>> he was crying over the coffin, he kissed the coffin. he said i'm sorry, nick. i'm sorry. >> i thought oh, my god. he kill her. >> i remember screaming. >> he tried to make me say something that was not real. >> it was surreal. it was devastating. >> the murders took only minutes. 20 years later, the shock has yet to fade. >> it was a stunning time in american legal theater. >> you may think you know the story of the o.j. simpson case but there was a lot you probably haven't heard, haven't seen. tonight, you will. did nicole brown simpson

actually predict her own death? >> what she said to us was o.j. is going to kill me and he's going to get away with it. >> was simpson getting rid of something at the airport the night of the murders? >> he was reaching in and dropping the stuff in the trash can. >> and what really went on in the jury room? >> all people wanted to do was go home. >> we'll also hear from o.j. himself who told his story under oath in these rarely seen deposition tapes. >> in her face is black and blue the next day or two days later, i was responsible for it. >> hear and see what the jury never did. >> the o.j. simpson case, 20 years later. i'm lester holt and this is dateline. >> june 12th, 1994, brentwood, california.

two horrific murders that came to be defined by just three words, the o.j. case. >> the very blody scene, a very traumatic scene. both victims had their throats slashed. >> o.j. please surrender immediately. >> i have o.j. in the car. >> we do have sufficient evidence to convict him. >> how about that? >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> not guilty of the crime of murder. >> it was the story that wouldn't go away. if you lived here and by here we mean the united states, you had an opinion. a nation made room in its collective conscienceness for this collision of pop culture and legal drama. 20 years ago, it touched issues we still can't agree on today,

race, money, privilege, fame, interracial marriage, domestic violence. this became television's first reality show. >> become up, please. get out of the way. >> the case consumed us and then divided us. even now, two decades later, questions still linger about what really what happened that night in brentwood and why despite a staggering amount of evidence, o.j. simpson was acquitted. tonight, we'll provide some answers with new witnesses, inside information, rare footage and stories that can now finally be told. it was a cool late spring evening in brentwood. around midnight, a couple of walking a dog down a quiet section of south bundy drive when something strange caught their attention. then at the entrance of a

condominium numbered 875, they saw it. a body in a river of blood. police arrived and discovered a second victim. investigators would soon follow, including veteran homicide detective tom lang. >> this isn't a robbery, this isn't for sex. this was a rage killing. one difference was that nicole was nearly decap i tatd. >> nicole was 35-year-old nicole brown simpson, the ex-wife of o.j. simpson. near the bodies was a bloody leather glove, an envelope with a pair of eyeglasses and a blue knit cap. the male victim was 25-year-old ron goldman. >> there's numerous wounds on the neck. he put up a fight.

he fought like hell. >> asleep inside the house were the two children sydney and justin who hadn't heard a thing. they were taken to a nearby police station. >> we need next of kin to take care of these kids. we need to find o.j. simpson. >> as dawn broke in brentwood, detectives were sent to simpson's estate. one of them was detective mark furman, arriving detectives feared the worst, that simpson may have suffered the same fate as his ex-wife. >> we just left abloody crime scene. cars in the driveway. lights on inside. nobody is answering. >> so without a search warrant, detective furman jumped the wall and let in the other cops. in one of the bungalows, they

found his 25-year-old daughter, they learned her father was out of town. in the other bungalow, they found kato kaelin. he was about to star in the role of his life. >> i had seen him earlier in the day and he was talking about women problems and he was telling me stuff that he hasn't said before and he seemed down. he needed someone to talk to and i was the only guy probably available mblingt -- >> there wasn't normally the relationship you had with him. >> absolutely not. >> later that evening, simpson came by his door to get change for a hundred dollar bill and also get something to eat. just after 9:00 p.m., they hopped into a car and went to mcdonald's. did simpson ask kaelin to go

with him to establish an alibi? >> i invited myself. i was starving. >> kaelin told detectives they got back around 9:40 p.m., he returned to his bungalow and didn't see simpson again for approximately an hour and a half. then around 10:45 p.m., kaelin says he heard three strange sounds. >> it was a banging noise. in hindsight now if someone bumped into a wall. >> he came outside to check on the noise and saw a limo driver alan park at the gate waiting to take simpson to the airport. a few minutes later, simpson came out of the house, the luggage was loaded and the limo sped off. the story seemed to add up, so now it was simpson the cops really wanted to talk to. he was in his hotel in chicago when detectives told him what had happened in l.a. >> there were no details given

except that nicole was dead. he said well, i'll be on the next plane back there. >> now came another phone call, the one the detective dreaded, notifying nicole's family who lived some 75 miles away in an area called dana point. >> you hear that phone rang and i hear a scream from my mom's room that i never heard before. it was just awful. awful, awful. >> denise brown, nicole's older sister, remember rushing to her mother's room. >> she says your sister is dead. i said what. i grabbed the phone out of her. he said her sister has been killed. i said oh, my god, he did it. he killed her. >> he being o.j. simpson, denise's former brother-in-law. detective lang was stunned at this sudden new lead. >> that was my first inkling that perhaps simpson was involved in this.

>> nicole's family devastated in an instant continued the grim task and called her best friend, kris jenner. >> i was like what? what do you mean nicole died? it was devastating. i think i almost passed out. it was just the worst feeling you could possibly imagine in your entire life. >> chris had known nicole since 1978. they met through kris's former husband robert kardashian, who was simpson's best friend and attorney. kris adoerd simpson too like a big brother. >> he was very charming. a lot of fun to be around. you could tell he was the type of person who really enjoyed life. >> kris and nicole had become fast friends and the two couples were like family. now, all of that was suddenly gone. >> everyone's life changed. nicole died, and nothing would ever be the same. >> the world had changed forever

for kris jenner. for the brown and goldman families, and for o.j. simpson, who would soon be back home in l.a. where a trail of evidence led right to his front door. >> much of that evidence was blood and this would be the first major trial where dna played a huge, although controversial role. when we return, the case against o.j. simpson starts to build, and so does the media frenzy. >> this is very sensitive now. celebrity case. everybody is going to want a piece of this. everybody is going to have an opinion. he already owes me money for like 4 pizzas. we all get separate bills. besides, if you don't like gordon why did you invite him this weekend? i didn't invite him. he just, like, shows up! it's pronounced gor-don. hey let's go! those tacos aren't going to eat themselves over there. tacos! you look great, by the way. the bills are separate? with the sprint unlimited framily plan, the more you add, the more you save. unlimited framily plan

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in 1994, the city of angels was about to get an education. back then, most of us had never heard the name kardashian. today's powerful bond between dna evidence and criminal guilt didn't yet exist, and the name o.j. simpson belonged to a friendly recognizable sports star, actor, and corporate ambassador. his commercials for hertz were classics. >> take it from o.j. simpson there's only one superstar in rent a car. >> someone the nation new, trusted, and liked. from his naked gun movies, to his nfl broadcasts. as his colleague bob costas remembers.

>> he was always the quinn at the essential hail fellow well met. he knew the name of the intern who wrought coffee and doughnuts. he was as likeable a person as you would ever want to encounter. >> but on day two of this story, much of that history was in the process of being rewritten. the brentwood crime scene was now crawling with cops looking for clues and collecting evidence. blood was everywhere and leading from it a trail of bloody shoe prints. near the body was a left handed glove and a blue knit cap. and inside the walls of simpson's estate, detective mark fuhrman went behind the bungalow and discovered a moist bloody glove, similar to the one at the crime scene. >> when we look at the glove and it looks like the same type. >> and it was the right-handed dplof. >> yeah, same everything. >> detectives also found a trail

of blood drops on his driveway leading from the white ford bronco parked on the street. >> this is very sensitive now. it's a celebrity case. everybody is going to want a piece of this. everybody is going to have an opinion. you cannot be influenced by outside sources like the media or anybody else. >> at midnight last night, a passerby observed the female and male white body. >> by now the news media was beginning to provide sketchy reports and kris jenner was desperate to learn what had happened to her close friends. >> as the details started to come through and thoughts swirling through my head and how did this happen and where are the kids and where is o.j. >> some 13 hours after the murder, simpson returned from l.a. to chicago, a journey that took him from household name to potential suspect. chris jern -- jenner was stunned.

this was her old friend and big brother o.j. now caught in the cross hairs of a murder investigation. >> you never thought of him as a killer. >> no, to me. he had a great personality. he loved, you know, being o.j. simpson. >> bads enough that simpson might be involved in the murder of her best friend, but now kris was further conflicted because her former husband robert kardashian was simpson's long time personal attorney. kardashian was also at rockingham and appeared to be carrying simpson's garment bag. >> much has been separated what was in that bag, could you conceive of him loving his friend so much that he would help him dispose of evidence. >> absolutely not. >> did he ever tell you that he had ever done that or been asked to do anything like that. >> no.

i guarantee you 150% that he had this character and integrity and christian values and believed in the truth. >> o.j., what can you say -- >> back up, please. get out of the way. >> detectives now wanted to bring in simpson for questioning. his attorney, howard wiseman said his kline would fully cooperate. >> he's shocked. he had nothing to do with this tragedy. >> simpson's lawyers met privately with him and went to lunch, leaving their client alone with two veteran homicide detectives. >> i was flabbergasted. unless he just thinks he can handle everything, he can handle us, he's glib enough to say anything he wants and he's going to get around us. >> detectives and o.j. simpson now settle nood a small

interrogation room for a critical interview that could make or break the case. it would be the first and last time simpson would tell his story to police. >> coming up. >> i know i'm the number one target. >> o.j. simpson knows just how bad things look, and he's not the only one. >> mr. simpson, are you a suspect? >> when dateline continues.

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>> parker center, police headquarters in downtown l.a. it's seen a lot of high profile murder investigations and thousands of interrogations, but on that june afternoon, perhaps none more pivotal thap the talk detectives were about to have with o.j. simpson. he didn't have to be there, he wasn't under arrest and his attorneys weren't with him in the interview, so they thought, tape roll and we have a copy of it. >> we're meeting with o.j. simpson. is that orenthal james simpson.

>> he was surprisingly calm for his ex-wife had just been murdered. strange too he never asked how she died. >> self assured. has to be in charge of all times. >> cops were drawn to a cut on simpson's left middle finger. >> how did you get the injury on your hand? >> i don't know. i know when i was in chicago, at the house i was just running around. >> how did you do it in chicago? >> i broke a glass. workup of you guys just called me, i went in the bathroom and i went bonkers a a little bit. >> is that how you cut it? >> i cut it before. i think i just opened it again. >> police had found a blood trail from the bronco to his house. now, simpson offered a few new details to help explain it. >> do you recall bleeding? >> yeah. i knew i was bleeding. it was no big deal. i bleed all the time. i play golf and stuff.

there's always something, nicks and stuff. >> we don't know what direction it's going to take you. i want your blood. i'm going to document that finger. i want your fingerprints. >> by now, simpson appeared to be sensing trouble. >> i know i'm the number one target. and now you are telling me i got blood all over the place. >> is that your blood that's dripped there? >> if it's dripped, it's what i dripped running around trying to leave. >> then after just 32 minutes, detectives wrapped up their interview and whisked him into a lab, he was printed, his finger photographed, and his blood drawn. >> the core of this case is blood, blod everywhere and he's got the evidence that we want in his body. >> are you a suspect at all? >> simpson walk out of parker center visibly upset, maybe at

the questions outside, maybe at those asked inside but for now he was allowed to leave. that may have been a measure of his celebrity or the police had suspicions they couldn't yet back up. but back at simpson's estate, more evidence was turning up. including a pair of bloody socks on his bedroom floor. at the crime scene itself, more blood drops were swabbed from the walkway to the alley, suggesting the killer was bleeding as he bled. >> we have now videotapes of the bodies of nicole brown simpson and a man found in a walkway in front of her condominium. >> this man's life was about to change for about the worst.

when fred got home, he and his wife received a phone call from the coroner's office. >> and this individual said to me did you hear on the news today that nicole brown was killed and your son was the other person. that's how we found out over the phone, and two of us stood there crying our eyes out. >> through his shock, fred knew he had to tell his daughter kim, who sensed something was wrong the minute she heard his voice on the phone. >> he said did you -- did you hear the news at all today? i said no, what's going on dad. and he just said that ron had died and that ron was killed. i don't really remember too much after that. i just remembered screaming and he told me to get home. >> ron goldman was just 25, handsome, athletic, popular.

>> i love you very much, and i'll see you soon. bye. >> this rare footage was taken the year before his murder. the goldmans didn't know it but this would be their last big celebration as a family. in june sf 1994, ron had been working at a restaurant where nicole and her family had dined the night of the murder. when nicole's mother left her eyeglasses there, it was ron who later brought them to nicole's condo, and the lives of two families were suddenly tied together forever in grief. >> i believe he walked into a crime in process, and he had a chance to walk away, and run but he didn't. and he stepped in, and he died for it. so he died trying to do the right thing.

and that's painful. >> as night descended on brentwood, o.j. simpson was back at his estate. kato kaelin says simpson wanted to have a little chat to discuss the timing of that mcdonald's male. it was a -- meal. it was a conversation that had simpson suggesting a coverup. he tried to tell me you know where i was, you know i was in the kitchen. he was trying to convince me about what i believe now is an alibi for him. >> he was trying to get you to agree that you had spent more time with him that last evening that you actually had. >> yeah. i think it was in the time frame that he was with me. i said no, you weren't, and inside i'm going he's trying to make me say something that's not true. >> kato kaelin was seeing another o.j. simpson, far different from the affable glad handing celebrity image that

simpson carefully cull at this vatd and protected. but he also had a dark and violent side, one that had nicole fearing for her life just weeks before her murder. >> did nicole brown simpson predict her future? >> she said things are really bad between o.j. and i, and he's going to kill me, and he's going to get away with it. . use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options. oh, how convenient. hey. crab cakes, what are you looking at? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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the funeral was just a mile from the crime scene. this was a gathering of nicole's family and friends, including the man police already suspected of her murder, her ex-husband. >> that was a really tough day. >> how did simpson react at the funeral? >> he was crying over the coffin, kissed the coffin, he said i'm sorry, nick, i'm sorry. >> close friend kris jenner

remembers when nicole met simpson. she was just 18. he was 19. -- he was 29. >> he was crazy about her. he was really happy. he didn't want to live without her. >> in 1985, they married, the same year simpson was inducted into the pro football haul -- hall of fame. >> my wife nicole who came into my life at what is probably the most difficult time for an athlete, at the end of my career, and she turned those years into some of the best years i've had in my life, babe. >> but there would be trouble. some parts of a star athlete's life remained a lure and simpson saw other women, the two qawrled and when that would happen, it would sometimes turn violent. nicole kept all of it a secret, writing about it in her diary.

>> what kind of things were in those diaries? >> she had to go to the emergency room, she had been beaten so badly, she told the doctors she had fell off a bicycle. >> on new year's day in 1989, after a particularly ugly incident, nicole stopped covering for her husband. she call both the police and her sister denise. >> she said can you do me a favor and take pictures of me. so i went over. >> how did she look? >> she had her face all scratched up. she had the black and blue all over her. she said he went crazy. that was her thing. he went crazy. >> they divorced in 1992 but soon after they tried to get back together. >> i felt like they really loved each other but it was tough for them to be together, and she always felt he was cheating on her. >> why did she go back to him? >> she couldn't live with him and couldn't live without him.

she wanted to give him many chances to see if it could work. >> it didn't work. nicole's sister denise said it just got worse. >> he's always there. he won't leave me alone. i go here, he's there. i go here, he's there. >> 911, what's your emergency. >> can you send someone to my house. >> just months before her murder, nicole was on the phone to 911, sounding at first more scaser brated. >> my ex-husband broke into my house and he's ranning and raving. >> has he been drinking. >> no, but he's crazy. >> nicole calls back. now she does sound frightened? >> can you send someone back here? >> what does he look like? >> he's o.j. simpson. >> what's he doing over there?

>> just stay on the line. >> i don't want to stay on the line. he's going to beat -- >> no charge were filed against simpson. his all american public image remained intact. but privately, the last months of nicole's life with simpson were a roller coaster, a series of break-ups and make-ups says kris jenner. then in april 1994, came one last reconciliation. >> it was eight weeks before she was murdered, so we had tried one last ditch vacation to see if, you know, they could make it work, and we went to mexico. >> kris, her second husband, bruce, and their kids met simpson, nicole and their children. >> she told us i want to go. i'm going to give it 150% because she loved him and she wanted it to work. >> but the trip got off to a

shaky start when simpson reverted to form. >> the first thing he did was flirting with these girls at the bar. i actually got really mad at him. i said she's gone to the bathroom for five minutes. give it a rest. >> nicole returned home with her mind made up. >> she said she was done and there was something different within nicole that time. >> but simpson apparently wasn't ready to let go. according to kris jenner, he was devastated at being dumped and retaliated by threatening nicole. just weeks before her death, says chris, nicole revealed something shocking. >> things are really bad between o.j. and i and he's going to kill me, and he's going to get away with it. you'll watch and see what happens. she knew exactly what was going to happen to her. >> and soon after, kris jenner was attending her best friend's funeral. and as the funeral was winding

down, things were busy at the l.a. p.d. crime lab, where preliminary results comparing the blood to the samples collected at the crime scene were now in and they matched, the bloody trail at bundy, rockingham and inside the bronco all came back to simpson. which meant? >> we want to go out and get him and book him like we would anybody else. >> instead a deal was struck with his recently attired -- hired attorney, robert shapiro. to avoid the media, he would turn himself in. the deadline was june 19th, 11:00 a.m. sharp. but o.j. simpson never showed. as the nation was about to learn, he had simply disappeared. coming up, o.j. simpson could run, but he couldn't hide.

>> this is ac. i have o.j. in the car. >> not with millions watching on tv. >> this is a drama without a script. >> when "dateline" continues. on. but we do have a whole lot of coverage. all for just $35 dollars a month; after a $5 credit for using auto pay. so everyone can feel like this! the new cricket wireless. something to smile about. thismakes no sense to me.nding things on a "computer" every piece of information i'll ever need is right here, in precise alphabetical order. i already found it. night frank. oh yeah, i found it too. oh file it, frank. with express lane from esurance, just one click can auto-fill your driving info and help you get a quote faster than ever.

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and around the world. that morning, simpson was preparing to turn himself into police headquarters, but then he suddenly vanished. o.j., wherever you are, for the sake of your family, for the sake of your children, please surrender immediately. >> simpson did leave behind what many felt was a suicide note, a note his friend robert kardashian read open live tv. >> everyone understand, i have nothing to do with nicole's murder. i loved her. don't feel sorry for me. i've had a great life. >> and no one seemed to know where simpson was. >> los angeles police department right now is actively searching for mr. simpson.

>> o.j. simpson is not at this location. there's nothing going on here. >> a suspect wanted for a double 187. suspect named orenthal james simpson. >> then around 6:30 p.m., some seven hours after he was supposed to turn himself in, a white ford bronco was spotted, with simpson in the backseat with his friend al cowling was in the back -- in the front. >> what followed was a slow-speed chase which involved al cowling's bronco, no o.j.'s. >> we are in the car. we are okay. but you got to tell the police, you got to back off.

he's still alive but he's got a gun to his head. >> 95 mill americans tuned in to watch what was suddenly the best show on tv. >> we are looking at live pictures of interstate 5 in los angeles. >> until that moment, many viewers had settled in to watch the nba finals between the knicks and the rockets. now they would watch a split screen of the game and the chase. bob costas was hosting the pregame and half time shows for nicole brown simpson. >> and then all of a sudden this greek tragedy becomes part of the mix. and it's going on concurrently. >> in the number two lane, 25 miles per hour. >> the real gun, it was loaded, he could have used it and you can't take a chance with someone certainly who has been accused

of murder. >> detective tom lang had simpson's cell phone number and was amazingly was able to reach him. dateline obtained the actual recording. >> let me get to my house. i'll give you my whole body. >> lang used every bit of police and pop psychology he knew to keep simpson's hand on the phone, and off the trigger. >> please, you are scaring everybody though. >> tell them i'm all sorry. you can tell them later on today. i'm sorry that i did this to to the police department. >> listen, you should tell them yourself. i don't want to tell your -- your kids need you. >> i already said good-bye to my kids. >> these are the actions of a desperate man, could he kill himself?

yeah. >> kim goldman was watching and worrying. that simpson may not survive. >> we need to bring him to court. >> if he's not guilty, then what's he running for. >> all i did was love nicole. all i did was love her. >> i understand. >> i love everybody. i tried to show everybody my whole life that i love everybody. >> it was surreal, it was devastating cox this get any worse. >> well, maybe not worse, but certainly more weird with crowds cheering on simpson as if he were making a heisman like dash for the end zone. >> in front of the suspect vehicle. >> it became something of a macbre carnival. it was a very good chance this

was going to turn out to be something truly ghastly. >> finally, they finally pull into rockingham. >> everyone's hearts was pounding through their chests. we don't know what's going to happen. we don't know if he's going to get out of the car and have a shootout with the police. knowing o.j.'s tendency toward the dramatic, i couldn't have written off the possibility that he was going to kill himself. >> for nearly an hour, he sat in the bronco as police tried to coax him out. finally he emerge and collapsed in the arms of several waiting officers. it was finally over. inside the bronco was a loaded .magnum and his travel bag, a fake goatee and mush

tash. he was taken away and soon was charge with two counts of murder. >> he's been transported to parker center. >> convicting him seemed almost certain, especially given all that blood evidence. but the district attorney would soon make a crucial decision that would alter the course of this case. long before it ever made it to trial. coming up, the witness who says she saw o.j. simpson near the crime scene just minutes after the murders. >> all of a sudden, a white car comes flying north on bundy his lights out, and i barely missed him. >> did you see who the driver was? >> it was o.j. simpson. >> so why wasn't she ever called to testify? consult with his sidekick, and equip him with all the super toys he needs. all on a mild mannered budget so he can spend some quality time back in his lair.

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at the 45, he has the first down, still undefeated mid field, to the 35, 40, open field at the 25. >> he once wore number 32. >> touch down! >> now, o.j. simpson had a brand new number, and for the next 15 months, a new home. a dingy cell at the l.a. county jail where he was being held without bail. simpson had visits from his family, friends, attorneys, and

even his former colleague bob costas. >> i went to visit him. he tried to convince me several times of his innocence. look, bob, you know me. i'm a smart guy. would i leave a glove behind? would i do something like this? this doesn't make sense, that doesn't make sense. i answered each of his assertions, by saying, well, you'll have your chance to tell your side of the story in court. >> but simpson was facing a mountain of evidence as district attorney gil garcetti told nicole brown simpson news in p 1995. >> no case that i'm aware of in the history of this country has had so much dna evidence but for the fact this were o.j. simpson, it's what you would call in sports language a slam-dunk winner. >> i'm just trying to get to the office. >> and he had good reason to be so cocky, he was convinced there was plenty of evidence both at

bundy and rockingham pointing to simpson's guilt. there was also a key witness, someone who had seen simpson near the crime scene just minutes after the murders. >> all of a sudden, a white car comes flying north on bundy, with his lights out, and i barely missed him. >> did you see who the driver was? >> it was o.j. simpson. >> her name is jill shadley and she tells date line she instantly recognized simpson. >> i have a visual image of his face from that night. >> she even got a glimpse of the license plate number which matched simpson's bronco. >> you still remember the lps plate number. >> 3 cwz 788. >> her testimony would be huge for prosecutors. >> there was no doubt in anybody's mind, especially the district attorneys office that they were going to convict him. there was just too much evidence.

>> then d.a.garcetti made a critical decision. he decided to move it to santa monica. at the time, he claimed the change was made for a number of reasons, including that the santa monica courthouse which recently had sustain earthquake damage couldn't handle a long trial. >> can you tell us anything at all? but former detective tom lang believes that trade-off may have also involved a different calculus. the hope that a conviction by a predominantly black jury would head off what happened here in 1992 when rioting broke out after a mostly white jury acquitted l.a. p.d. officers in the beating of rodney king? >> can we all get along? can we get along? >> in hindsight that decision to move the trial downtown may have been the first of many that

taken together would influence how the case and the verdict played out. >> the thinking was if you have a minority jury convicting a minority defendant, everything is cool. you are not going to have any problems. >> then another critical decision, this one made by judge lance ito who ruled the trial could be televised. ultimatelying, the cameras reveal a spectacle. >> do you have enough evidence to convict o.j. simpson? >> of course we did. >> the lead prosecutor would be marcia clark. a seasoned deputy d.a. >> the fact that the case has been filed means we do have sufficient evidence to convict him. >> we asked her for an interview, she said no as did her colleagues on the case, bill hodgeman and christopher darden. the prosecutors case would be built primarily on blood and dna evidence. the timeline was also crucial to

show simpson was alone for about an hour and twenty minutes, enough time to commit the murders before going to the airport. but this was also where the prosecution's case hit the first of many snags. just before testifying in front of the grand jury, jill shiefly, the woman who claimed she saw simpson speeding away after the murder, sold her story to a television show. >> prosecutors were worried that she would be called a liar, because she never told them or the grand jury about the tv deal. >> marcia clark was so angry with me. she said you blew my case. no, i don't need you. >> so a jury would never hear jill's story of seeing o.j. simpson just after the murders. >> so she told her story.

a lot of people sells stories. >> doesn't mean it's not true. lang says it was part of a pattern. the prosecution passing up opportunities because it relied so heavily on the scientific evidence. >> they felt they could win it on blood alone but in a murder case, you can't have too much evidence. if you've got it, you put it on. they didn't. >> meanwhile, the defense team was going through its own changes. >> how do you plead to counts one and two? just before simpson was arraigned he added a new attorney to the team. johnny l. cochran jr. >> we're ready to proceed to trial. we want to seek justice for o.j. simpson. >> he had been a thorn for years to the prosecutors. from the outset, his strategy was simple. >> this was the kind of case where you attack the police and

their credibility. >> especially in 1995. >> at that time, the only way to describe the situation between the black community and l.a. p.d. was a state of open warfare. >> connie christ is a civil rights attorney who lives in los angeles. >> the black community experienced l.a. p.d. as a hostile occupation force that viewed the black community with racist contempt. >> it was the perfect defense for -- perfect time for it that defense to be raised. >> the perfect time. >> but o.j. simpson, for years he lived on l.a.'s mostly white west side. he spent much of his time playing golf, dating white women and seemed to have little to do with l.a.'s black community. >> i'm not sure he knew how to get to south l.a. >> he didn't have to identify with the black community. the black community understood

was that you are being targeted, you are back with us. >> cochran knew that and helping him were several other legal super stars like f. lee bailey. dna expert barry schek -- -- and alan dershowitz. >> i called it a nightmare team. it was a terrible group. we didn't get along. we didn't deserve to be called the dream team. >> somehow they managed to pick a jury. >> we had done focus groups pretrial and it said clearly that african-american women would be our best jurors. >> because they are the moms and sisters and wives and girlfriends of black men who have been badly treated. >> correct. they would know and understand how black men are treated by police.

>> in the end, the panel that was picked, included eight black women. >> we were so pleased because this was a jury that johnny could speak to and had spoken to for his entire career. >> perhaps the most thrilled of all was simpson himself. >> o.j. looked back on that jury and said gee, whiz guys, if this jury convicts me, maybe i did do it. >> of course, simpson made that statement in jest, but as the nationally televised trial of the century was about to begin, what was coming would leave almost no one laughing. >> coming up, was o.j. simpson getting rid of something at the airport the night of the murders. >> he was pulling things out and dumping them in the trash can. >> and kato kaelin in the biggest role of his life.

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returning to our story, the o.j. simpson trial was about to begin, and as you'll see, a rarely viewed video and hear from those most closely involved, so much was about to change. we would never think about crime and celebrities the same way again. the trial was also an eye opening journey through the chasm splitting white and black america. here again is josh mankiewicz. >> day one of what was being called the trial of the century. it's no exaggeration to say it felt as if the whole world was watching. >> we're very ready. >> it was just six months after the murders of nicole brown and ron goldman. o.j. simpson was facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted. now the two sides would finally square off.

a team of tough but largely unknown l.a. county prosecutors armed with a seemingly air tight case rich in dna evidence pitted against some of the most famous defense lawyers in the land, whose plan was simple. put the police and their investigation on trial. presiding over all of this would be judge lance ito, a former prosecutor who had been on the bench for six years. >> this blood drop that you see here marked with the item number 1-12 matches the defendant. >> the heart of the prosecution's case was all that blood and dna evidence which pointed squarely at o.j. simpson. but first prosecutors detailed their troubled and sometimes violent relationship. >> in that final and terrible act, ronald goldman, an innocent bystander was viciously and senselessly murdered.

>> later, denise brown gave the jury a chilling account. >> picked her up, threw her against the wall. pick her up and threw her out of the house. >> was it tough to go in there and recount what you had seen? >> yeah, it was. i just lost my sister. yeah, everything was just right there. i mean, just so fresh. >> prosecutors also focused on the timeline of the murders, to show that simpson was alone and unaccounted for for at least an hour. enough time to kill ron and nicole. >> we would call mr. kale lynn. >> kato kaelin take the stand to testify about that night he was with simpson. but first came one of those moments. >> did you think your friendship my send acting roles your way? >> i didn't think that. i don't think we were going for the same parts. [ laughter ] >> i was just being me.

it wasn't about the spot lielt. it was just how i am. >> but kale lynn was serious when he detailed the sequence of events before and after the murders, from the trip the two took to mcdonald's to the three strange sounds he heard at 10:45 m approximate, sounds investigators believed were those of simpson returning home after killing ron and nicole. can you demonstrate how old it was? where did that noise seem to be coming from. >> from the back of the wall. >> kato kaelin had come to hollywood looking for fame, what he found was something more poufle -- powerful, longer lasting and ultimately up setting. >> probably the scariest moment in my life. >> it was not what you wanted. >> i would never think in a

billion years that this is going to be my life. >> kato kaelin wasn't alone. another person's life had collided with o.j. simpson's life that night. skip jew judas was at the airport no pick up his wife. it was 11:30 p.m., just an hour after ron and nicole had been killed. >> a limousine pulled up and o.j. simpson got out of the limousine. >> he has never told his story publicly until now says he had a clear view of simpson, but simpson, he says, never saw him. >> he was carrying this little cheap gym bag. he only zipped it a few inches, just enough to get his hand in, and was pulling things out and dumping them in the trash can.

>> back then, judas didn't think too much of it as he watched him empty that bag and go inside. by the time police learned what he had seen, it was too late to go through the trash. but he did draw a picture of the bag for detectives. you think he was disposing of the evidence then? >> sure i do. that witness has evidence. it's an spiral credible story. >> so credible that judas was subpoenaed to testify, but like a lot of prosecution's case, things wouldn't go quite according to plan and the defense was just getting started. coming up, if it doesn't fit -- >> it was a stunning time. one that will go down in the anals of history, i suggesnals .

please welcome, ladies and gentlemen, the village ito. >> judge lance ito's courtroom was now part of our popular culture. >> o.j. l.a. >> it was o.j. every day. products, pundits, and a whole new class of tv shows that yammered about everything that happened in court. >> hi, everyone.

i'm geraldo rivera. >> but if the audience loved it, twelve jurors didn't see it because they were sequestered, confined to this hotel a few blocks from the courthouse. lon cryer was one of the jurors who actually decided the case. for 265 days, more than eight months, their lives were limited to a courtroom and a hotel room. >> if you are not in any common areas, the only place you can be is in your room with no tv, no phone, no radios, no nothing. >> isolated, bored, often lonely. there was nothing glamorous about being a juror on the trial of the intri. >> -- century. >> i this -- i think you'll be very happy with the entertain many we'll provide for you this weekend. >> there were occasional off day outings around town and there was one business trip when the

jury was taken on a tour of the crime scene and simpson's rockingham estate, but what the jurors didn't know was that before that visit, defense attorney caller do you go -- karl douglas had gone into the house. >> we wanted the house to look lived in, and so the jurors would say o.j. simpson would not have risked all of this. >> photos of him with white women were swapped out with pictures of him with black women. >> this is making his house presentable, like watching the floors. >> like putting the bible out. >> like putting flowers in to make the house more presentable. if there is no objection, so be

it. >> you wanted to win? >> if it's not caught, i'm trying to get the optimum advantage to win. they play hard ball in the big leagues. this was the big leagues. >> and there was a lot more hard ball to be played. starting with that evidence cops had collected at the crime scene and at simpson's estate. the defense knew how to dismiss it quickly and cleverly, with just four little words. >> there's a phrase that's called garbage in, garbage out. >> that became the strategy. if there was evidence that was contaminated or corrupted, then the result or the conclusions could not be trusted. >> for example, a key blood sample that wasn't collected from the crime scene until three weeks after the murder. then defense dna expert barry

scheck pounced on the l.a.p.d. dennis sh -- fung. >> the defense came in and whittled in and piece by piece, little by little. >> many people who watched the trial said that the jury was bored by the lengthy dna evidence. >> put yourself there. you are sitting there. you are listening to this thing over and over and -- i'm not going to lie to you. it was somewhat woring -- boring. >> there was plenty of other evidence that wasn't boring. evidence the jury never saw or heard. like the police interview with simpson or his emotional fair well note and the ensuing brng -- bronco chase. those were critical lost opportunities. >> i had a problem from day one because of evidence they didn't want to put on. >> you said to prosecutors, what are you doing and they would say don't worry, we have dna evidence?

>> they didn't say that. they obviously implied that. but we kept getting more and more evidence and they weren't having anything to do with it. >> and that included the eyewitness account of skip judas, the man who said he spotted simpson emptying his gym bag at the airport approximately an hour after the murders. >> he was trying to conceal whatever he was pulling out. >> detectives urged marcia clark to put him on the stand, but it didn't happen. >> they said they were going to call me, and then the dna evidence went on and on and on and on. i never heard back from them again. >> and neither did kris jenner who was also slated to testify about how nicole feared for her life. >> her knowing that she was going to be murdered, do you believe she knew? >> she knew. >> how do you know? >> she told me. >> what did she to you some. >> he's going to kill me and he's going to get away with it. >> i think at the end of day,

they really realized that the domestic violence part of the trial wasn't going to be powerful enough. >> we've talk a lot about the evidence the prosecution could have brought into the case, but there was something they probably should have left out. it would prove to be especially devastating to the case. a self-inflicted wounds from which prosecutors never recovered. >> the people would ask that mr. simpson step forward and try on the glove recovered at bundy, as well as the glove recovered at rockingham. >> when i first saw it happen, i assumed maybe they had him try it on in advance and i was quite worried. >> do you have any problem putting the gloves on? >> the only thing i could assume at that time was it was not the right gloves because they didn't fit. >> it was a stunning time. one that will go down in the annals of history i suggest --

>> as workup of dumbest moves by any prosecutor. >> ever, you never try a demonstration if you are not sure what's going to happen. >> the gloves at rockingham and bundy don't fit. do you understand that? don't fit. and they can never make them fit. >> and the prosecution knew it too, just a little too late, as chris darden told nicole brown simpson news in s us. >> for darden and clark, things were about to get even worse. coming up, detective mark fuhrman is caught on tape putting the prosecution on the defense. >> it was mind boggling. >> and those dramatic closing arguments.

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>> el 4 de julio de 1995 habia

most were dead-ends, but one caught the attention of defense investigator pat mckenna. little did he recognize then, but he was about to become a key player in the smoes explosive and pivotal part of the case. all because of one cryptic phone message. >> herman tapes, n word, things like that. >> detective mark fuhrman who had discovered the bloody glove at rockingham. so mckenna followed up. a screen writer had consulted with fuhrman on a script about police work and their conversations were recorded.

a few weeks later, the tapes arrived at cocan's office. >> johnny was very careful about those tapes, locking them in his safe where only he had the combination because it was just so explosive. >> if anything [ bleep ] for the first five or six sentences [ bleep ]. >> this is mark fuhrman on the tape. i've heard it myself. it is his voice and it is chilling. >> it was mind boggling what we had heard. he used the n word so much that became insignificant. >> are you guys like hoisting champagne glasses when you listen to those tapes? >> it was mana from heaven. >> fuhrman insisted the conversations were no more than the basis of a movie. >> is this really what the reality of a democracy is that we use a fictional screen play

for prosecuting one man for doing too good of a job on a case and acquitting another? i think it's absolutely absurd. >> absurd to detective fuhrman but it was ammunition for hiss attorneys. the defense maintains that fuhrman was a racist cop. and the entire l.a. p.d. investigation would be in doubt. now judge ito made a controversial ruling that would greatly benefit simpson's defense. he allowed two excerpts from the fuhrman tapes to be presented before the jury. >> fuhrman who had testified previously and deny using the n word was then called back to court to answer for what he said on those tapes. when he arrived, pat mckenna was there to greet him.

>> i remember going hey mark, i got you man. >> detective, fuhrman, would you resume the witness stand please. >> this time, fuhrman, accompanied by his lawyer, didn't have much to say except -- >> i wish to assert my fifth amendment privilege. >> three time, fuhrman invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination, as the defense grilled him, saving their best question for last. detective fuhrman, did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case? >> i assert my fifth amendment privilege. >> i was pissed, when someone asked you that under those circumstance, no, hell no, i did not plant evidence. that's the response. when you plead the fifth, it's all over whether he did it or not. >> did he sink the prosecution when he did that. >> he sunk the case. >> was a gift to the defense?

>> it's over, it's over. it's not the fuhrman trial. if you want to accuse this man of planting evidence, you show me how he did it. >> this part of fuhrman's testimony was heard outside of the presence of the jury. >> all right, thank you, sir. >> but juror lon cryer had already heard enough from detective fuhrman to form an opinion about him and his role in the investigation. >> in my mind, i thought well he planted the gloves and the hat. he had plenty of opportunity to do it. >> and because this investigation wasn't 100% by the book -- something nefarious website on. >> it means i can't convict someone of murder. >> prosecutors had one last chance, closing arguments. for five hours, marcia clark reviewed that trail of evidence from bundy to rockingham, clear proof, she said, that simpson killed nicole and ron. >> and you know he did it. now, these murders did not occur in a vacuum.

they occurred in the context of a stormy relationship. a relationship that was scarred by violence and abuse. >> then it was johnny cochran's turn. >> stop this cover up. if you don't stop it. then who? >> it was classic cochran as he delivered that line which would define the trial. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> so with cochran's speech ringing in their ears, the exhausted jury would now decide the fate of orenthal james simpson but it turns out most of them had already made up their minds. >> coming up, an eight-month trial decided in less than four hours, leaving millions to ask what was the rush, and was just done? >> i went in the restroom and -- yes, because i'm close to getting out of here. replace your laptop?

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the spectacle on national television was over, now the fate of o.j. simpson would be settled behind closed doors by twelve people who had all endured eight long months of a grueling trial and see quest

trags, but as deliberations began, lon cryer, aka juror number six was antsee. >> you wanted out of there? >> in my mind formed an opinion, i am going to vote not guilty. >> krier and the 11 other jurors took their first straw vote. >> 10-2 for acquittal. now, we're in the restroom and -- i get to go home, yes. kind of things and it wasn't because of the 10-2 verdict. it was because i'm close to getting out of here. >> two votes now spelled the difference between both simpson and the jury finally going home. i was open to someone telling a different view that could have change my view. >> the two jurors who voted for guilty, they didn't try to win

anybody else over. they didn't stick with it. >> not at all. >> during jury deliberations, the dna evidence of any even mentioned. >> no, it never came up. >> and a short time later, a second vote, an eight-month trial decided in less than four hours. it was unit amouse. you have reached a verdict in this case. >> yes. >> it would be announced the next day. >> i was convinced, convinced he was going to be found guilty. >> all right, mrs. robertson, do you have the envelope with the sealed verdict forms. >> yes, your honor. >> then the next day, the jury, families, detectives, and attorneys arrived for judge ito's courtroom for the very last time. >> i saw in one of the jurors eyes was what i believe was a not guilty verdict and i turn to him and i said i think you are going home today.

>> as we gathered to watch, everything seemed to stop an estimated. 100 million of us tuned in, costing the economy nearly half a billion dollars in lost productivity. trading on the new york stock exchange plummeted 41% and president clinton was briefed on security measures, in case a riot occurred not only in l.a. but nationwide. >> superior court of california -- >> then finally at 10:00 a.m. pacific time on october 3rd, 1995, eight months of trial came to this. >> we the jury in the above em entitled action find the defendant orenthal james simpson not guilty. >> when she read her verdict first, they said not guilty, they haven't read ron's yet.

>> not guilty of murder upon ronald lyle goldman. a human being. >> then i lost it. i don't know why i thought it would be a different verdict. >> and i was pissed. you go wow, is this really our justice system? >> i was sitting there and it was like wait -- it was unbelievable. >> it seemed really obvious to me that it was going to be guilty. >> but not to the jurors. >> it wasn't so much that i thought he was just totally innocent. it's just that i don't feel there was enough evidence to convict him. >> one verdict, two reactions. divided by color across the country. civil rights attorney connie rice. >> it was about race and class, and justice in l.a. for black people. and this was a chance to strike back and this jury did. >> for the first time in more

than 15 months, o.j. simpson was a free man. >> fred goldman as he had done so many times before, spoke for the families. >> last june 13th, '94, was the worst nightmare of my life. this is the second. >> honest to god, that's one of though moments of a little blur, crying, and shock and anger and all shoved together. and then we left. with nothing after nine months resolved, settled. >> america's newly insashable

appetite for trial binge watching had ended without simpson getting the just desserts. this would not be the last we would see or hear of orenthal james simpson because he would soon be back in court and this time things would be quite different. >> coming up, o.j. simpson on the spot and under oath in rarely seen videotapes. >> if her face was black and blue, next day, two days later, i was responsible for it. >> when "dateline" continues. ? the greater the curvature, the bigger the difference. [sci-fi tractor beam sound] ...sucked me right in... it's beautiful. gotta admit one thing... ...can't beat the view. ♪ introducing the world's first curved ultra high definition television from samsung.

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from the county jail, to the country club, it didn't take o.j. simpson long to get back into the swing of things. on the links and on camera, he was everywhere, eager to clear

his name as he told b.e.t. in january of 1996. >> i loved nicole. i could not have kill anyone. >> watching and seething were the families of nicole and ron. >> and here was this arrogant murderer flaunting his celebrity. >> he was saying he was looking for the real killers on every fairway in america. >> fred goldman still wanted justice even if meant simpson remained free. >> i wanted a court to say he was guilty. >> no court could do that now but a civil court could find simpson liable for killing ron and nicole and that meant filing a wrongful death lawsuit. if he lost, he wouldn't have to go to prison. >> for us, the pursuit of justice was important to the

honor and integrity that my brother went through when he he was stabbed to death. >> they hired an attorney named petrocelli. the trial would be in santa monica. the burden of proof was lower. this jury wouldn't have to agree unanimously on a verdict and as a matter of law, o.j. simpson would have no choice but to testify in pretrial depositions and the trial itself and that meant simpson would have to answer for all the dna evidence, his abuse of nicole, and something that surfaced in the national enquirer.

one of the pages is is a picture of o.j. in this type of shoe. >> now, thank to the photo, petrocelli could put the shoes on simpson. >> then we had it sent out to the lab for authentication. it came back as the real picture. >> in january of 1996, simpson arrived at a deposition that would be videotaped, putting the attorney face-to-face with his boyhood idol. >> by that point, i knew he was a stone cold killer, but he extended his hand out for me to shake it, and i just couldn't resist. i shook his hand. i've always regretted that. i literally shook the hand that probably wielded a knife that killed my client's son and kill his ex-wife. >> but that was as friendly as

it ever got as we discovered in these rarely seen video depositions. for 13 days, petrocelli grilled simpson about the night of the crime, the cut on his finger and the shoes. >> did you ever buy shoes that you knew were bruno mali shoes? >> no. >> how do you know that? >> because i know if bruno magli shoes i would have never worn those ugly shoes. >> the deposition turned out to be a goldmine for us, because he made so many inconsistent statements. >> then petrocelli grilled him about abusing nicole. listen how evasive he is when asked if he hit her. >> i believe the bruises on her body i was responsible for. she got them from me being physical with her or she got them when she felt when she was outside. i was responsible for it. >> if she was fell when he was

outside is was because she felt outside? >> no. >> you made her face black and blue? >> if her face was black and blue the next day or two days later, i was responsible for it. >> then in october 1996, o.j. simpson would tell it to a jury as the civil trial got under way. but this time he was in a courtroom in santa monica, not downtown l.a. no tv cameras, no discussion of racist cops planting evidence. >> it was a different kind of trial. you know, it was a trial based on evidence. it was all about facts. >> and the primary witness in this case was o.j. simpson himself who had no choice but to take the stand. >> he was hyperventilating after the first 20 minutes. he had no answers, no explanations why his dna and his hair and his fiber and his clothing were there at the crime scene, why the victims blood was

in his house, why the victims blood was in his car, and this is evidence that would put people away in three seconds in most cases. >> and near the end of the trial, another devastating wave of evidence, more photos of simpson wearing the same shoes. 30 more pictures, courteousy of a photographer in buffalo. >> it really put the ultimate line. >> now a jury would decide, after deliberating five days, they had a verdict. it was unit mouse. >> the jury has decide o.j. simpson did wrong -- willfully and wrongfully cause the death. >> i just remember sheer relieve. i turn around and hugged fred. he had tears streaming down his eye as did i. >> i saw you smile that day. >> finally, i had a court say he did it.

it was only confirmation of what we knew, but he did it. >> the families were awarded $33.5 million in damages, of which they have only received a fraction, but simpson lost what was left of his reputation. once again, he walked out of court that day a free man. it turned out justice was coming for o.j. simpson in ways he never imagined. >> coming up. o.j. simpson on trial again, but this time the verdict is different. >> i'm going to sentence you as follows. >> and two decades later, what else has changed? where are they now? how are things with the new guy?

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2007, o.j. simpson was still living the good life, having relocated to florida. that year, he took a trip to las vegas, after which his life would never be the same.

in september, simpson was arrested and later charge with robbery, assault, and kidnapping for breaking into a hotel room with several armed men. he claimed to be taking back his personal items which had been stolen but he was heard saying he wanted to keep it away from the goldmans. >> i'm going to sentence you as follows. >> and exactly 13 years to the day that he was acquitted of the murders in brentwood, simpson was convicted and later sentenced to up to 33 years. >> thank you. >> o.j. simpson is eligible for parole in 2017. he can never be charged again in the murders of his ex-wife and ron goldman. quite a bit has changed in the two decades since that horrible night in brentwood. >> it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> the man who helped acquit simpson, johnny cochran died in

2005. simpson's friend robert kardashian also passed away. phil van ator also died in 2012. >> we don't have any answers right now. >> his partner tom lang is now retired and still lives outside of los angeles. >> it is in the memory of nicole that this foundation was formed. >> denise brown is very active educating others about domestic violence and now runs a speakers bureau to get the word out. kim goldman has recently written a book about her experiences and has a young son whose middle name is ronald. >> ron was a good human being. >> her father fred hopes to retire this year and insists he will continue dogging simpson forever. >> kato kaelin is still in los angeles and among his many projects has a clothing line. >> kris jenner, well, you know. and that famous ford bronco,

it's still on the road, a businessman now owns it and rents it out for parties and events. >> i wish to assert my fifth amendment privilege. >> as for mark fuhrman, there was never any evidence that he planted anything. however, he did plead no contest to one count of perjury for lying at trial in connection with those audiotapes and was sentenced to three years probation. since then, fuhrman has appeared as a comment tater on the fox news channel. neither marcia clark or chris darden ever tried another case for the d.a.'s office. clark is an author and appears on television as a legal commenter. chris darden started his own law firm specializing in criminal defense and civil litigation. >> never answer a hypothetical question from a reporter. >> carl douglas is still practicing law and has a small

shrine to his mentor johnny cochran in his office. lance ito is still a judge in los angeles, but his term ends in january 2015. he did not run for re-election. the once mostly white l.a. p.d. is much more racially representative of the city it police's. attorney connie rice now works with the department and says race relations have dramatically improved between the cops and the black community. >> and we hope that injustice will be prevented in the civil trial venling and dan petrocelli is still practicing law. but the rockingham estate is no longer there. it was sold and torn down.

and finally the condo of nicole, it's still threw it's changed the number. the mountain of evidence that was supposed to guarantee a slam-dunk case. most of it is still around, buried deep in the l.a.p.d.'s archives. even know no one has ever been convicted of killing nicole brown simpson and ron goldman, the case is considered closed. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. right now at 11:00, a fire burns dangerously close to homes in the east bay. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. the brush fire led to rattled

nerves in livermore tonight. >> that's where nbc bay area's cheryl hurd join us. are crews still out there at this hour? >> reporter: fire crews are still here. some trucks are leaving but this truck is staying, making sure that all the hot spots are out. it gets hot if livermore and has been really hot the last couple days. you take that into account along with what happened earlier, fire crews done want this fire to flair up again. >> we were over by the freeway and we saw a bunch of smoke coming down. we drove over here about 7:30 and saw a big channel of fire on this side blowing in the wind. >> reporter: firefighters say the wind was the enemy tonight. crews were called into this area to put out a small fire. they thought it was no big deal. they were wrong. >> we came earlier for a fire today and we put i