Newly unsealed records raise questions about missing weapon in O.J. Simpson murder case
More than 30 years after O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, newly unsealed court records examined by the New York Times are shedding light on information authorities received about the murder weapon, which was never found.
According to the newly unsealed document, a government informant and associate of Simpson named Joseph Ippolito provided what was described as "very helpful" information about the weapon used in the murder.
The document does not reveal what Ippolito told authorities about the weapon or its alleged disposal.
According to the newly released document, Ippolito had become privy to information relevant to the case, including allegations concerning Simpson's domestic violence, drug use, attempted flight from authorities and disposal of the murder weapon.
Ippolito, who died about 20 years ago, had ties to organized crime and worked as a drug runner and restaurant manager, according to the report.
Ippolito's brother, Sam Ippolito, told The New York Times that he recalled hearing his brother say he had been helping Simpson the night Brown Simpson and Goldman were stabbed to death.
According to the Times, Sam Ippolito said he saw his brother with what appeared to be bloodstained hands and carrying a bag. He said his brother put his own clothes inside the bag and asked him to dispose of it.
But in a subsequent interview with ABC News, Sam Ippolito denied making those statements to the Times and insisted his brother was not involved in the killings.
"I said he could be involved in a lot of things but not that," he told ABC News.
Prosecutors rejected the theory that Simpson had an accomplice.
Simpson, however, later described another person being present that night in his controversial book, "If I Did It." In a later interview with Fox, Simpson also described a hypothetical scenario involving a person he called "Charlie" and a knife.
No murder weapon was presented at Simpson's criminal trial. Then-Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran testified about the type of weapon that could have caused the fatal wounds.
"These wounds are complex; it could be a single-edged knife, and you cannot exclude a double-edged knife," Sathyavagiswaran said.
Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of the murders of Brown Simpson and Goldman. A civil jury later found him liable for their wrongful deaths.
Denise Brown, Nicole Brown Simpson's sister, said she had heard Ippolito's name and the account involving him about 30 years ago and has no interest in revisiting his role in her sister's death.
