>> reporter: underground and under lock and key, in the dark garage of a los angeles law firm. for years, these boxes have been gathering dust. >> you hit her with your fist. >> reporter: tonight, their contents, revealed. >> what did you do to her? >> i wrestled her. >> reporter: a treasure trove from the case of the century. >> he's a murderer. >> reporter: the most famous man ever charged with murder. football legend o.j. simpson, accused of brutally slaughtering two people. his ex-wife nicole simpson, and her friend ron goldman, forced to testify. >> would you raise your right hand, please? >> reporter: after his acquittal in criminal trial. >> do you do solemnly swear that the testimony you shall give in

this deposition will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you, god? >> i do. >> reporter: the deposition tapes from his civil case. >> deposition of orenthal james simpson. >> reporter: o.j. under oath, and exposed. >> why don't you ask me? >> i just did. where were you? >> why don't you ask me? >> reporter: his arrogance. >> just strutted in making jokes? >> jokes? >> sorry. >> at a deposition about a double murder? >> nothing was serious to him. >> reporter: and his violent married life. >> you had your fingers around her throat, correct? >> i could have touched her neck, yes. >> what do you mean you could have touched her? this was a violent episode, wasn't it? >> yes, it was. >> what do you see when you look at those tapes? >> he's a damn good actor. >> reporter: o.j.'s best friend's grief. >> hey man, give me a break. >> reporter: and nicole's friend, kris jenner's regrets. >> the one thing she would tell all of us was, "he's going to

away with it." i will always feel guilty that i didn't pay more attention. >> reporter: a father, hellbent on getting justice for his son. what do you think people will think, watching those tapes? >> the real him is a violent, lying, narcissistic monster. and everybody should see them. >> can we take a break? >> reporter: and tonight, you will. >> good evening, 20 years ago, it became a searing american flash point. the verdict in the o.j. simpson murder trial. it was broadcast all day, every day to an audience of millions. but he never testified. tonight, you will see o.j. simpson in an entirely different way.

what happened the night his ex-wife and her friend were killed. you'll hear from everyone from kris jenner to o.j.'ses friends. will what you hear tonight change what you think of o.j. simpson? take a look and see. >> attention all units and stations attempt to locate 187 suspect. >> reporter: june 17, 1994, it's 7:00 p.m. on friday night. >> at this moment a car chase is going on. >> we now go to a special report. >> reporter: i'm peter jennings at abc news headquarters. let's immediately go to a picture in los angeles, we're interrupting "20/20" -- >> reporter: and every single television network -- >> we're looking now at pictures of al cowlings' car. >> reporter: is fixated on a single image. >> down there on the ground is a white ford bronco. >> reporter: dozens of police cars are in pursuit. >> in the number three lane at approximately 30 miles per hour at this time. >> reporter: and an armada of news choppers. broadcasting live to 95 million

>> there are about 15 california highway patrol cars. >> reporter: in the backseat is o.j. simpson, beloved sports hero and movie star with a loaded gun pointed to his own head. >> it was mesmerizing. >> people are stopped alongside the road. >> you could not stop watching o.j. simpson is in a bronco. driving slowly with people on the sides of the road. >> reporter: waving and calling out his name. >> it was crazy. >> reporter: his friend a.c. cowlings is behind the wheel. >> this is a.c. i have o.j. in the car. he's still alive but he's got a gun to his head. >> reporter: after a two-hour chase, the bronco pulls into simpson's brentwood mansion. >> that's his estate. >> reporter: simpson is arrested and charged with murder. it was five days earlier when his ex-wife nicole simpson and her friend ron goldman were discovered murdered. nicole's throat slashed, she was nearly decapitated outside her

condominium. it was news that spawned a media frenzy. >> the body of nicole brown simpson, ex-wife of o.j. simpson, was found after midnight. >> reporter: tanya brown is nicole's youngest sister. >> all i remember is turning on the news that morning. and there was a white sheet over nicole. and all i remember is my mom saying, that's my kid. >> i remember just kind of falling to the floor. i don't know if i screamed out loud. i felt like i was screaming. it, just everything started to spiral. >> reporter: kim goldman's brother ron had been stabbed more than 20 times. his father, fred goldman. >> devastating. he was always a good kid. he was fun, he had a good sense of humor. always laughing. >> reporter: he had a good heart. >> he had a good heart. >> o.j. simpson was the prime suspect from -- >> reporter: moment one. >> in this case. >> reporter: as police gather evidence, things are looking bad for o.j. simpson and he knows it. he seeks refuge at his friend, lawyer robert kardashian's house.

filmmaker lawrence schiller what happened in the hours before the infamous bronco chase. >> he was sitting there with a gun and his pictures of his kids and of nicole and then o.j. said, "i'm going to kill myself in this room." and i said, "you can't." i said, "this is my daughter's bedroom." >> reporter: he first wanted to kill himself in kim kardashian's bedroom. >> right, kimmy's bedroom, yeah. >> reporter: and robert said, you can't kill yourself here. >> right. >> reporter: my little girl kim sleeps here. >> i can't have my little girl in this bedroom and every time i come in here, i'm going to see your body. >> reporter: simpson would later explain in his deposition why he then left in the white bronco. >> you left the kardashian residence in mr. cowlings' bronco, correct? >> correct. >> and did you tell anyone that you were going? >> no. >> why did you leave? >> because i wanted to go to nicole's grave. >> reporter: he says he wanted to kill himself at her final resting place.

it's an image of simpson that for the public that revered him seemed unfathomable. he was an american icon, his story the american dream. he grew up in the projects of san francisco and became a record-setting nfl running back and hall-of-famer and then a loveable hit on the silver screen. with his looks and charm, he became a master pitchman. >> he had endorsements and he was very well-loved by everyone who he ran into. >> reporter: kris jenner is a ubiquitous television personality today. but in 1994, she is the ex-wife of robert kardashian. and the mother of four young kardashians who will eventually achieve their own modest measure of fame. she and robert were close

friends with o.j. simpson. >> o.j. was one of the groomsmen at my wedding. >> reporter: kris helped o.j. call the beautiful blond waitress named nicole brown at a beverly hills restaurant. >> nicole was how old at the time? >> 18. >> and you were how old? >> i believe, oh, 28, 29, maybe. >> 29? >> yeah. >> were you married? >> yes. >> reporter: but two years later he was divorced and in 1985 he and nicole were married and had two children, sydney and justin. >> we all bonded. there was great chemistry. it was great friendship. a great life. >> reporter: nicole's sister tanya was just seven years old when nicole met o.j. what were your memories of o.j.? i mean, you called him uncle o.j. >> he was fun. he was laid back. kind, sweet. i never heard them fight. >> reporter: but there were secrets behind the red carpet smiles.

1995 the o.j. known for his charm was in a courtroom charged with murder. >> the scene outside the courtroom got crazy. every day there were people hawking items to buy. there were baseball caps with the names of all the lawyers on them. >> reporter: seriously? >> there was a judge ito jell-o mold. >> reporter: a judge ito jell-o mold? >> there was screaming and yelling. >> reporter: inside the courtroom, prosecutors try to prove that o.j. simpson was a serial abuser violently beating nicole during their marriage of seven years. their evidence includes these photographs of a bruised and beaten nicole. and there are the harrowing 911 calls she made asking for help. >> can you send someone over here now to 325 gretna green? he's back.

>> he's o.j. simpson. i think you know his record. could you just send somebody over here? he's going nuts. >> stay on the line. >> i don't want to stay on the line he's going to beat the -- out of me. >> her voice pleading for somebody to come to her house, that was so shocking to me because i had never heard that before. >> reporter: lost in all the attention paid to the simpsons' turbulent marriage is the other murder victim. >> he was always referred to as the other victim. and that really drove me bananas. and i remember watching the television, always yelling, his name is ron, he's got a name! >> reporter: he had a name and a job at the restaurant at which nicole had dinner with her family the night of the murders. ron was returning a pair of glasses that had been left behind to nicole's house. his father believes he arrived just at the time nicole was under attack. he could've run. >> right, but he didn't. that wouldn't have been who ron was. he wouldn't have run away. he would've wanted to help. >> reporter: the goldmans are convinced the case against o.j. simpson is a slam dunk. in addition to the history of domestic abuse, there is an

avalanche of forensic evidence connecting simpson to the crime scene. a suspicious cut on his left hand. his blood, his hair, clothing fibers, and dna are all at the murder scene, along with a size 12 shoe print, o.j.'s size. and in his bronco, blood consistent with ron and nicole's blood. and in his bedroom a pair of socks with nicole's blood. >> and the results of the analysis of that blood confirms orenthal james simpson took her very life. >> every piece of evidence pointed to o.j. there was no identifiable other suspects, except for o.j. >> orenthal james simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder. >> reporter: next, what you don't know about how o.j. beat the odds to become a free man. >> yes! >> i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: and later, o.j. under attack. >> do you see those bruises on her face? >> no. >> you don't see anything?

i mean i see this eye thing. >> you don't think this picture reflects any bruising or marks on nicole's face? >> reporter: stay with us. sitcoms, while you sit on those. and even fargo, in fargo! binge, while you lose weight! and enjoy a good cliffhanger while you hang from a... why am i yelling? the revolution will not only be televised. the revolution will be mobilized. introducing the all in one plan. only from directv and at&t. if there's one thing the human foot has always been good at... it's unleashing great power. the is performance line just got a power boost. introducing the lexus is 200 turbo and is 300 awd v6. the is line has never been...

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tt2watv# #4 bt@qmk\ tt2watv# #4 "a@q]g8 tt2watv# #4 bm@qvl4 tt4watv# #4 " dztq w$8 tt4watv# #4 " entq ' x tt4watv# #4 " gzt& >' tt4watv# #4 " hnt& .)l tt4watv# #4 " iztq d@4 tt4watv# #4 " jntq v0t tt4watv# #4 " lzt& n]( "20/20" continues with the o.j. simpson tapes. once again, elizabeth vargas. >> ladies and gentlemen of the jury. this is going to be a long trial. >> reporter: in what's been called the trial of the century, o.j. simpson seemed to face an

>> i've never seen so much evidence against someone in a case that's gone to trial as there was against o.j. simpson. ever. >> reporter: enter the so-called "dream team." simpson's all-star defense. >> that'll be interesting i think. >> reporter: including johnnie cochran, robert shapiro, f. lee bailey, alan dershowitz and of course his most trusted ally, robert kardashian. they shift the focus to the los angeles police department. the strategy, accuse the police of framing simpson. mishandling, even planting evidence. >> detective fuhrman, did you plant or manufacture evidence in this case? have you ever falsified a police report? was the testimony you gave truthful? >> reporter: it is an argument that resonates with the mostly black jury. especially the explosive audio of lead detective mark furhman spouting racist slurs like this. >> first thing, anything out of a [ bleep ] mouth is a [ bleep ]

lie. >> mark furhman is a lying, perjuring, genocidal racist. >> the defense sent the jurors' heads spinning. >> reporter: the defense, in essence, put bad policemen, racist policemen, on trial. >> they put the whole police department on trial. >> reporter: simpson's attorneys even tried to put his slain ex-wife's reputation on trial. portraying her as a party girl. >> these ladies would go out two, three, four nights a week until 5:00 a.m. in the morning. >> reporter: simpson did the same in his deposition. >> i was told that day about them all doing drugs at a place called the monkey bar. >> reporter: but perhaps the defense's biggest win is the prosecution's biggest blunder. they ask him to try on the bloody glove found at the scene of the crime. nearly everyone knows what happens next.

what were you thinking as you watched this spectacle? >> i think the word spectacle is perfect. he had latex gloves on. he was trying on a glove that had been soaked in blood. and he would hold the glove. and he did this. he wasn't yanking at the glove. it was -- so, of course, he couldn't get it on. >> reporter: author larry schiller says there may be another more cunning explanation, that simpson had arthritis, swelling of the joints. and stopped taking his anti-inflammatory medicine a month before trying on the gloves. >> nobody knows whether it made his hands a little bigger or not. >> reporter: that bloody glove becomes a rhyming rallying cry for the defense. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> reporter: with those iconic words ringing in their ears, the jury makes its decision. after nearly nine months of testimony and not even four

hours of deliberation. >> we'll you right through the verdict. >> the jury has reached a verdict. >> mr. simpson has come back to the courtroom. >> reporter: tell me about that moment. >> shock, disbelief. how could they possibly heard all of that evidence and, in a handful of hours, said, "not guilty"? >> reporter: kim goldman's sobs fill the courtroom. this is now an indelible image from that time. >> yeah, i'm sad for her. i remember that feeling. >> reporter: what was the feeling? >> betrayed. and just devastated. i just felt like we let my brother down. >> reporter: kris jenner, robert kardashian's ex-wife, remembers watching his face as the verdict was announced. >> i think he was shocked. he was definitely stunned. i mean, you could look at his

my entire life. i know that like, he was floored that that was the verdict. >> reporter: for the nation, the reaction to the verdict is sharply divided along racial lines. you could see white americans shocked and in disbelief, contrasted with the jubilation of black americans, celebrating the acquittal of o.j. simpson. >> i think a lot of african-americans were focusing less on the evidence against o.j. simpson and more on the fact that they felt that this case exposed ongoing problems with policing. and as a result, they didn't want these police officers to win. >> reporter: what was it like to see o.j. simpson walk out of that courtroom a free man? >> ugh, disgusting. >> reporter: and take a look at this video of an impromptu celebration at simpson's house.

his acquittal. >> yes! >> reporter: here he is hugging best friend and bronco driver a.c. cowling. he even mocks live television news reports. >> "prosecution team let the killer get away." >> reporter: for kim goldman, the sight of o.j. simpson as a free man is unbearable. one day, she is driving through a parking lot and stops when she sees him. >> i sat there and i revved the engine and i white-knuckled the steering wheel. and i thought, oh, my gosh, nobody's around, i could totally take him out. >> reporter: but instead of vengeance, the goldman family decides to seek justice, again, in of all places, another courtroom. they file a wrongful death lawsuit against simpson. in a surprise, they lay all their hopes on low-profile 42-year-old daniel petrocelli, a business attorney. this was not your area of expertise, wrongful death. >> i was not a criminal lawyer. >> reporter: this press

speaking to reporters, ever. >> we think that, when all is said and done -- >> reporter: you describe having an anxiety attack. >> a full-scale anxiety attack. i couldn't swallow, and that's when i knew i was in over my head. >> reporter: before the news cameras, perhaps. but when the deposition cameras start rolling, petrocelli is in his natural habitat. locked on his target. >> do you recall saying that you would kill nicole? >> reporter: finally, o.j. simpson forced to answer the tough questions. the deposition tapes, when we come back. and roar, and crack, and storm. but mother nature can't stop us.

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tt2watv# #4 bt@qmk\ tt2watv# #4 "a@q]g8 tt2watv# #4 bm@qvl4 tt4watv# #4 " dztq w$8 tt4watv# #4 " entq ' x tt4watv# #4 " gzt& >' tt4watv# #4 " hnt& .)l tt4watv# #4 " iztq d@4 tt4watv# #4 " jntq v0t tt4watv# #4 " lzt& n]( once again, elizabeth vargas, as "20/20" continues. >> reporter: in the months after his acquittal, o.j. simpson had gone back to his life in the limelight, beaming at golf

outings and autograph signings. but fred and kim goldman are plotting their second chance at justice. a wrongful death lawsuit. >> for the first time, he has to testify. in the criminal case, you can say, "i am not going to testify." in a civil case you don't have that right. >> that was going to be the moment of truth, to put simpson under oath and examine him. >> reporter: to prepare for o.j.'s appearance on the stand, lawyer dan petrocelli will spend 11 days grilling him in a pretrial deposition. with a video camera recording every moment. they are in a tiny windowless conference room. joining them across the table, is fred goldman. >> this was a subject of great, great discussion, about his ability to sit through, and be within three or four feet of o.j. simpson in a conference room where there, there's no bailiff, there's no security guards. >> reporter: did you ever search

him for a weapon? >> no, i didn't search him. he had all of his trust in the legal process. >> reporter: a process that resulted in 121 hours of deposition of o.j. simpson and other witnesses. tonight, that video, long stored away in these boxes, is part of a stash of evidence from the civil case. combed through by filmmakers to be featured next week in two documentaries on a&e and lmn. transcripts, exhibits? >> tens of thousands of pages of transcripts. >> evidence. >> reporter: it includes pages of nicole's diary. >> it's a very shocking, horrific read, the abuse and it actually starts the very first year they met. >> reporter: o.j.'s golf bag. >> some size 12 golf shoes, that still have the dirt on them from the last golf game. >> reporter: and those tapes. >> these are just some of the deposition tapes that were recorded on, as you can see, vhs. >> reporter: vhs.

orenthal james simpson." i'm curious, what the two of you thought when you first watched this. >> it was an incredible moment. >> good morning, mr. simpson. my name is daniel petrocelli. i represent plaintiff frederick goldman in this lawsuit against you. >> well, when he first walked in, it was, you know -- just a frivolous kind of attitude. just strutted in, making jokes. >> reporter: jokes? at a deposition about a double murder? >> he never took any of it seriously. he was in a big chair that could lean back. >> he put his arms behind his head and leaned way back in the chair. he would say, "no. no. yes. no." and a little while later he put his head down on the table and you could hear him mumbling his answer, "no. maybe. yeah." it was just another inconvenience. >> reporter: for dan petrocelli, it was ammunition. >> oh, yeah. >> do you know why the blood on the console of the bronco is consistent with a mixture of ron

goldman's and nicole's blood? >> no. >> do you know why the blood on the socks in your bedroom matched nicole's blood? >> no. >> reporter: your mission during this deposition was to catch him up on every single inconsistency, because if you can prove he's lying about all these small things, he could also be lying about the one big thing. >> exactly. >> ask me the question like they asked me and i'll give you an answer. >> where were you between 10:00 >> i don't know if they asked me that question. >> dan didn't take any crap from him. >> they did ask you. >> i don't recall if they asked me, so i don't know what i said. why don't you ask me? >> i just did. >> reporter: dan petrocelli spent days hammering at o.j.'s tumultuous relationship with nicole, grilling him on the photographs of her bruised and battered face. >> and you caused scars on her

face, didn't you? >> that's incorrect. >> and you cut her lip, didn't you? >> that's incorrect. >> you hit her with your fist and you caused her lip to split open, is that right? >> that's incorrect. >> reporter: do you think he'd ever been spoken to that way? >> oh, probably not, and chances are, if someone had, they probably got punched. >> do you see those bruises on her face? >> no. >> you don't see anything? >> no. i mean, i see this eye thing. >> you don't think this picture reflects any bruising or injuries or marks on nicole's face? >> no, i don't. >> what do you think this reflects? >> it reflects doing a movie that we're doing and we're doing makeup. >> really? that's makeup? she did that to pretend like she's beat up? really? >> reporter: he said that she was wearing makeup for a horror movie that they were -- >> i -- he had so many explanations. it was almost -- almost unfathomable, the things that would come out of his mouth. >> what'd you do to her? >> i wrestled her. >> what does that mean? >> it means i had my hands on her and i was trying to force

we wrestled. >> reporter: eventually simpson admits to hurting nicole, but won't say how. >> you never struck anyone in their face, correct? >> correct. >> and you never hurt your wife either, correct? >> no, i hurt my wife, yes. >> you never struck her with your hands, correct? >> i never punched her, yes. >> did you ever strike her? >> no. >> did you ever hurt her? >> yes. >> did you ever physically hurt her? >> yes. >> did you ever bruise her? >> yes. >> did you ever make her black and blue? >> reporter: you really try repeatedly to pin him down on did you hit nicole? did you punch nicole? did you shove nicole? >> i think any marks that's on her, i take full responsibility for. i don't know what else you want me to do. i take total responsibility. >> why? >> -- for it, because i shouldn't have handled the situation the way i did. i've, all my life with nicole, no matter what was going on, i handled it without being physical with her. and that time i got physical with her and i'm ashamed of it. i wish it not had happened. >> reporter: the only thing he will admit to is this sort of blanket, i'm responsible.

>> i was responsible for it. >> reporter: but i didn't do it. >> i'm not asking you about the moral or other responsibility. i'm asking for what happened, okay? >> yes. >> you had your fingers around her throat, correct? >> i could have touched her neck, yes. >> what do you mean you could have touched her? this was a violent episode, wasn't it? >> yes, it was. >> his mantra was "i take full responsibility" as though this, you know, this was an apology made on some press tour or something. you know, we're in a, we're in a legal proceeding. >> and rage is a fair description of your state of mind, correct? >> no, it was not. >> not anger? >> anger, yes. >> intense anger? >> anger. >> angry enough to hit her? >> that's enough. that's enough. i don't know what you just continue to batter him the rest of -- >> batter him? >> that's right. >> that's an appropriate word, mr. baker. >> reporter: one of the witnesses also deposed is a.c. cowlings, o.j. simpson's best friend and the driver of that white bronco. he is asked about a time he took nicole to the hospital for

>> those are rather substantial injury she had over her right eye that day new year's day, was it not, mr. cowlings? >> i don't know, sir. she stated to me that, you know, her head was hurting and i was concerned for her well being. >> mr. cowlings, i'm going to ask if you recognize that picture? >> yes. >> and who do you recognize that to be? >> nicole. >> and does that appear -- >> reporter: he begins to cry. what happened? >> i think al cowlings was deeply conflicted. he was very close to nicole. >> can you give me a break? >> cowlings, however, was blindly loyal to simpson. >> he's the one who took nicole to the doctor. >> reporter: right. >> and he's the one that said to her, "you're going to have to tell people what really happened."

and he breaks down crying in the middle of the deposition. >> reporter: do you think he feels or felt guilty? >> of course. >> reporter: next, the deposition heats up. the killer wore size 12 bruno magli shoes. did o.j. simpson? >> i would have never worn those ugly-ass shoes. >> reporter: an eye popping photograph. >> it appears to be me, yes. >> reporter: the picture that doesn't lie, when we come back. aa-flac! aflaaac. aaaa-flaaaac. someone's sandbagging. i'd be tired too. he paid my claim in one day when i got hurt. one day? serious hustle. serious duck. in just one day, we process, approve and pay. one day pay, only from aflac. ah! want to survive a crazy busy day? sfx: cell phone chimes start with a positive attitude... and positively radiant skin. aveeno positively radiantmoisturizer... with active naturals soy.

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the o.j. simpson tapes continues on "20/20." here again, elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: they are the questions everyone wanted to ask, and the answers everyone wanted to hear. o.j. simpson in these deposition tapes being grilled by attorney daniel petrocelli about his role in the murders of nicole simpson and her friend ron goldman. petrocelli hones in on the physical evidence, like this cut pictured on simpson's hand after the murders. >> did you remember cutting your finger? >> i remember bleeding.

>> i mean, who doesn't have an idea how you have an enormous gash on your finger that requires gauze and a big bandage. i mean, it just -- >> reporter: we're not talking a little paper cut or a -- >> did you cut it on one of the broken pieces of glass? >> yeah. >> on what piece? >> can we take a break? >> yeah, sure. >> reporter: o.j. finally says, "i need a break." what was that like to watch? was it gratifying? >> of course. it was absolutely gratifying. >> reporter: but if simpson was rattled then, there was more to come. the killer of nicole brown and ron goldman left a key piece of evidence at the scene of the crime -- a shoeprint stamped in the victims' blood. >> it was a size 12 shoe. >> reporter: simpson's size. and the brand, bruno magli. only 299 pairs of that shoe in that size ever sold in the united states. it's not a common shoe. >> no. >> reporter: prosecutors in the criminal trial were never able to prove that simpson owned

petrocelli questions him about it during the deposition. >> did you ever buy shoes that you knew were bruno magli shoes? >> no. because i know if bruno magli makes shoes that look like the shoes they had in court that's involved with this case, i would have never worn those ugly-ass shoes. >> you thought they, those were ugly-ass shoes? >> yes. >> why were they ugly-ass shoes? >> because in my mind, they were. >> what about them was ugly, mr. simpson? >> the look of them. the style of them. >> what about the style? >> i don't know. they were ugly to me. aesthetically, i felt that they were ugly, and i guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. and to me, they were ugly shoes. >> reporter: but then months later, a photograph emerges. first, in the "national enquirer," o.j. simpson wearing bruno magli shoes at a football game, nine months before the murders. petrocelli brings simpson back for another round of questions. watch o.j.'s reaction. >> and that is a picture of you looking at exhibit one, correct? >> it appears to be me, yes. >> and the jacket you're

wearing, could you describe it? >> no. >> do you remember owning that jacket? >> no. >> do you remember wearing that jacket? >> no. >> what about the shirt? >> looks like a white shirt. >> looking at the close-up of the shoes, can you believe that those were shoes that you owned at that time? >> no. >> "those ugly-ass shoes i would never own." there you are. >> reporter: wearing the shoes. >> really? they're not yours. someone put it on your feet and you didn't know it. >> his story was, "that's me in the picture, but those are not my shoes." >> reporter: did he say that he was wearing somebody else's shoes? >> no, he says "i don't remember what shoes i had on that day, but i didn't have those shoes on." because he knew that those were the killer's shoes. >> reporter: the 11 days of deposition have prepared petrocelli for the main event, the trial -- putting simpson on the stand. petrocelli knows he has him

where he wants him. >> i was ready. i knew the case inside out. >> reporter: there are no cameras in the courtroom. the world does not see the once confident simpson on the hot seat and shaken. >> within the first half hour or so, he was hyperventilating. >> reporter: simpson was hyperventilating? >> yeah, these sort of bursts of air as coming out as, as we were questioning him very hard about his violence towards nicole. >> reporter: and by then, 30 more photographs of simpson wearing those shoes are entered into evidence. >> there he is, picture after picture after picture after picture, of o.j. simpson wearing those ugly-ass shoes. >> reporter: pretty damning. >> it was it. >> reporter: but perhaps the most powerful testimony is not from o.j. simpson, but from fred goldman. one of the other things that you did in this trial, was to put fred goldman on the stand. to bring the victim who for so

life. >> we put up some film footage. >> and fred and ron are singing and on the stage, and it was heartbreaking. and i think i had tears streaming down my eyes, and so did all the jurors. >> reporter: after 41 days of testimony, there is a verdict, and it is unanimous. it is broadcast at the same time as president clinton's state of the union address. it is the second time a jury will rule on o.j. simpson, but this time, there's a different outcome. simpson is found responsible for killing nicole simpson and ron goldman. their families are awarded $33.5 million in damages. >> today's two and a half years. a little over two and a half years, and we finally have justice for ron and nicole. >> reporter: is it justice? >> not the justice i would like, but it's a way of getting some

justice. >> reporter: for kim, this time there are smiles instead of sobs. >> we did this for ron. and then the killer got up and walked out the courtroom. walked right past me, right past all the media, right into the crowds waving, and went off to ben and jerry's to get ice cream. >> reporter: next -- kim and fred would never imagine that their victory in civil court would one day put o.j. simpson in prison. >> people have always said to us, you know, karma will get him in the end. >> reporter: you wrote him a card in prison. what did it say? stay with us. >> now that you've seen his face and seen him questioned, what piece of evidence was the most powerful? use #abc2020 on facebook and twitter.

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once again on "20/20," elizabeth vargas, and the o.j. simpson tapes. >> reporter: it's las vegas, 2007. and a run of the mill robbery takes place at this casino. one of the suspects arrested -- orenthal james simpson. >> o.j. simpson is under arrest. >> in connection with an alleged armed robbery. >> reporter: i can only imagine what you and your dad must've thought when o.j. simpson was arrested for robbery. >> we giggled and we laughed so hard. >> reporter: you did? >> who would've thunk? you can't write a better story. >> we were just robbed at gunpoint by o.j. simpson. can you send, uh, can you send police here please? >> reporter: this is surveillance video of simpson and a group of his friends. they broke into a hotel room to steal memorabilia that simpson claimed belonged to him and that cash. cash that simpson could keep hidden from the goldmans. >> you think you can steal my

[ bleep ] and sell it? >> reporter: kim and her father travel to las vegas. at long last they can see their enemy in shackles. >> i thought i was confronting friends and retrieving my property. i didn't mean to steal anything from anybody and i didn't know i was doing anything illegal. >> to see him stand before the judge and plead and -- and to look kind of just disheveled. >> reporter: how had he changed? >> he looked broken. >> so i'm sorry, i'm sorry for all of it. >> reporter: 13 years to the day after his famous acquittal of murder, a 61-year-old simpson was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping. >> guilty. count two, conspiracy to commit kidnapping -- guilty. >> reporter: he is sentenced to up to 33 years in prison. the judge said simpson's motive was clear. >> you didn't want all those items to fall into the hands of the goldmans. >> reporter: the goldmans say they were never after money. they simply wanted punishment. >> our effort of constantly

going after him maybe pushed him, even only this much into committing armed robbery. >> reporter: this much landing him in prison. >> ain't that wonderful? >> reporter: fred goldman and the verdict you helped win have haunted o.j. simpson. >> justice delayed but not denied. >> people have always said to us, you know, "karma will get him in the end." >> reporter: you wrote him a card in prison. what did it say? >> "welcome to your new digs, signed, the goldman family." >> reporter: o.j. simpson is now a pariah. the throngs of supporters he had 20 years ago have vanished. but what has not changed is the tension between police and the african-american community, tension that may have led a mostly black jury to acquit simpson of murder. cities today still convulse with outrage over alleged police misconduct. for the loved ones of ron and

loss. nicole brown's sister tanya has dedicated herself to helping victims of domestic violence. >> if i can save one person, i'm going to do it. because this, it did not need to happen. >> reporter: kris jenner agrees. she says friends need to intervene when they see warning signs. >> i will always feel guilty that i didn't pay more attention and didn't speak up when i thought anything was wrong or asked her more, "do you want to talk about it?" >> reporter: jenner's ex-husband robert kardashian distanced himself from o.j. after he was acquitted. kardashian died of cancer in 2003. on his deathbed he would not speak to o.j. >> o.j. did try to reach out and call him but robert didn't take the call. >> reporter: as for the goldmans, kim has written a new book called "media circus" about

families dealing with public grief. today she is raising a 12-year-old son named sam. >> reporter: his middle name is? >> ronald. >> reporter: named after his uncle. it's very nice how you have kept ron alive on this wall. do you like these pictures of your uncle up here? >> yeah. >> reporter: what do you think of him? >> he's cool. >> reporter: i hesitate to even ask this question. but after two decades, does it get any easier? >> no. there isn't a day that goes by that i don't think about my son. i was looking at a picture this morning of ron holding a baseball bat. and it occurred to me that that's the ron i will forever know. i will not know him older. >> reporter: it's the same photograph that hangs in sam ronald goldman's bedroom -- the last photo of his uncle ever taken, at a baseball game on the

very day he was killed. why do you keep that in your room? >> because it's like a reminder. >> and as for o.j. simpson, kim has nothing to say. >> i wouldn't waste my words on him. the fact i can stand strong and live my life with purpose is the message. he didn't get me. he didn't ge your journey isn't about a single destination. it's about everything your corolla can reveal to you along the way. the surprises you find 200 feet in front of you

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pole shows today, times have changed but three-quarters of americans, for the first time including a majority of african-americans, think he's probably guilty. and the film makers from tonight will air muore tapes on lmn and a&e next week.