Original subtitles

People know me, and I'm happy with the image that,

you know, the way people perceive me in that

when they come up to me, it's normally very positive.

You know, I feel like everywhere I go, I got friends everywhere,

and people talk to me as if I'm an old friend.

So I get enough of that.

I don't need any more of that.

♪♪

♪♪

Hey, everyone. I'm Hill Harper,

and welcome to "How It Really Happened."

So tonight, our first of two parts

taking a new look at all things O.J.

Now, I don't know about you,

but I remember exactly where I was

when I saw the footage of him riding in that white Bronco.

Man!

So let's jump in and analyze what really happened.

After O.J. Simpson's acquittal,

the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson

and Ron Goldman remain unsolved.

In trials such as these, the prosecutors must prove

their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Most believe that the jury had reasonable doubt

because of a combination of factors --

O.J.'s overwhelming popularity in Los Angeles,

serious pockets of distrust of the LAPD

and their practices,

and strong feelings

that the evidence just didn't add up.

So what we're going to look at is the glorified O.J. of 1994,

the hero so many Americans,

and especially Angelenos,

thought incapable of such a vicious and violent crime,

leaving many to speculate someone else may have done it.

Over 20 years after the murders,

O.J.'s attorney, Robert Shapiro,

asserted to Megyn Kelly in a Fox interview

that the real killers are still out there.

Shapiro: The prosecution wedded themselves

to one-knife, one-killer theory.

I think it's pretty clear that it was within

reasonable medical probability

that more than one knife was used.

There is a strong possibility

that more than one person was involved.

And you believe the killer of Nicole Brown Simpson

and Ron Goldman has never faced trial?

I think there is a strong possibility

that that's the case.

On June 13, 1994,

at approximately 10 minutes after midnight,

a witness discovered the body of Nicole Brown Simpson

and the second body, Mr. Ronald Goldman.

When I got word that Nicole Brown Simpson

and Ron Goldman had been killed,

I really didn't know what it was about.

Victim Nicole Brown Simpson is the ex-wife

of O.J. Simpson.

"That guy? Oh, my God, O.J. Simpson."

There were so many questions that we had,

and early on, as in many cases,

the attention turns to the ex-spouse,

in this case, O.J. Simpson.

O.J. and Nicole first met in 1977,

if I remember correctly,

and it was a hot and heavy and torrid courtship.

I mean, it was love at first sight.

She met him when she was 19 years old,

and he was the love of her life.

Moret: She was much younger than he was.

She was very attractive, blonde, great figure, pretty lady,

stunning in a very L.A. kind of way,

in a way that says, "Look at me," you know?

There was something subtle about Nicole,

and they were a very dynamic couple.

A day or two -- might have been the day of that he met Nicole,

he said to his buddies that,

"I'm going to end up marrying that girl one day."

Moret: When you watch the video, like many weddings you go to,

you see the playfulness.

You see the love in their eyes.

You see the closeness.

They looked like they were in love.

I just want to say, it was the happiest day of my life,

it really was.

And everybody said it would be, and it was.

Watts: It was real love.

It was love for many, many years.

The relationship lasted until 1992.

That's when Nicole filed for divorce.

O.J. Simpson was divorced,

but this woman was very much a part of his life.

Watts: Until June 12, 1994, when it ended.

Joining us now from Los Angeles is Denise Brown

who has become a major public figure out of all of this.

Where were you that night, Denise?

The night of June 12th?

Yep. I was at Sydney's dance recital.

Velez-Mitchell: At about 4:30,

O.J. and Nicole's daughter, Sydney,

is going to be in a recital at her middle school,

and the whole family is showing up.

So Nicole is there, and her family is there,

and O.J. arrives late

bearing flowers for his daughter, Sydney,

and he talks to everybody in Nicole's family.

Hill: O.J. Simpson sat by himself at the recital

because Nicole Brown Simpson was making it clear

to O.J. Simpson that their relationship was over.

And at the dance recital, there are certainly suggestions

that there was a breach and there was anger between them

that was unusually strong, even for them.

Velez-Mitchell: After the recital is over,

Nicole and her entourage, her family,

decide they're going to go to Mezzaluna for dinner,

this very fashionable restaurant in Brentwood.

The Brown family,

which O.J. had been very close to over the years, said,

"You are not welcome at dinner with us tonight."

Moret: Mezzaluna was not far from where Nicole lived.

It was almost within walking distance.

They probably left around 8:00 or so.

They went to have ice cream after that with the kids.

Velez-Mitchell: So Judith Brown, Nicole's mom, realizes

at about 9:40, "Oh, I left my glasses at the restaurant

or in front of the restaurant."

And she calls Nicole,

and it's arranged that Ron Goldman,

who is a waiter at Mezzaluna, will drop off the glasses

in an envelope to Nicole after he leaves work.

He went to go drop off some sunglasses at her house,

being a nice guy and doing a favor for a friend.

The phone call from Judith Brown to her daughter, Nicole,

was a perfectly ordinary, everyday event.

But in the context, those dropped glasses

may have cost both Ron Goldman and Nicole their lives.

♪♪

Clark: What happened next?

Well, I was walking --

I was walking down Dorothy.

As I approached the corner of Dorothy and Bundy,

I saw that there was a dog at the corner.

It was a large Akita, very white.

The dog Steven Schwab found loose is Nicole's dog.

He ends up turning it over to his neighbor, Sukru Boztepe.

Anything on it that you saw?

There was red spots on the dog.

And what did that red spots look like --

those red spots look like to you?

Blood.

We decided to take the dog for a walk,

and actually we just let the dog lead us.

I turned right and looked exact the same direction

what the dog was looking.

And what did you see?

I seen a body.

It was woman laying down horizontally

all the way to the path.

There was a lot of blood.

What did you do?

I told my wife that there is a dead person there

and, "You should call 911."

The next morning I woke up,

and 6:15 in the morning, we got a phone call.

Who took the call?

My mother did, but all of a sudden

I hear a scream, and I run back there,

and she said, "Nicole has been killed.

Nicole has been murdered."

♪♪

There was obviously a very violent struggle.

The horror of what really happened

cannot be explained in words.

Hill: I could see blood on the sidewalk,

and I thought to myself, "That's a lot of blood."

Reporter: The quiet community of Brentwood is not very quiet now.

Crowds of the curious gathered to look at a murder scene

where O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole,

and a 25-year-old apparent friend,

Ron Goldman, were killed.

The horror of what really happened

cannot be explained in words.

It's such a violent crime scene.

It's such a bloody crime scene.

I'm terrified. I'm terrified. It's frightening.

There was obviously a very violent struggle.

It was evident that there were numerous slashing

and stabbing wounds.

Reporter: Is it important that you talk to Mr. Simpson at this point?

Are you looking to talk to him? Yes.

We have already contacted him.

Simpson was already on his way to Chicago.

Once he was contacted the following morning, he returned.

Reporter: When contacted by police about his wife's death,

authorities say Simpson returned to Los Angeles voluntarily.

We interviewed him probably 11 to 12 hours

after the murders occurred.

At that time, he was not a suspect.

Moret: I was at the CNN bureau.

The bureau chief at the time came into our department

and asked what sounds like a crazy question,

but it was an honest question.

He said, "Do you think this is going to be a big news story

or a big entertainment story?"

And I said, "Both."

The big question was, following the first 48

to 72 hours after the murders,

was O.J. a suspect?

Moret: People loved him.

So I think the public didn't want to believe early on

that O.J. Simpson could be responsible for this.

Oh, I'm shocked and mortified.

It's very hard to believe because he is such a gentleman

and such a very mellow person.

I mean, it just seemed, like, so out of character

from anything you had ever heard about the man.

It just didn't seem possible.

People forget how wildly popular he was.

He was like a Beatle.

Crowd: USA! USA! USA!

He could do no wrong.

He was charming, handsome, charismatic.

People were just in love with him.

Reporter: The friendly, likable O.J.

had been America's image of man nicknamed the Juice.

I'll show you how smart I am.

I'm dating my ex-wife.

Watts: O.J. Simpson, the celebrity African-American

that transcended race, this NFL legend and superstar.

Reporter: A star running back at USC,

the Buffalo Bills drafted him in the first round in 1969.

He finished his career as the second leading rusher

in NFL history

and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

Who didn't respect O.J. growing up?

Who didn't run up and down this field as a football player

when they were little and say,

"Hey, I'm O.J. Simpson," you know?

"I'm the Juice."

O.J. Simpson was a true celebrity.

Mind over matter --

You wouldn't look at him and think he was a great talent,

he was a great athlete, but he was very likable.

O.J. was the first African-American athlete

to receive major commercial endorsement

in the United States.

Go, O.J., go!

Reporter: After his retirement from pro football,

he became a spokesperson for Hertz Rent a Car.

Ever need to rent a car fast?

♪ Nobody does it better ♪

That's how I knew O.J. Simpson.

I knew this guy who was flying through the airports

for Hertz in the commercials all over the place,

and I knew the guy who was, you know, in the movies.

I knew him more of an entertainment star

as opposed to a sports figure.

O.J. actually started his movie career

when he was still an active football player in the NFL.

"The Naked Gun" trilogy, everyone, of course,

remembers that one.

-Nordberg! -How are you, buddy?

Hey!

Hey, doc says I should be on my feet

and as good as new in a week.

And back on the force.

Nordberg, that's wonderful.

-Whoa! -Oh, Frank.

Everyone should have a friend like you.

Oh!

This is a person that loved to be adulated by people.

This is a person who loved people coming up to him

and loved people asking for autographs.

Crowd: O.J.! O.J.!

You couldn't help but notice O.J. Simpson.

You noticed him because he was that kind of a presence.

He was magnetic.

Velez-Mitchell: People don't want to believe

that a guy that likable,

that handsome, that charming, that charismatic,

they don't want to believe somebody that perfect

can be so awful.

You're a good guy. Thank you, Larry.

Soles: O.J. Simpson, he's an American sports hero,

a movie star, a commercial pitchman,

and a football broadcaster.

Now he possibly could be a murder suspect.

Watts: Police will tell you in their mind

that O.J. was the only suspect,

but publicly, he was being described

as a person of interest.

Reporter: Is he a suspect?

I can't comment on that right now.

Can you talk about the evidence you have uncovered in there?

Excuse me.

It became evident, however,

that he was a possible suspect

when we viewed his left hand was bleeding.

We knew that the suspect was bleeding at the scene,

whoever that might be.

I said, "I don't know if this is, like, a big thing,

but I heard these thumps,"

these boom, boom, boom, and the picture moved.

Lange: Fuhrman followed up on that, as he well should have,

on what these thumps may or may not have been.

Toobin: Once they find the glove,

the detectives really start to investigate

what's going on at Rockingham.

And O.J. Simpson goes from a victim,

or the spouse of the victim,

to a person of interest or a suspect.

Reporter: Day one, Monday --

The bodies of 35-year-old Nicole Brown Simpson

and 25-year-old Ronald Goldman are found outside

Nicole Simpson's Los Angeles condominium.

♪♪

It was after midnight

when the police finally arrived at the crime scene.

I could see blood on the sidewalk,

but I noticed blood coming down the grout channels

between the tiles, and I thought to myself,

"That's a lot of blood."

Nicole was found on the steps.

Her feet were beneath the wrought-iron fence,

beneath the mailbox.

Ron Goldman's body was found sprawled on the ground.

There was obviously a very violent struggle.

The first patrolman on the scene

was actually a very astute observer of what went on.

He saw the watch cap.

He saw the envelope that contained the glasses.

He saw the bloody footprints.

He saw a lot of the key evidence in the case,

and he didn't disturb it.

Velez-Mitchell: O.J.'s kids were left inside the condo

with their mother

in a pool of blood right outside the condo.

Certainly one of the most heartbreaking parts

of this whole story

was that on the night of the murder,

Sydney and Justin,

the young children of O.J. and Nicole,

were taken out of their bedrooms on Bundy

and taken to a police station.

And while they're there, Sydney calls their home

trying to reach her mother,

and she leaves a heartbreaking message.

She says, "Please answer, Mommy. Please answer.

Why are we at the police station?"

And it's only later, of course,

they're told that their mother is dead.

Lange: Once we were able to identify Nicole Simpson,

we knew -- We found out that she was either married to

or estranged from or possibly divorced from O.J. Simpson.

The lead detectives,

Detective Phil Vannatter and Tom Lange and Mark Fuhrman

and another detective, head over to the Rockingham estate.

One of the big controversies in the trial

was why did Vannatter and Fuhrman

leave the murder scene and go to O.J. Simpson's house

within a few hours of the discovery of the bodies?

It was our intention, myself and my partner,

to go up there and meet Mr. Simpson so we could know him

and ultimately interview him regarding this murder.

Toobin: Vannatter and Fuhrman claimed

that they went to O.J.'s house

to inform O.J. that his ex-wife had been killed.

The defense claimed that Vannatter and Fuhrman

went to O.J.'s house to try to pin the murder on him

and ultimately, they assert,

to plant evidence against O.J. at his own house.

Lange: Four detectives, myself included,

took two vehicles over to the Rockingham location

to notify Simpson about the murders

and to interview him.

Vannatter: I observed a white Bronco parked at the east curb

just north of the Rockingham gate.

I walked around and looked at the Bronco parked there.

Detective Fuhrman was already at the Bronco.

Detective Fuhrman identified what appeared to be blood

on the outside of O.J. Simpson's Bronco.

Fuhrman: As I was walking past the vehicle,

I noticed a small spot above the door handle

of the driver's side of the vehicle.

They see the blood on the Bronco and they think,

"Wow, maybe there's another victim here."

So they're, at that point,

concerned O.J. might have been a victim,

but then they go inside the property.

Lange: At this point, I'm thinking we possibly

we have other victims inside.

It was at that point Fuhrman went over the wall.

I jumped the wall just to the left

or east of the Ashford gate, landed on the other side,

came around, let the other detectives into the location.

After Fuhrman jumps the fence, opens the door,

and the detectives start

knocking on doors at the property,

the first person who answers is Kato Kaelin.

When Fuhrman interviewed Kato Kaelin,

Kato mentioned that he was on the phone with his girlfriend,

lying in bed.

I said, "I don't know if this is, like, a big thing,

but I heard these thumps,"

these boom, boom, boom, and the picture moved,

and when the picture moved, I said,

"I think we just had an earthquake."

It's back behind this wall,

and that's where they found the glove.

Lange: Fuhrman followed up on that, as he well should have,

on what these thumps may or may not have been.

Fuhrman: I continued walking down the path,

and when I got approximately 15 or 20 feet away,

I saw a dark object.

It appeared a dark leather glove.

It appeared to be somewhat moist or sticky.

It appeared that parts were sticking

to other parts of the glove.

Once they find the glove, the detectives really start

to investigate what's going on at Rockingham.

Lange: Right about the same time,

the sun is coming up,

and several people observe what appears to be a blood trail

from the rear of the Bronco at the Rockingham gate

tailing from the rear of the Bronco,

in through the gate, up towards the front.

Reporter: Are those blood spots in the driveway?

Be careful.

Toobin: Phil Vannatter finds drops of blood,

drops of fresh blood on the walkway

and in the foyer of O.J. Simpson's house.

At this time, the decision was made

to declare this a crime scene.

When that happens, you vacate everybody from the home.

It was decided that Phil would get a search warrant,

which we would have needed at that particular point.

Reporter: My question was, is O.J. Simpson a suspect?

Well, obviously we're not going to rule anybody out.

Watts: Ronald Goldman was

a self-defense-trained person

20 years younger than O.J. Simpson,

but he had 24 different wounds and cuts

and scratches on his hands.

The criminal made a mess of the crime scene.

I mean, there was blood everywhere.

If O.J. carried out these murders,

why was there not more blood in O.J.'s Bronco?

Welcome back to "How It Really Happened."

Homicide investigators regularly talk

to close family members of murder victims,

so as expected, LAPD detectives wanted to question O.J.

O.J. fans offered their idol total support.

They wondered "Wasn't O.J. on a business trip to Chicago

when all this happened?"

And also, they refused to believe O.J.

could have murdered his ex-wife

while his children slept inside.

Was O.J. Simpson the victim of

a law and order rush to judgment?

On one hand, he appeared to be a grieving husband

to a murdered ex-wife, and on the other,

a person of growing interest to investigators waiting for

O.J.'s return from Chicago.

Soles: Los Angeles police have been talking

to go former pro football star O.J. Simpson today

after the death of his ex-wife

and a 26-year-old man early this morning.

We wanted to interview him as the spouse,

or the former spouse.

This is where you start an investigation

if there's no eyewitnesses.

Reporter: My question was, is O.J. Simpson a suspect?

Well, obviously we're not going to rule anyone out,

and we will pursue whoever we need to pursue

until we bring the party to justice.

Have you been told you're under arrest, O.J.?

When you talk to detectives,

they will tell you that they look for evidence,

some of it exonerating, some of it implicating.

In this case, detectives said all the evidence

Pointed in one direction, toward one person --

O.J. Simpson.

Reporter: Police found blood on

and inside Simpson's white Ford Bronco,

on his driveway, and in two of his bathrooms.

They also a bloody glove containing bleach-blonde hairs

that may match a glove found at the crime scene.

It looked like a rock-solid case.

It just never totally added up for me.

So I'm very glad I was able to be here

and spend this time with you

because God knows where I'll be in a year.

Ron Goldman and O.J. Simpson are exactly the same height.

Ronald Goldman was a self-defense-trained person,

20 years younger than O.J. Simpson,

but he had 24 different wounds and cuts

and scratches on his hands, so-called defense wounds,

and the perpetrator of that crime would have,

I thought, had more scratches, cuts, or bruises.

And when O.J. Simpson came back in town and he was examined

by the Los Angeles police department on June 13th,

all he had on his entire body scratch-wise, bruise-wise,

cut-wise was just a cut on one of his fingers on his left hand.

And furthermore, the criminal made a mess of the crime scene.

I mean, there was blood everywhere.

This killer must have exited the scene with blood all over,

and we could never understand why in O.J.'s Bronco

there wasn't more blood on the floorboard,

on the console, on the steering wheel,

and other parts of the vehicle as well.

As we know, there were

voluminous amounts of blood at Bundy Drive,

the crime scene, voluminous amounts.

At Rockingham, at O.J.'s home, there were very little.

There were four or five little drops found in the driveway.

If O.J. carried out these murders,

why was there not more blood?

Reporter: Chicago police scoured an overgrown field

near the hotel where O.J. Simpson stayed

after leaving Los Angeles the night of the killings.

Reporter 2: Later in the week, police searched a vacant lot

beside the Chicago hotel,

reportedly looking for a murder weapon.

Christian: They looked high and mighty for that knife.

They looked on the plane that he flew

to Chicago in that night.

They looked in wall cavities in the hotel room

that he stayed in that night.

They looked everywhere.

They never found the knife.

Robert Kardashian -- We know that he walked out

of O.J.'s Rockingham estate with a bulging garment bag

the day after the murders.

I have nothing to hide and --

Who would do that not wondering, "Am I carrying out evidence?

Am I carrying out the murder weapon?

Am I carrying out the bloody clothes?"

Reporter: Deputy DA Christopher Darden said back in August,

he warned Kardashian not to disturb the bag or its contents.

When the luggage was returned to court, it was empty.

Christian: Robert Kardashian was in a very unique situation

because he was not only O.J.'s friend,

but he was one of his attorneys.

Now, prosecutors wanted to question him

about this garment bag,

what might have been in the garment bag.

Unfortunately for them,

you can claim attorney-client privilege,

so prosecutors never were able

to question Kardashian about that.

So we just don't know, at this point,

what's in it or what was in it.

Reporter: Goldman was buried on Thursday by his grief-stricken family.

I love my son dearly.

And we're going to miss him a lot.

And we'll miss him.

That same day, O.J. Simpson and his two children by Nicole

went to her funeral.

Reporter 2: Simpson's new attorney, Robert Shapiro,

was also there,

along with notables such as former Olympic star

Bruce Jenner and Steve Garvey, a former L.A. Dodger.

I can't believe that someone could be so evil and cruel

and do something like this.

Reporter: No one had been arrested for the murders,

but reporters quoted police sources

who said Simpson was their suspect.

King: Is the new media watch word guilty until proven innocent?

Is O.J. Simpson's image changed for good in a single day?

McKenzie: He said to me, he says,

"Can you imagine that they think I did something like this?"

And I said, "Man, you're right."

I couldn't imagine it.

I said, "It's people that don't know O.J. Simpson."

The AP is reporting that murder charges

were filed today against O.J. Simpson.

The Los Angeles police department right now

is actively searching for Mr. Simpson.

King: Police believe that O.J. Simpson is in that car.

Okay. Police believe he is in that vehicle.

Toobin: During the Bronco chase, everyone in America knew

O.J. was in that car and possibly suicidal.

We want to tell you that --

Something that is just now crossing the wires right now,

and I'm looking at the computer.

The AP is reporting that murder charges

were filed today against O.J. Simpson

in the slayings of his ex-wife and the male friend.

Gascon: This morning, detectives from

the Los Angeles police department

sought and obtained a warrant for the arrest of O.J. Simpson,

charging him with the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson

and Ronald Lyle Goldman.

Christian: As part of Robert Shapiro's duties as O.J.'s attorney,

O.J. Simpson's attorney,

he makes a deal with the prosecutor's office

that Mr. Simpson will turn himself in at a certain time.

When the time came, he was gone.

Mr. Simpson,

in agreement with his attorney,

was scheduled to surrender this morning

to the Los Angeles police department.

Initially, that was 11:00.

It then became 11:45.

The Los Angeles police department right now

is actively searching for Mr. Simpson.

Man: Whoo!

The most wondered-about man in America

has gone missing tonight.

He apparently disappeared from under the noses

of his lawyers and doctors this afternoon,

dodged an arranged surrender,

and vanished into the Los Angeles haze.

If you in any way are assisting Mr. Simpson in avoiding justice,

Mr. Simpson is a fugitive of justice right now.

O.J., wherever you are, for the sake of your family,

for the sake of your children,

please surrender immediately.

Robert Kardashian found a note from O.J.

Kardashian: "First, everyone understand

I have nothing to do with Nicole's murder.

I loved her, always have, and always will.

Don't feel sorry for me.

I've had a great life, great friends.

Please think of the real O.J.

and not this lost person."

I am very confident we're going to find O.J. Simpson

because this is a man who can't hide too easily.

I mean, his face is well-known

to millions of people throughout the world.

It was a few hours later that the white Bronco,

O.J. Simpson's car,

was spotted in Orange County at that time.

I understand we're going to go

to a live picture in Los Angeles.

Is that correct?

Okay. This is Interstate 5,

and this is courtesy of KCALR,

one of our L.A. affiliates.

Police believe that --

King: It's hard to believe it's 20 years.

Damn.

That car chase, I was on the air

for whole 2, 2 1/2 hours of that.

Police believe that O.J. Simpson is in the car.

Half the police force is following him on the road,

and people are waving him on.

You couldn't sell this as fiction.

Now they're telling me that they believe that this vehicle

is registered to Al Cowlings, one of O.J.'s oldest friends,

a teammate at Southern Cal.

Cowlings: This is A.C.

Toobin: During the Bronco chase,

everyone in America knew O.J. was in that car

and possibly suicidal.

Dispatch: Okay.

O.J. Simpson talked by the phone

with one of the police detectives.

As far down as you could see, people were lining the highway.

Woman: Go, O.J.!

This looked like hundreds of people out of their cars,

and getting farther and farther out into the roadway

to get a look at Al Cowlings and O.J. Simpson

and all those police cars as they went on by.

Reporter: He's moving over now, Eric, moving over to the right,

which means he may take that Sunset Boulevard off-ramp.

Hill: At one point we figured,

"Yes, he's going to head to Rockingham,

O.J. Simpson's home,

where police are waiting for him."

Reporter: All right. Tell me when we're up.

[ Sirens wailing ]

Moret: And at that last off-ramp,

there were so many people there,

and they had posters. "Go, O.J."

"Free O.J." Whatever. "We love you, O.J."

It was crazy.

Officer: Stay head of him. We're going to his mansion.

Moret: It was the worst possible scenario for the LAPD.

Almost three hours after it started,

it looked like the Bronco chase was finally coming to an end.

Officer: Very close to the house now, very, very close.

Christian: The police think,

"Great, now we've got O.J. where we want him.

We can take him out of the car." No.

O.J.'s oldest son runs up to the car.

Why? Because he's so upset.

Jason, O.J.'s son from his first marriage, is yelling at the car.

Spillman: Pulling up. Let me tell you.

Moret: Police finally pull him away,

and they're trying to get a handle on this

out-of-control situation,

and they finally are able to negotiate with O.J. Simpson.

Here's what we know right now --

Lieutenant Duncan has just come up here

and told us that O.J. Simpson has surrendered.

He has surrendered without incident.

O.J. may have surrendered, but the circus, the chaos,

the twists, the turns of this case were just beginning.

Clarke: Mr. Orenthal James Simpson,

you committed the crime of murder.

Simpson: How could anybody say I could have killed Nicole?

♪♪

Clarke: Mr. Orenthal James Simpson,

is that your true name, sir? Yes.

Reporter: O.J. Simpson looked tired and drawn

as he was arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Clarke: You committed the crime of murder

in violation of penal code Section 187(A).

Simpson: During those first nights in jail,

I was so depressed not only about what was going on with me

but imagining the pain of Nicole,

the loss of Nicole.

I was hurting.

I was hurting real bad.

How could anybody say I could have killed Nicole?

How could anybody say that?

I want to state unequivocally that I did not commit

these horrible crimes.

The Simpson trial is still weeks or even months away,

but the closely watched case

continues to generate strong reaction

from people all across the U.S.

If you are white, you saw this through the eyes of,

"Well, this is a cut-and-dry case.

This is a man who killed his wife."

If you're African-American, this was the perfect opportunity

to even the score, at least a little bit.

Hill: ANewsweek

of the African-Americans surveyed

believe O.J. Simpson was set up in the killings.

23% of whites believe that theory.

Race is not an issue in the O.J. Simpson case.

I don't know what he means.

Race, it seems to me, is clearly an issue.

I think that was the source of the racial divide.

King: I've got a friend this day that thinks O.J. didn't do it.

Just didn't do it.

You know, he'll buy any theory you give him.

Law enforcement sources tell CNN

the Los Angeles police department

now believes two people may have killed

O.J. Simpson's former wife Nicole

and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Do you think -- Do you buy any of the defense's arguments

that the police were somehow involved in setting up O.J.,

planting things, that kind of thing?

Schwartz: I don't know who's out there, but I believe the people

that did this are definitely out there.

It seemed to some people

there were a lot of issues in this case.

Watts: Underneath the fingernails of Nicole's hands,

there was skin and blood that were not consistent

with Ron Goldman or O.J. Simpson.

There are shoe prints at the Bundy crime scene

that are not consistent with the shoes

that Goldman was wearing,

nor the Bruno Magli shoes that Simpson was allegedly wearing.

There were also blood drops on Nicole's back

that did not match O.J.,

and as the case developed, alternate theories surfaced.

The narrative from the beginning

from the defense perspective was,

"The real killer is still out there.

O.J. Simpson is innocent."

Watts: We would hear different theories,

and different murder plots and conspiracy theories

came forward all the time.

Velez-Mitchell: This guy, Glen Rogers, claimed,

at one point, that he murdered 70 women,

and he tells a friend of his

that one of those women was Nicole.

Moret: Bill Wasz claims that he was offered $1,000

to tail or follow Nicole

and offered $15,000 to kill her.

He supposedly kept copious notes in a 10-page detailed notebook.

Velez-Mitchell: So it kind of shows that unless he's psychic,

he was doing something vis-à-vis Nicole before she was murdered.

The one that we heard the most is that O.J. didn't do it.

Jason Simpson did it.

And I realized, based on what I had been told so far,

that O.J. didn't do it.

It's ludicrous.

Distrust of the LAPD

and its history of egregious misconduct against citizens

put law enforcement on the defensive.

Officers were certainly not the heroes

in this investigation.

O.J. was the star.

His devoted fans voiced loud support,

and it never died down.

Many doubted O.J.'s involvement in the murders,

but if not O.J., who else could have done this?

Some began to consider other possible culprits.

These theories gained momentum

when evidence pointed away from O.J. Simpson.

The O.J. Simpson investigation produced

more than its fair share of conspiracy theories,

including a serial killer who wrote a letter of confession,

a career criminal who claimed it was

a murder-for-hire hit on Nicole.

We will explore some of those theories

in greater depth in part two of

"How It Really Happened: The O.J. Simpson Case."