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O.J. Simpson.
There’s something about the combination of macabre circumstances and celebrity that turns many an average person into a full-fledged voyeur. The need to know all the gory details can be compelling, but there are some over-the-top cases where we need to draw the line.
In my opinion, O.J. Simpson’s new book is one of them. Simpson, you’ll remember, a former American football star and Heisman Trophy winner, was involved in one of California’s most publicized live car chases in June 1994, the day after his recent ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found murdered outside Nicole’s condominium in Los Angeles. Her young children, with Simpson, were upstairs sleeping.
He was immediately accused of the heinous crimes, and his eight-month long trial in 1995 became another one of California’s most notorious — thanks due to the ex-football hero’s fame and notoriety, as well as the details involved, and the high-profile lawyers in the courtroom.
Simpson was acquitted — but the case left a large portion of the public questioning his innocence. Now, 12 years later, he has written and published a book called, If I Did It — a supposedly fictional tale of how, if he had been guilty, he would have committed the murders.
Disgusting!
The book, its author and its publisher all fell under intense public criticism as soon as word got out last November. At first, its release was suspended, and book stores debated whether to even carry it at all.
When Fred Goldman, Ron’s father, heard about the related television interviews — and prior to having been awarded the rights to the book — he was quoted as saying: “It is an all-time low for television. To imagine that a major network would put a murderer on TV to have him tell how he would murder the mother of his children and my son is beyond comprehension. It’s morally reprehensible to me … to think you are willing to give somebody airtime about how they would murder two people.”
I agree. We need to be more selective as to how far we, the interested public, will go for more information. Many, many people believe Simpson is guilty of the double murders, and justice has not yet been served.
However, the prosecution was unable to prove his guilt.
So, I wonder, why write the book? He said he was innocent and he was found not guilty. One would think if this were truly the case, he would want to put the nightmare behind him — both of his arduous trial and the murder of his ex-wife — and move on with his life.
Like Denise Brown, Nicole’s sister stated, “It’s unfortunate that (O.J.) Simpson has decided to awaken a nightmare that we have painfully endured and worked so hard to move beyond.”
One would hope his relationship with his children would be more important than trying to make money from the republicizing of their mother’s unsolved murder.
