest is in true justice being served. It sure wasn't here, and not for the reason most people might give.
I personally did a lot of work on the Simpson case back in the 1990's, and initially thought the Juice was guilty as hell. After all, his blood and DNA were found at the crime scene, Goldman's DNA was found in the Bronco, and then there was that low-speed chase in the white Bronco with O.J. holding a gun to his head. All clear indications of guilt, right? A slam-dunk for Marcia Clark & Co.? Absolutely.
Well, not quite. As further evidence surfaced, it became increasingly clear, at least to me, that O.J. didn't commit this double homicide - he just didn't have time to leave the crime scene at 10:45 PM or a couple minutes later - as witnessed by dog walker Robert Heidstra - race home in 7 minutes or so, change out of his bloody clothing, hide the murder weapon, and start putting out his bags for Alan Park, the limo driver, at 10:54 PM. O.J. could certainly move pretty fast when he was a running back, but not that fast. Moreover, Simpson didn't appear to have the temperament of a killer. Sure, he had a temper (as did Nicole) - especially when he was drunk, but there was never any evidence of him trying to kill anyone, or injure someone with a knife. Moreover, it's well-documented that O.J. was scared to death of blood, and the near-decapitation of his ex-wife was about as bloody a murder as homicide gets.
William Dear makes a strong circumstantial case for O.J.'s eldest son Jason: Jason had tried to kill his ex-girlfriend, and his ex-boss (at different times), both times using a knife, plus himself (three times). Jason's airtight alibi for where he was at the time of the murder - working at Alan Ladd Jackson's restaurant where he was the sous-chef - was full of holes: The restaurant, normally open until 11 PM, closed early on Sunday, June 12, 1994 due to lack of business. Jason was picked up from the restaurant by his girlfriend Jennifer Green around 9:45 PM. This would have given him more than enough time to go home, don the gloves that didn't fit O.J., the Bruno Maglis, and kill Nicole then ditch the bloody clothing and the knife, as he didn't have a flight to Chicago to catch. What's even more damning is that Jason didn't punch out normally, he wrote his departure time on the timecard manually. Dear does a job worthy of Columbo here.
As I said before, I have some issues with this book, in three areas: First, that this was a crime of passion, not one that was premeditated; Second, that O.J. returned to the crime scene; Third, assuming it was Jason, he was the sole killer. I'll address each in turn:
* Was this a crime of passion? Dear goes to great lengths painting Jason as a person prone to periodic rage, possibly related to his epilepsy. About this he's correct. Jason attempted to kill an employer of his, and cut off the hair of an ex-girlfriend, both times with a knife. Moreover, he was not on his anti-rage medication, Depakote, at the time. Additionally, he made three suicide attempts, had been hospitalized in a psychiatric unit, and certainly was proficient with knives: He was a chef who had his own set of chef's knives which he took home with him every night. Finally, he was extremely jealous of his father; at age 14, he attempted to destroy a statue of O.J. which Simpson displayed at 360 Rockingham. Dear theorizes that Jason went into a state of rage after Nicole stood him up on June 12th by dining at Mezzaluna rather than at Alan Ladd Jackson's restaurant, where Jason had prepared a feast for her. Jason later drove to Nicole's townhouse at 875 Bundy; a loud argument ensued, Jason went back to his jeep to pick up a knife, and killed both Nicole and Ron Goldman, who merely happened along, ostensibly to return Nicole's glasses which she had left behind at Mezzaluna.
Problem: According to Dear's excellent detective work, Jason did not clock out; he came back a couple days later to manually enter a clock-in time of 2:30 PM, a clock-out time of 10:30 PM, for a total of 8 hours worked, and signed the time card. The time clock was determined to have been working; other employees punched out. So why did he not clock out? It was normal for the restaurant to close early on Sunday night, so he wasn't going to be docked for leaving early. And when he did fill out the time card, why did he lie? It wasn't for the 45 minutes; it was because he needed an alibi for where he was at 10:30 PM, just leaving work rather than killing his stepmother. To me, the lack of clocking out indicates premeditation; Jason knew that if he weren't caught, he'd be able to retroactively "adjust" the time card; if he were caught, it wouldn't matter. If the crime were premeditated, there was a strong possibility others (not O.J.) were involved. Finally, there was the type of knife used in the murders; it wasn't a chef's knife, but a double-bladed knife, possibly a Gerber, designed to slice living people, not carve a dead turkey. So, if the murder wasn't premeditated, why did Jason (if Jason were in fact the real killer) bring along this particular knife?
* Did Jason call his father after the fact, and did O.J. come out to view the crime scene? The answer is a resounding "NO" for many reasons. First is that the murders (if committed by Jason) were premeditated. Why would Jason call his father after murdering two people? That exponentially increases the odds he'd be caught - O.J. would drop a dime on his son. Second is a matter of timing: We know from Robert Heidstra that Goldman shouted "Hey, hey, hey!" around 10:45 PM that Sunday night; Heidstra was walking his dogs, and upon seeing a car peel out heading south on Bundy (O.J. lived northwest), Heidstra sensed trouble, and immediately headed home. When Heidstra walked in the door, the TV, which had been left on, was just about to start telecasting the 11:00 news. I've walked the same walk Heidstra did, even if he was moving very slowly, there is no way it would have taken more than 6 or 7 minutes for Heidstra to get safely inside his apartment from where he was. O.J. wouldn't have had time to get from 360 Rockingham to the crime scene; it takes 7 minutes or more, dependent on traffic, and I don't think O.J. would have wanted to attract attention by driving that Bronco 100 MPH down Sunset and getting pulled over. There is also the matter of the socks found near O.J.'s bed. If these socks weren't planted (Dear proves convincingly they were), it would have increased the amount of time necessary for O.J. to be ready for the limo driver, Allan Park, before 11:00 PM. We have a hard timeline that the bags were out at 10:54 PM. Finally, Park didn't hear a truck pulling into Rockingham; he had arrived there at 10:22 to wait for O.J. If O.J. were called, it would have been after 10:22 PM, and Park certainly would have noticed if a vehicle left the house. From this, we can conclude O.J. was not at the crime scene with too-small gloves, Bruno Magli shoes, and a watch cap; the gloves were planted, it was never established that Simpson had bought those particular shoes with the Silga sole, and the EDTA and the location of the blood on all four surfaces of the bloody socks, when a leg was supposed to be between them, proves beyond any doubt the socks were planted, just as Dear (and others) claim.
* Was Jason the sole killer? Certainly it's possible he was one of the killers; he, not O.J. had the temperament of a killer, rage or otherwise, and he had a motive - jealousy of both his father and his ex-stepmother, a far stronger motive than O.J.'s, which existed primarily in the minds of Faye Resnick and Denise Brown, both of who had a vested interest in O.J. being the killer rather than Jason or somebody else. (In Resnick's case, book royalties, and Brown's, money from a civil lawsuit; Jason was poor enough to be judgment-proof.) Plus, there is strong evidence that Goldman was given the glasses by the Mezzaluna manager and ordered to drop them off at Nicole's house BEFORE the glasses were reported missing by anyone. The Browns claim they reported it to the restaurant at 9:37 PM when they returned from their 76 mile trip from Mezzaluna to Dana Point in Orange County. As the best estimate for their pulling out of the parking lot across the street from Mezzaluna is 8:50 PM, that means the trip took Brown and their family less than 46 minutes, or an average speed of approximately 100 mph, some of which was on city streets. There is no way a loaded-up Jeep Cherokee can go that fast. Conclusion: Goldman was set up. Could Jason have been part of the team? Quite possibly. Then, again, just because someone fits the profile doesn't make him a killer himself. Dear has a strong circumstantial case against Jason Simpson, but not an iron-clad one.
In conclusion, Dear has certainly proved that Jason Simpson fit the profile of someone who could have taken part in these homicides. He has shown that Jason's so-called "iron-clad" alibi was anything but. The case should definitely be reopened (in theory it was never closed), with Jason a person of interest.
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AC
Very convincing argument let down by poor writing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2016
