he was crying over the coffin. kissed the coffin, he said, "i'm sorry, nic, i'm sorry." >> i said, "oh my god, he did it. he killed her."

did nicole brown simpson actually predict her own death? >> what she said to us was oj is gonna kill me and he's gonna get away with it. >> reporter: what really went on in the jury room? >> not guilty of a crime of murder. >> all people wanted to do was go home. and, in a frank, new interview, prosecutor marcia clark answers the most important question of all. >> reporter: how did you not convict this guy? >> reporter: we'll also hear from oj simpson himself who told his story under oath in these explosive deposition tapes. >> if her face was black and blue the next day or two days later i was responsible for it. >> reporter: and now questions about a knife supposedly found at oj simpson's old house. >> obviously there is a lot of attention to this. >> reporter: the oj simpson case, two decades later. i'm lester holt and this is dateline.

here's josh mankiewicz. reporter: june 12, 1994, brentwood, california. two horrific murders that came to be defined by just three >> o.j., please surrender immediately. >> orenthal james simpson. >> i have o.j. in the car. >> we do have sufficient evidence to convict him. >> 100% not guilty. >> how about that? >> if it doesn't fit you, you must acquit. >> not guilty of the crime of murder. >> reporter: 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 consciousness for this collision of pop culture

and legal drama. more than 20 years ago, it touched issues we still can't agree on today -- race, money, privilege, fame, interracial marriage, domestic violence. >> get out of the way! >> reporter: this became television's first reality show. the case consumed us, and then divided us. even now, two decades later, we are still fascinated. >> what do you want me to do, o.j.? >> i should die. >> no. >> a new ten-part dramatic series airing on fx, "the people vs o.j. simpson" is winning ratings and reviews. because there are still questions about what really happened that night in brentwood. and why, despite a staggering amount of evidence, oj simpson

was acquitted. >> o.j., o.j., o.j.! >> reporter: tonight we'll provide some answers with interviews done over the years, rare footage and haunting memories. including a recent in-depth and candid interview with prosecutor marcia clark who doesn't hold back when discussing her unique perspective on the case on everything from the infamous bronco chase -- >> i'm thinking he was like the biggest idiot ever. >> -- to the trial of the century. >> every day, we'd walk into court and something else was blowing up. >> not guilty of the crime of murder. >> reporter: and of course the verdict. >> reporter: you blame yourself for this? >> you know, i always do. i do. >> reporter: it was a cool, late spring evening in brentwood. around midnight a couple was walking a dog down a quiet section of south bundy drive when something strange caught their attention. then at the entrance to 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 lange. >> this isn't a robbery. this isn't for sex. this was a rage killing. nicole was nearly decapitated. >> reporter: nicole was 35-year old nicole brown simpson, the ex-wife of oj simpson. near the bodies was a bloody leather glove, an envelope with a pair of eyeglasses and a blue knit cap. cops later id'd the male victim as 25-year-old ronald goldman. at this point they didn't know much about him. >> there's numerous wounds on the neck. goldman put up a fight. >> reporter: asleep inside the house were the simpsons' 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 oj simpson. >> reporter: as dawn broke in brentwood, lange and three other detectives were sent to simpson's estate on nearby rockingham avenue. one of them was detective mark fuhrman. arriving detectives feared the worst: that simpson may have suffered the same fate as his ex-wife. >> we've just left a bloody crime scene. is simpson in there as one of the victims? >> reporter: so without a search warrant, detective fuhrman jumped the wall and let in the other cops. in one of the estate's bungalows detectives found simpson's 25-year-old daughter arnelle. they learned that her father was out of town on a business trip in chicago. in the other bungalow detectives woke-up a shaggy haired young man named brian "kato" kaelin. kaelin had been living at simpson's house for five months. he had cto

actor, and now he was about to star in the role of his life, answering questions about where he'd last seen simpson. >> i had seen him earlier in the day, and he was talkin' about women problems. he needed someone to talk to, and i was the only guy probably available. >> reporter: this wasn't normally the relationship you had with him? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: later that evening, kaelin said, simpson came by his door to get change for a $100 bill and also mentioned getting something to eat. so just after 9:00 pm they hopped in simpson's bentley and went to mcdonalds. did simpson ask kaelin to go with him to establish an alibi? >> i invited myself. he didn't ask me. and i thought, "oh." i was starving. >> reporter: kaelin told detectives they got back around 9:40pm. he returned to his bungalow and didn't see simpson again for approximately an hour an a half. then around 10:45 pm kaelin says he heard three strange sounds. >> it was a lo -

if someone bumped into a wall. >> reporter: kaelin came outside to check on the noise and saw limo driver allan park at the gate waiting to take simpson to the airport. a few minutes later, simpson came out of the house. his luggage was loaded and the limo sped off. kaelin's story seemed to add up, so now it was simpson the cops really wanted to talk to. he was at his hotel in chicago when detectives told him what happened in la. >> there were no details given except nicole was dead. he said, "well, i'll be on the next plane back there." >> reporter: now came another phone call, the one tom lange dreaded, notifying nicole's family. >> i hear that phone ring and i hear a scream from my mom's room. that i had never heard before. and it was just awful, awful, awful. >> reporter: denise brown, nicole's older sister, remembers

dead." and i said, "oh my god, he did it. he killed her." >> reporter: "he" being oj simpson, denise's former brother-in-law. detective lange was stunned at this sudden new lead. >> that was my first inkling that perhaps simpson was involved in this. >> reporter: 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? i was like, it was devastating. i think i almost passed out. it was just the worst feeling you could possibly imagine. >> reporter: kris had known nicole since 1978. they met through her former husband robert kardashian, who was simpson's best friend and attorney. kris adored simpson too, she said, like a b

fun to be around. you could tell he was the type of person who really enjoyed life. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: the world had changed forever for kris jenner, for the brown and goldman families, and for oj simpson who would soon be back home in la where a trail of evidence led right to his front door.

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>> reporter: 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 >> take it from oj simpson there is only one superstar in rent a car. >> reporter: someone the nation knew, trusted, and liked. >> "go oj go." >> reporter: from his naked gun movies. >> right. >> reporter: to his nfl broadcasts. >> reporter: as his colleague bob costas remembers -- >> he was always the quintessential hail fellow well met. he was outwardly as likeable a person as you could ever want to encounter.

>> reporter: 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 bodies was a bloody left-handed glove and a blue knit cap. and inside the walls of simpson's rockingham estate detective mark fuhrman was went behind kato kaelin's bungalow and discovered a moist, bloody glove, similar to the one at the crime scene. >> so we look at the glove and it looks like the same type. >> reporter: and it was a right-handed glove? >> yeah. the same everything. >> reporter: detectives also found a trail of blood drops on simpson's driveway leading from the white ford bronco parked on the street. lange braced himself for what was to come. >> this is very sensitive now. it's a celeb c

passerby observed the body, a female white body and a male white body. >> reporter: by now the news media had the first sketchy reports. deputy district attorney marcia clark was with the special trials unit. she was consulted about getting a search warrant for rockingham by tom lange's partner, detective phil vannatter who already considered simpson a suspect. >> he goes, "you know who it is? "o.j. simpson." who's that? oh, wait. oh yeah, "naked gun." hertz commercial, right?" >> reporter: you're not a big football fan? >> no, wasn't a big football fan. but i know who he is now. >> reporter: some 13 hours after the murders, simpson returned to la from chicago, a journey that took him from household name to potential suspect. you never thought of him as a killer? >> no, no, no. to me, he was bigger than life, and had a great personality. he loved, you know, being

bad 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 longtime personal attorney. kardashian was also at rockingham and was caught on camera carrying what appeared to be simpson's garment bag. much has been speculated about what might have been in that bag. could you conceive of him loving his friend so much that he would help him dispose of evidence? >> absolutely not. 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 about this? >> back off, get out of the way. >> don't know anything? >> reporter: detectives now wanted to bring in simpson for questioning.is

howard weitzman, said his client would fully cooperate. >> he's shocked, he had nothing to do with this tragedy. >> reporter: after arriving at police headquarters, simpson's lawyers met privately with him and then went to lunch. leaving their client alone with two veteran homicide detectives phil vannatter and tom lange. >> i was flabbergasted. unless he just thinks he's glib enough to do -- say anything he wants and he's gonna get around us. >> reporter: detectives and o.j. simpson now settled into 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, and now you tell me i've got blood all over the place. >> reporter: oj simpson knows

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>> reporter: parker center. in 1994, police headar

downtown l.a. it has seen scores of high profile murder investigations and thousands of interrogations, but on that june afternoon, >> very narcissistic, self-assured. has to be in charge at all times. >> reporter: cops were drawn to a cut on simpson's left middle finger, and this is where simpson's answers started becoming more vague. >> how did you get the injury on your hand? >> i don't know. not the first time, when i was in chicago and all, bu t

house i was just running around. >> how did you do it in chicago? >> i broke a glass. one of you guys had just called me, and i was in the bathroom, and i just kind of went bonkers for a little bit. >> is that how you cut it? >> mmm, it was cut before, but i think i just opened it again, i'm not sure. >> reporter: police had found a blood trail from the bronco to his house. now simpson offered a few new details to help explain it. >> so do you recall bleeding at all? >> yeah, i mean, i knew i was bleeding, but it was no big deal. i bleed all the time. i play golf and stuff, so there's always something, nicks and stuff here and there. >> we don't know what direction this is gonna take us. but there's enough that, "i want your blood. i want to document that finger. i want your fingerprints." >> reporter: by now, simpson appeared to be sensing trouble and attempted to straighten out his story. >> i know i'm the number one target, and now you tell me i've got blood all over the place. >> is that your blood that's there? >> if it's dripped, it's what i dripped running around trying to le

>> reporter: then after just 32 minutes, detectives wrapped up their interview and whisked simpson to a lab where he was printed, his finger photographed and most importantly, his blood drawn. >> if this guy is our suspect, his blood is gonna convict him. at the core of this case is blood, blood everywhere. and he's got the -- the evidence that we want in his body. >> mr. simpson are you a suspect? >> reporter: for now, simpson was allowed to leave. >> anything you can tell us? >> reporter: that may have been a measure of his celebrity, or that 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. and at the crime scene itself, more blood drops were swabbed from the walkway leading to the alley, suggesting the killer was bleeding as he fled. >> we have now videotape showing

and an unidentified man as they were removed from a walkway in front of her west side condominium. >> reporter: monitoring all of this from her office at the criminal courts building was deputy d.a. marcia clark, who had not yet been officially assigned the case. >> did you campaign to be put on this case? >> at that time, it was just another big case. that's what our unit did in special trials. we handled high profile murder cases. that was it. it's a good case, so of course, i wanted it. did i want it for fame and fortune? hell, no! >> reporter: all that day fred goldman had been following the news reports about those murders in brentwood. he had no idea how much or in how many ways his life was about to change. because 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 brn was

other person." that's how we found out. over the phone. and the two of us stood there crying our eyes out. >> reporter: 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. >> and he said, "did you -- did you hear the news at all today?" and i said, "no, what's going on, dad?" and then he just said that -- that -- 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. >> reporter: ron goldman was just 25. handsome, athletic, popular. >> i love you very much and i'll see you soon. bye. >> reporter: this rare footage was taken the year before his murder. >> go ron, go ron, go ron!

last big celebration as a family. in june of 1994, ron had been working at mezzaluna 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. so he died trying to do the right thing, and that's painful. >> reporter: 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 their mcdonald's meal. it was a conversation, kaelin

suggesting a cover-up. >> he had tried to tell me, "you know where i was, kato. you know i was in the kitchen at this time." 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 than you actually had? >> yeah, i think it was in the time-frame that he was with me. i said, "no you weren't." and then inside i started going, "he's trying to make me say something that's not true." >> reporter: kato kaelin was seeing another side of o.j. simpson, far different from the affable, glad handing celebrity image that simpson had so carefully cultivated and protected. but simpson also had a dark and violent side. one that had nicole fearing for her life just weeks before her murder. coming up -- did nicole brown simpson predict her future?

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>> reporter: 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. >> reporter: how did simpson react at the funeral? >> he was crying over the coffin, kissed the coffin. he said, "i'm sorry, nic, i'm sorry." >> reporter: close friend kris jenner remembers when nicole met simpson. she was just 18. he was 29. >> they were just really happy together. he didn't wanna live without her. >> reporter: she was every bit as crazy about him, and in 1985 they married, the same year mp

pro football hall of fame. he even mentioned his new bride during the speech. >> 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. >> reporter: but there would be trouble. some parts of a star athlete's life remained a lure and simpson saw other women. the two quarrelled, and when that happened, it would sometimes turn violent. nicole kept all of it a secret, writing about it in her diary. >> reporter: what kinda things were in those diaries? >> she had to go to the emergency room. she had been beaten so badly that she told the doctors that she fell off her bicycle. >> reporter: on new years day 1989 after an especially ugly incident, nicole stopped covering for her husband. she called both the police and her sister denise.

>> she says, "can you do me a favor and come over here and take pictures of me." and so i went over. >> reporter: how'd she look? >> she had her face all scratched up. she had the black and blue all over her. she just said, "he went crazy." >> reporter: they divorced in 1992, but soon after they tried getting back together. >> i felt like they really loved each other, but it was tough for them to be together. and she just always felt like he was cheating on her. >> reporter: why would she go back to him? >> she couldn't live with him, and she couldn't live without him. >> reporter: nicole's sister denise says things got worse. simpson stalked her. >> she says, "he's always there. he's always around. he won't leave me alone." >> 911 emergency. >> yeah, can you send someone to my house? >> reporter: and just months before her murder, nicole was on the phone to 9-11, sounding at first more exasperated than frightened. >> well my ex-husband or my husband, just broke into my house and he's ranting and raving. >> has he been drinking or

anything? >> no, but he's crazy. >> reporter: nicole hung up, but called back 10 minutes later as things apparently escalated. >> 911 emergency? >> could you get someone over here now? he is back, please? dispatcher: ok. what does he look like? >> he's o.j. simpson. i think you know his record. could you just send somebody over here? >> ok, what is he doing there? >> he just drove up again. >> ok, just stay on the line. >> i don't want to stay on the line. he's going to beat the [ bleep ] out of me. >> wait a minute. >> reporter: no charges were filed against simpson. his all-american public image remained intact. but privately, the last several months of nicole's life with simpson were a series of break-ups and make-ups, says kris jenner. in april 1994 came one last reconciliation. the two took a trip to mexico. but things didn't work out. nicole returned home with her

>> she said she was done, and there was something different within nicole that time. >> reporter: 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 kris, 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." >> and soon after, kris jenner was attending her best friend's funeral. and as the funeral was winding down, things were busy at the lapd crime lab, where preliminary results comparing simpson's 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 wanted to go o

him and bring him in and book him like we would anybody else. >> reporter: instead, a deal was struck with simpson's recently hired defense attorney robert shapiro to avoid all the media, simpson would discreetly turn himself in at the jail in back of parker center. the deadline was friday june 17, 1994, 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 a.c. i have o.j. in the car." >> reporter: and marcia clark gets a preview of things to come. >> he has murdered two innocent people, slaughtered them. and you're cheering his escape? >> when "dateline" continues.

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>> reporter: friday june 17, 1994 would become a truly unforgettable day in los angeles and around the world. that morning, simpson was preparing to turn himself in at police headquarters. but then he just suddenly

vanished. >> o.j., wherever you are, for the sake of your family, for the sake of your children, please surrender immediately. >> reporter: simpson did leave behind what many felt was a suicide note. a note that his friend, robert kardashian, read on live tv. >> everyone understand, i had nothing to do with nicole's murder. i loved her. don't feel sorry for me. i've had a great life. >> reporter: and no one seemed to know where simpson was. >> the los angeles police department right now is actively searching for mr. simpson. >> o.j. simpson is not at this location. there is nothing is going on here. >> all units attention to a suspect wanted for a

orenthal james simpson. >> reporter: then around 6:30 p.m., some seven hours after he was supposed to have turned himself in, a white ford bronco was spotted with simpson in the backseat and his close friend al cowlings at the wheel. >> yeah, uhm i think i just saw o.j. simpson on the, uh, the 5 freeway. >> and within a minute the orange county sheriffs were on him. >> in the number one lane at 40 miles per hour. >> reporter: what followed was a surreal, low speed chase. which, by the way, involved al cowlings bronco, not simpson's. >> this is a.c. i have o.j. in the car. >> okay, where are you? >> please, i'm coming up the 5 freeway. >> okay. >> right now we're okay, but you gotta tell the police to just back off. he's still alive, but he's got a gun to his head. >> reporter: 95 million americans now tuned in to watch what was suddenly the best show on tv. >> here is tom broka

pictures of interstate 5 in los angeles. >> reporter: 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 halftime shows for nbc. >> and then all of a sudden, this greek tragedy becomes part of the mix, and it's going on concurrently. >> 10-4, in the number two lane. 25 miles per hour. >> this is a drama without a script. >> the suspect is possibly armed and use caution. >> it was a real gun. it was loaded. he could've used it. and you can't take a chance with someone, certainly, who had been accused of murder. >> there are pedestrians all over the roadway, 10-4. >> reporter: detective tom lange had simpson's cell phone number and amazingly was able to reach him.

conversation, which was not released at the time. >> you there? >> just let me get to my house. >> okay, we're going to do that. >> i swear to you i'll give you what ev -- i'll give you me. i'll give you my whole body. >> reporter: lange used every bit of police and pop psychology he knew to keep simpson's hand on the phone and off the trigger. >> please, you scared everybody, though. you're scaring everybody. >> ahhh. just tell them i'm all sorry, you can tell them later on today and tomorrow that i was sorry and that i -- i'm sorry that i did this to the police department. >> listen, i think you should tell them yourself. and i don't want to have to tell your kids that. your kids need you. >> i've already said goodbye to my kids. >> reporter: marcia clark, who by now had been assigned to prosecute simpson for nicole and ron's murders was watching all of this, furious that he was still free. >> we look like the biggest idiots ever. and then i thought this looks like flight to me. and that is consciousness of guilt in the law. >> reporter: kim goldman was

simpson might not survive. >> and i'm thinking we need to bring him to the court. he needs to have his day at trial. >> if he's not guilty then what he's 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. it was, you know, could this get any worse? >> 10-4 copy. taking the sunset off-ramp from the northbound 405. >> reporter: well maybe not worse, but certainly more weird. with crowds cheering on simpson as if he was making a heisman-like dash for the end zone. >> 10-4. copy. there are pedestrians running in front of the suspect's vehicle. >> o.j.! >> reporter: but marcia clark, who was glued to the screen, wasn't cheering. she says she was seething. >> i saw the people by the side of the road, cheering. and i thought, "oh my god.

this is not good." >> that's a little sample of what's to come? >> exactly. he has murdered two innocent people, slaughtered them. and you're cheering his escape? and it gave me a full on view of what we were up against. >> reporter: finally after nearly 90 riveting minutes -- >> possibly getting close to the house there. >> reporter: simpson and cowlings pulled into rockingham. >> use your own discretion. you take him down if you have to. >> we don't know what the hell is going to happen. you don't know if he's going to get out of the car and have a shootout with the police. i couldn't have written off the possibility that he was going to kill himself. >> reporter: for nearly an hour simpson sat in the bronco as police tried to coax him out. finally he emerged and collapsed into the arms of several waiting officers. it was finally over. inside the bronco was a loaded

.357 magnum and simpson's travel bag containing his passport, a fake goatee and mustache. simpson was taken away, and would soon be charged with two counts of first degree murder. >> o.j. simpson is in custody. he has been transported here to parker center. >> reporter: convicting him seemed almost certain, especially given all that blood evidence. but district attorney gil garcetti would soon make a crucial decision that would alter the course of this case long before it ever went to trial. coming up -- they were called the dream team. >> we're trod proceed to trial. >> but one of the team has another name for his fellow lawyers. >> i call them the nightmare team. >> when "dateline" continues.

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at the 45, he has the first down. still on his feet. to the 45, 40, touchback, 35, 30, open field at the 25. >> reporter: he once wore number now o.j. simpson had brand-new

home too. a dingy cell at the la county jail where he was being held without bail. simpson had visits from his family, friends and 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." >> reporter: but simpson was facing a mountain of evidence. >> we work in the crime lab. >> reporter: as district attorney gil garcetti confidently told nbc news back in 1995. >> no case that i am aware of, in the history of this country, has had so much d.n.a. evidence. but for the fact this were o.j. simpson, this is what you could call in sports language a slam-dunk winner. >> reporter: then d.a. garcetti, made a critical decision. he decided to move the case heto

from santa monica. downtown the jury pool would be mostly minority and thought to be more sympathetic to a black defendant. at the time garcetti claimed it was made for a number of reasons, including that the santa monica courthouse which recently had sustained earthquake damage, couldn't handle a long trial. >> reporter: can you tell us anything at all at this point? >> no, i'm sorry. >> reporter: but former detective tom lange believed that tradeoff 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. >> reporter: when rioting broke out, after a mostly white jury acquitted lapd officers in the beating of rodney king. >> can we -- can we all -- can we all just get along? >> reporter: 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 thinking was that, if you have a minority jury convicting a minority defendant, everything is cool. you're not gonna have any problems. >> reporter: but prosecutor marcia clark says there was no choice about where to try the case. >> it was always gonna be downtown. there was no discussion about it, you know. >> reporter: so people who say, "oh, well, they gave up the mostly white jury pool of santa monica and -- and -- and ended up in a mostly minority jury pool downtown and it was all over at that point," those people don't know what they're talkin' about? >> oh, they really don't. i mean, they might be right in terms of would we bet -- be better off with a white jury. well, yes. i don't think there's any disputing that now, right? but justice kind of demands that we try the case in front of the jury, you know, that we have. and -- and we do our very best to convince them. >> reporter: then another critical decision. this one made by judge lance ito who ruled the trial could be televised. >> reporter: do you have enough evidence to convict o.j. simpson? >> of course we do. >> reporter: publi

confident in her case back then. >> the fact that the case has been filed means that we do have sufficient evidence to convict him. >> reporter: but privately, as clark told us, she sensed trouble early on. >> right off the bat, you got a big push back in the african american community. they don't like this case. they don't want to believe it. there was a sense of loyalty, of investment in protecting an african american icon who had made it. he was successful, he had made it. they did not wanna see him taken down. >> reporter: even though he'd done virtually nothing for the community he'd come from? >> it was surprising. virtually nothing. this was not exactly your civil rights firebrand. and -- and, as he was quoted famously saying, "i'm not black, i'm o.j." >> reporter: still clark says she was convinced a strong case could be built primarily on the blood and dna evidence. >> there was a trail of evidence, literally, from bundy that led all the way into his bedroom at rockingham. and that included the blood, the hairs, the fibers. it was a huge amount of evidence. the question was, would it be enough to overcome the

incendiary issue of race? >> how do you plead to counts one and two? >> absolutely 100% not guilty. >> reporter: race would soon become front and center in the case, thanks to a new attorney simpson added to his team just before he was arraigned. his name, johnnie l. cochran jr. >> we're ready to proceed to trial. we want to see justice for o.j. simpson. and we believe he'll be acquitted. >> reporter: cochran had been a thorn in the lapd's side for years, running a lucrative practice trying police misconduct cases. from the outset his strategy was simple. >> this was the kind of case where you attack the police and their credibility. >> reporter: especially in 1995. >> at that time, the only way to describe the situation between the black community and lapd was a state of open warfare. >> reporter: connie rice is a civil rights attorney who lives in los angeles. >> the black community

experienced lapd as a hostile occupation force that viewed the black community with racist contempt. >> reporter: so it was the perfect time for that defense to be read. >> it was the perfect time for that defense to be raised, that this is a black man being persecuted. and he ought to be let go. >> reporter: but o.j. simpson? for years he had lived on la's mostly white west-side. he spent much of his time playing golf, dating white women, and seemed to have little to do with la's black community. >> reporter: i'm not sure he knew how to get to south l.a. >> that's right. he didn't have to identify with the black community. what the black community understood was that you're being targeted. you're back with us. >> reporter: cochran knew that. and helping him were several other legal superstars like f. lee bailey, dna expert barry scheck, and harvard law professor alan dershowitz. they were known as the "dream team," but dershowitz had his own name for them. >> i call 'em the tm

team. it was a terrible, terrible group. we didn't get along. there was a tremendous amount of dissension behind the scenes. >> reporter: but somehow they managed to come together and pick a jury, as simpson attorney carl douglas revealed to "dateline". >> we had done focus groups pre-trial and it said clearly that african-american women would be our best jurors. they would know and understand how black men are treated by police. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: 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." >> reporter: coming up: was o.j. simpson getting rid of something at the airport the night of the murders? >> he was pulling things out and putting 'em in the trash can. >> reporter: and kato kaelin in the biggest role of his life. >> i don't think we're going for the same parts. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. ♪ savin' you five hundred ♪ i'm savin' you five hundred we have auto-tune, right? oh, yeah. that's a hit! all: yeah! i work for the dogs twenty-four seven. these are my dogs dusty and cooper. i am the butler. these dogs shed like crazy.

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returning to our story, the o.j. simpson trial was to be a circus in a courtroom watched by millions. here again is josh mankiewicz.

>> reporter: day 1 of what the 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. we've been ready for a long time. >> reporter: 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 la county prosecutors, armed with a seemingly airtight 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 you see here marked as the item #112 matches the defendant. >> reporter: 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 simpson and nicole's troubled, sometimes violent relationship, which they said culminated in her murder. >> and in that final and terrible act, ronald goldman, an innocent bystander, was viciously and senselessly murdered. >> reporter: later denise brown gave the jury a chilling account of how simpson brutalized her sister right in front of her. >> picked her up, threw her against the wall. picked her up and threw her out of the house. >> reporter: was it tough to go in there and recount what you had seen? >> yeah, it was. i had just lost my sister. yeah, everything was just right there. i mean, just so fresh. >> reporter: prosecutors also focused on the timeline of the murders to show that simpson was alone and unaccounted for at least an hour. enough time to kill ron and

nicole. >> people call mr. kaelin. >> reporter: kato kaelin took the stand to testify about that night he was with simpson. but first came one of those "kato moments." >> did you think your friendship with him, your acquaintanceship, especially living on his property might send acting roles your way? >> i didn't think that. i don't think we're going for the same parts. i was just being me. it wasn't about the spotlight. it was just me. how i am. >> reporter: whose side was kato kaelin on? >> oh, that's a great question. he certainly wasn't on ours. he was on kato's side, that would be my opinion. from the very start, he was very clearly withholding information. >> reporter: and you didn't think he had anything to do with it? >> no. what he was doing was sticking his finger in the air, seeing which way the wind was blowing and saying, "you know what? simpson's not going to get convicted and i'm going to be the one who was standing by his side and he'll take care of me." >> reporter: kaelin told us he

everything clark asked. and at trial he did detail a critical sequence of events before and after the murders from the trip he and simpson took to mcdonald's. to those three strange sounds he heard at 10:45 pm. sounds investigators believed simpson made when returning home after killing ron and nicole. >> can you demonstrate for us how loud it was? >> somewhat, yes. >> go ahead. yeah, go ahead. >> and where did that noise seem to be coming from? >> from the back of the wall. >> reporter: kato kaelin had come to hollywood looking for fame. what he found was something more powerful, longer-lasting and ultimately upsetting. >> it was probably the scariest moment in my entire life. and also everything that you've done in your life became out to the public. >> reporter: it's not what you

>> i would never think in a billion years that this was going to be my life. >> reporter: kato kaelin wasn't alone. another person's life had collided with o.j. simpson that night, but this man was eager to testify. skip junis was at the l.a. airport the night of the murders to pick up his wife who worked for american airlines. it was 11:30 pm, just an hour after ron and nicole had been killed. >> a limousine pulled up and o.j. simpson got out of the limousine. >> reporter: junis 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. >> reporter: back then junis didn't think too much of it, as he watched simpson empty that little black bag and then hustle inside.

by the time police learned what he'd seen, it was too late for them to go through the trash. but junis did draw a picture of the bag for detectives. you think he was disposing of the evidence then? >> sure, of course i do. that witness has evidence. i have no reason to discount him or anything else, he has an entirely credie story. >> reporter: so credible that junis was subpoenaed to testify. but like a lot of the prosecution's case, things wouldn't go quite according to plan. and the defense was just getting started. >> reporter: coming up, if it doesn't fit -- >> it was a stunning time, one that will go down in annals of history i suggest. >> i did not want him to try on the evidence glove. >> whose call was that?

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products. pundits. and a whole new class of tv shows that yammered about everything that happened that day in court. >> hi, everyone, i'm geraldo rivera. o.j. simpson's face is, quote, "the face of a batterer, a wife beater, an abuser, a controller. the face of ron and nicole's murderer." >> reporter: but if the audience loved it, 12 jurors didn't see it, because they were sequestered, confined to this high-rise 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 court room and a hotel room. >> with no tv, no phone, no radios, no nothing. >> reporter: isolated. bored. often lonely. there was nothing glamorous about being a juror on the trial of the century. >> i think you'll be very happy

with the entertainment that we'll provide for you this weekend. >> reporter: 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 carl douglas had gone into simpson's house for a little redecorating. >> we wanted to make the rockingham location look lived in and stand with all of its regalness, so that the jurors would say, "o.j. simpson would not have risked all of this for this woman." >> reporter: photos of simpson with white women were swapped out for pictures of him with black people. a norman rockwell painting from johnnie cochran's office and a bedside photo of simpson's mother were placed in prominent view. >> this is not tampering with evidence? >> this is not tampering with evidence, no.

presentable. like washing the floors. >> like putting the bible out for everybody to see -- >> 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 called, i'm trying to get the optimum advantage to win. they play hardball in the big leagues. this was the big leagues. >> reporter: and there was a lot more hardball 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 quickly it and cleverly, with just four little words. >> garbage in, garbage out. >> reporter: garbage in, garbage out, became the strategy. if there was evidence that was contaminated, or corrupted, then the result and the conclusions could not be trusted. for example, a key blood sample th

crime scene until three weeks after the murder. then defense dna expert barry scheck pounced on the lapd's dennis fung, accusing him and a colleague of mishandling evidence. >> there! there! how about that, mr. fung? >> the defense came in and just whittled in 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. and you're sitting there. you're listening to this stuff over and over. i'm not gonna lie to you. it was somewhat boring. >> reporter: boring, and apparently not resonating with the jury, whose silent expressions sent a loud message to marcia clark. >> the trial was a nightmare for me every single day. i had had so many days of going back up to my office and feeling like we're toast. it's over. there's no way. because, remember, i'm watching

the jury all day, every day. >> what was the bigger problem, the defense suggesting that, because of race, that the dna evidence had been tampered with, or was dna back then just too hard and too boring for the jury to understand? >> it was the former. it was definitely the race issue. so the dna was not the problem. the problem was the jury didn't wanna believe. and so at the end of the day, you can't make someone believe something they don't want to believe. >> reporter: but there was plenty of other evidence besides dna that the prosecution never showed the jury. like the police interview with simpson. or his emotional farewell note and the ensuing bronco chase. those were critical lost opportunities, says detectiv tom lange. >> i had a problem from day one, because of evidence that they didn't wanna put on. >> and you'd say to prosecutors, "what are you doing?" and they would say, "don't worry, we have dna evidence." >> they didn't say that, they

getting more and more evidence. and they weren't having anything to do with it. >> reporter: but clark says she was concerned that the bronco chase, simpson's police interview and so-called "sucide note" might play sympathetically to the jury. >> i have to look for the most objective evidence i can. i can't go to them and say, "this is what i think." because any of these kind of dicey moves, and that's a dicey move, the statement he gave the cops, the quote/unquote suicide note that he wrote. so i had enough solid evidence without taking risk with evidence like that. >> reporter: enough evidence that even eyewitness skip junis, the man who said he spotted simpson emptying his gym bag at the airport soon after the murders, was never called to testify. and neither was kris jenner, who wanted to tell the jury how nicole feared for her life. >> her knowing that she was going to be murdered, do you

>> she told me. >> what did she say to you? >> he's gonna kill me and he's gonna get away with it. >> you couldn't put her on the stand because, what? that's hearsay? >> yeah, yeah. that would be hearsay. under the circumstances that nicole was speaking to kris jenner, we couldn't get it in. i would've been happy to put her on the stand, believe me. i think she would have been a great witness. but -- >> reporter: we've talked 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 wound from which prosecutors probably 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. >> that's people's 77. >> that was not my call. i did not want him to try on the evidence gloves. i never did. >> whose call was that? >> that was chris's call. >> reporter: chris was co-prosecutor christopher en

>> i was miserable from the moment that chris said, "no, i'm doing this." and i never expected anything good to come of it. >> the only thing i could assume at that time was, it's 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 one of the dumbest moves ever by any prosecutor. >> ever. you never try a demonstration if you're not sure what's gonna happen. >> the gloves at rockingham and bundy don't fit! do you understand that? don't fit! and they can never make them fit! bye! >> reporter: and the prosecution knew it too, just a little too late, as chris darden told nbc news in 1996. >> they should have fit him. our glove expert said they would fit him. they were his gloves. they had his blood on them. the victim's blood on them. 's

did not come off perfectly, oh, yeah, i wish i hadn't done. >> you say to darden that night, i told you so? >> no. darden said to me, "i'm sorry." and i said, "it's okay. if that lost the case for us, we were never gonna win anyway." >> reporter: coming up -- detective mark fuhrman is caught on tape, putting the prosecution on the defense. >> it was mind boggling what we'd heard. >> reporter: and those dramatic closing arguments. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> reporter: when dateline continues. v8 engine... torque vectoring differential... and brembo brakes. it's the next expression of f performance, from lexus.

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>> reporter: the 4th of july weekend of 1995 had just passed, but the fireworks were only beginning in johnny cochran's office. most were dead ends, but one caught the attention of defense investigator pat mckenna. little did he realize then, but

key player in the most explosive and pivotal part of the case, all because of one cryptic phone message which read -- >> fuhrman tapes. n-word. things like that. >> reporter: detective mark fuhrman, the handsome, confident cop who had discovered the bloody glove at rockingham. so mckenna followed up with the man who left the message about furhman, which led him to a woman named laura hart mckinney, a screenwriter who consulted with fuhrman on a script about police work. and their conversations were recorded. a few weeks later, the tapes arrived at cochran's office. johnnie was very careful about those tapes, locking 'em in his safe, where only he had the combination. because it was just so explosive. >> anything out of a [ bleep ] mouth for the first five or six sentences is a fucking lie. >> 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'd heard. he used the n-word so much that became insignificant. >> are you guys, like, you know, hoisting champagne glasses when you listen to those tapes? >> it was manna from heaven. >> reporter: but for the prosecution, the fuhrman tapes were pure hell. >> it was horrifying, horrifying and listening to that tape, it was, like -- it was, like, having a sewer-unload on your head. >> reporter: fuhrman insisted the conversations were no more than the basis for a movie. >> is this really what the reality of a democracy is? that we use a fictional screeenplay to prosecute one man for doing too good of a job on a murder case and acquitting another? i just think it's absolutely absurd. >> reporter: absurd to detective fuhrman, but it was live ammunition for simpson's attorneys.

fuhrman was a racist cop, who in an effort to frame simpson, planted the bloody glove at his estate. undermine fuhrman, went their thinking, and the entire lapd 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. >> they don't do anything. they don't go out there and initiate a contact with some 6'5" [ bleep ] that's been in prison for 7 years pumping weights. >> reporter: fuhrman, who had testified previously and denied using the n-word, was then called back to court to answer for what he said on those tapes. >> all right, detective fuhrman would you resume the witness stand please. >> reporter: this time fuhrman, accompanied by his lawyer, didn't have much to say. except -- >> i wish to assert my 5th amendment privilege. >> reporter: three times fuhrman invoked his constitutional right

against self-incrimination as the defense grilled him saving their best question for last. >> detective furhman did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case? >> i assert my 5th amendment privilege. i it was terrible. it was terrible. the glove demonstration to me paled into insignificance after that. >> it's not good when you're handicapping a murder trial afterwards and you're comparing -- >> was -- >> which part of your case was the biggest disaster? >> throughout the trial it felt like one minefield after another. and every day, we'd walk into court and something else was blowing up. >> my client's already answered that. >> i was pissed. pissed. when someone asks you that, under those circumstances, is, "no. hell, no. i do not plant evidence." that's the response. when you plead the fifth, it's all over, whether he did it or not. >> did fuhrman sink the prosecution when he did that? >> he sunk the case. >> i assert my 5th amendme

>> reporter: this part of fuhrman's testimony was heard outside the presence of the jury. >> all right, thank you, sir. >> thank you, your honor. >> reporter: 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 this, the gloves and the hat. he had plenty of opportunity to do it. >> and because this investigation wasn't 100% by the book, you think that means something -- >> that means i can't convict someone -- >> something nefarious went on? >> it means that i can't convict someone of murder. >> reporter: 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

that was scarred by violence and abuse. >> it wasn't my best. it wasn't. i was tired. i was demoralized. by the time i got to actually talk to the jury, i thought, "are you hearing anything? i don't know if you're hearing anything. i don't know." it just didn't feel like anybody cared. >> stop this cover up! >> reporter: then it was johnnie cochran's turn. >> stop this cover up. if you don't stop it then who? >> reporter: it was classic cochran as he delivered that iconic line which would forever define the trial. >> if it doesn't fit you must acquit. >> reporter: 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 -- was justice

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>> reporter: the spectacle on national television was over. now the fate of o.j. simpson would be settled behind closed but as deliberations began, lon cryer, aka juror number six, was antsy. >> you wanted out of there? >> all i could think of. in my mind i had formed an opinion that i'm probably gonna go "not guilty." i'm also worried that am i the only person who saw it that way. >> reporter: cryer and the 11 other jurors took their first straw vote. >> oh wow, ten to two for acquittal. and i went in the restroom and i went -- i did one of, "oh, yes," kinda things.

and it wasn't because of the ten to two verdict, it was because i'm close to getting out of here. >> reporter: two votes now spelled the difference between both simpson and the jury finally going home. >> i was open to someone showing a differing view that maybe could have changed my view. >> the two jurors who voted for guilty, what, they didn't try to win anybody else over? >> not at all. >> they didn't stick with it? >> not at all. >> reporter: and that mountain of dna evidence was apparently not part of the deliberations. >> nothing about the dna actually even came up in discussion. >> during jury deliberations, the dna evidence wasn't even mentioned? >> as fast as this went, no. it never came up. >> reporter: and a short time later, a second vote. an eight-month trial decided in less than four hours. >> you have reached a verdict in the case, is that correct madam foreman? >> yes. >> reporter: it would be

>> i was convinced, convinced that he was going to be found guilty. >> alright, mrs. robertson, would you -- you have the envelope with the sealed verdict. >> yes, your honor. >> reporter: then the next day the jury, the families, detectives and attorneys arrived at judge ito's courtroom for the very last time. >> i saw johnnie in the courtroom. and he looked pretty upset. and i said, "what are you worried about? you won." and he said, well, he didn't think he had. the funny thing is, all the pundits, you know, that night before the verdict came in, were predicting a conviction. everyone. everyone. >> but not you? >> nope. >> reporter: 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 -- >> reporter: 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 entitled action find the defendant, orenthal james simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder. >> when she read nicole's verdict first and they said, "not guilty," i remember thinking, "shh, shh, shh, they haven't read ron's yet," thinking for some crazy reason that my brother's verdict would be different. >> not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187-a, a felony, upon ronald lyle goldman, a human being. >> and then i lost it. i don't know why i thought it would be a different verdict. and i was pissed. and you just go, wow is this really ourus

it was unbelievable. it seemed really obvious to me that it was going to be guilty. >> juror number 11. >> it felt horrible. it was physically painful. you know, that was not justice. and i thought of ron and nicole. and thought, this is wrong. it's so wrong. >> you blame yourself for this? >> you know, i always do. i do. i mean, i was the one trying the case. but at the end of the day, there was no way to reach that jury. there was no way to make them believe. there really wasn't. >> it wasn't so much that i thought he was just totally innocent, it was just that i don't feel that there was enough evidence presented to me to convict him. >> reporter: one verdict, two reactions, divided by color. across the country. >> thank you, jesus! >> reporter: for the first time in more than 15 month, o.j.

simpson was a free man. fred goldman, as he'd done so many times before, spoke for the families. >> last june 13, '94, was the, um, worst nightmare of my life. this is the second. honest to god, that's one of those 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. >> reporter: america's newly-insatiable appetite for trial binge watching had ended without simpson getting the just desserts many had hoped for. but this would not be the last we'd see or hear

orenthal james simpson. because simpson 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 all caught on these dramatic tapes. >> if her face was black and blue the next day, or two days later, i was responsible for it. >> reporter: when dateline continues. well, i know you asked me to call you the at&t hostess with the mostest. okay, shut her down. turn it off. right now, buy an iphone and get another one free when you add a second line. ithat's so interesting honeyf mybecause i'm going to share p. a photo of my eggo waffle when it pops up.

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>> reporter: from the county jail to the country club. it didn't take oj simpson to get back into the swing of things. on the links and on camera simpson was everywhere, eager to clear his name, as he told b.e.t. in january of 1996. >> i loved nicole. i could not have killed anyone. >> reporter: watching and seething were the families of nicole and ron. >> you know, here was this arrogant murderer, you know, flaunting his celebrity. >> reporter: kept sayin' he was looking for the real killers,

every fairway in america. >> right. and every time he looked in the mirror at home, he had found him. >> reporter: but fred goldman still wanted justice, even if it meant simpson remained free. >> i wanted a court to say he was -- was guilty. >> reporter: no court could do that now, but a civil court could find him liable for killing ron and nicole. and that meant filing a wrongful death lawsuit. if simpson lost, he wouldn't go to prison but he might have to pay damages to the families. the goldmans hired a relatively unknown attorney named dan petrocelli to represent them. he had never handled a case that involved murder. >> petrocelli would argue the case here in santa monica where a jury would be selected from a largely white population. and unlike in the criminal case, 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. >> on one of the lead pages, is a picture of simpson walking and one of his feet were elevated and they had circled the shoe he was wearin' and said that was a bruno magli shoe. >> reporter: during the original investigation the bloody shoe prints at the crime scene were matched to this exact type of italian shoe. now, thanks to the photo, petrocelli could put the shoes on simpson. >> then we had it sent out to a lab for authentication, came back. this is a real picture. >> reporter: in january 1996, simpson arrived at petrocelli's office for 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, that i literally shook the hand of -- that probably wielded the knife that killed my client's son and killed his ex-wife. >> reporter: 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. >> you ever buy shoes that you knew were bruno magli shoes? >> no. >> how do you know that? >> 'cause i know, if bruno magli makes shoes that look like the shoes they had in court that's involved in this case, i would have never owned those ugly-ass shoes. >> the deposition turned out to

he made so many inconsistent statements. >> reporter: then petrocelli challenged simpson about abusing nicole. >> i believe the bruises that were on her body, i was responsible for. if she got them from me being physical with her or she got them when she fell when she was outside, i was responsible for it. >> if she fell when she was outside, it's because you made her fall, right? >> no. >> because you were hitting her. right? >> no. >> you were pounding her. >> no, that's incorrect. >> you made her face black and blue, didn't you? >> if her face was black and blue the next day or two days later, i was responsible for it. >> reporter: then in october 1996. o.j. simpson would tell it to a jury as the civil trial got underway. 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. >> reporter: and the primary witness in this case was

choice but to take the stand. >> 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 victim's blood was in his house. why the victims' blood was in his car. this is evidence that would put people away in three seconds in most cases. >> reporter: and near the end of trial another devastating wave of evidence. more photos of simpson wearing the same bruno magli shoes, 30 more pictures. >> it really puts the ultimate lie to simpson. >> reporter: and now a jury would decide. after deliberating five days they had a verdict. it was unanimous. >> the jury has decided yes, o.j. simpson did willfully and wrongfully cause the death of ron goldman. [ cheers and applause ] >> finally he had a court say he

it was only confirmation of what we knew. but he did it. >> reporter: the families were awarded $33.5 million dollars in damages, of which they've only received a fraction. but simpson lost what was left of his reputation. [ crowd jeers ] >> reporter: that aside, he again walked out of court a free man. it turned out justice was coming for o.j. simpson in ways he never imagined. coming up, o.j. simpson in criminal court again, but this time the verdict is different. >> i'm gonna sentence you as follows. >> reporter: and more than two decades later, what else has changed? and the latest on the knife supposedly found at o.j. simpson's old house.

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don't go too far, sweetheart. >> reporter: 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

>> i'm gonna sentence you as follows. >> reporter: and exactly 13 years to the day that he was acquitted of the murders in brentwood, simpson was convicted, and later sentenced up to 33 years. >> thank you. >> reporter: o.j. simpson is eligible for parole in 2017. he will be 70 then. but that isn't the end of the simpson saga. even now more than 20 years later, new stories continue to surface. just two days ago, lapd detectives came into possession of a knife, a knife supposedly recovered years ago here at simpson's former estate in brentwood. the knife is now undergoing testing to see if it has any connection to the case. >> so it has been submitted to our lab. they are going to study it and examine it for all forensics, including serology and dna and hair samples. and that is ongog

first knife to emerge. over the years dozens of knives have also surfaced, but none have proven to be the murder weapon. since neither simpson, nor anyone else was convicted of the murders, police say they will continue to explore any new leads. >> this is a double homicide that is still open and ongoing. >> reporter: but because of double jeopardy laws, simpson can never again be charged with the murders of his ex-wife and ron goldman. quite a bit has changed in the two decades since that horrible night in brentwood. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> reporter: the man who helped acquit simpson johnnie cochran, died in 2005. simpson's friend and attorney robert kardashian also passed away, two years earlier. lapd detective phil vanatter also died in 2012. >> we don't have any answers right now.

lange, is now retired and still lives outside los angeles. >> it is in the memory of nicole that the foundation was formed. >> reporter: denise brown is very active educating others about domestic violence, and now runs a speaker's bureau to get the word out. kim goldman has written a new book about victims of high profile crimes and she has a young son, whose middle name is ronald. >> ron was a good human being. >> reporter: her father, fred, was awarded the rights to simpson's book, "if i did it: confessions of a killer," which goldman says he considers a true account of how simpson killed ron and nicole, something simpson continues to deny. kato kaelin is still in los angeles and among his many projects, has a clothing line. kris jenner, well, you know. >> i wish to assert my 5th amendment privilege. >> reporter: as for mark fuhrman, there was never any evidence that he planted anything. however, he did plead no contest

lying at trial in connection with those audio tapes and was sentenced to three years probation. since then fuhrman has appeared as a commentator on the fox news channel. neither marcia clark nor chris darden ever tried another case for the da's office. clark still practices law as an appellate attorney. she's also an author and has a new novel coming out entitled: "blood defense," where the main character is a hard-charging, ambitious defense attorney. chris darden has also written several books and started his own law firm specializing in criminal defense. >> never answer a hypothetical question from a reporter. >> reporter: carl douglas is still practicing law and has a small shrine to his mentor, johnnie cochran, in his office. judge lance ito retired in 2015 after serving more than 25 years on the bench. the once mostly-

now much more racially representative of the city it polices, though far from perfect race relations have dramatically improved between the cops and the city's black community. >> and we hope that that injustice will be prevented in a civil trial. >> reporter: and dan petrocelli, he is still practicing law in los angeles and now lives in brentwood, not far from where o.j. simpson once did. but simpson's rockingham estate was sold, and the new owner demolished the house in 1998 to build a new one. and finally nicole's condo, it's still there with a remodeled exterior and a new address number, but gawking busloads of tourists have dwindled. and that mountain of evidence that was supposed to guarantee a slam dunk case? most of it's still around. buried deep in the lapd's

archives. that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. >> right now at 11:00, condolences are pouring in after the death of nancy reagan. the for