Times Investigation Adds New Intrigue to Infamous OJ Simpson Case

An in-depth investigation by the New York Times is raising further questions about the infamous OJ Simpson case, in which the former football player was accused in the 1990s of killing his ex-wife — and whether a shady mobster-turned-informant may have been involved in helping cover up the murder. Based on previously sealed court records and interviews, the investigation revealed that California prosecutors were unable to fully investigate whether Simpson may have had an accomplice at the scene of the crime.

In 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside her home in Los Angeles. The American professional football player and actor OJ Simpson was suspected in the murders. His prosecution gained international attention, became a media spectacle and was deemed the 'trial of the century'. No one was ever criminally convicted for the 1994 murders.

Days after the killings, on 17 June 1994, Simpson fled when authorities attempted to arrest him. His friend Al Cowlings, a former football star, led police on a widely publicised chase through Los Angeles in a white Bronco with Simpson in the car — a pursuit watched live by millions.

Simpson was acquitted by a jury in 1995 after a lengthy trial. The Los Angeles Police Department, which investigated the case, had a long history of racism, and Simpson's attorneys pointed to the department's racist policing practices and its handling of key evidence, helping them secure the acquittal. Simpson was later held liable for the deaths by a jury in a civil case.

The Times has now revealed that towards the end of the prosecution, an informant began revealing information about Simpson's case. The informant was Joseph Ippolito, a wealthy mobster who had become a snitch after spending years on the run from the federal government. The information he had may have been key to the trial, but it came far too late for the prosecution to include his testimony.

Ippolito, known as Joey, was a longtime drug runner throughout the United States who came from the New Jersey underworld, where his father was a player within the DeCavalcante crime family, a major Italian American criminal organisation. After a stint in prison for trafficking drugs on the east coast, he moved to California in the late 1980s and managed an Italian restaurant.

There, he embedded himself in the inner circles of the Los Angeles elite and befriended Al Cowlings, the former football star and close friend of Simpson. But while he spent time with Los Angeles celebrities, Ippolito continued selling and trafficking drugs.

In 1992, he was arrested again in a sting operation. But in May 1994, eight months after his sentencing, Ippolito escaped from his Florida prison. His brother helped him get back to Los Angeles, where he remained in hiding as a wanted fugitive.

That year, the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman took place in Los Angeles. After Simpson's arrest, officials found Ippolito's information in Cowlings' wallet, leading them to urgently search for the mobster at large. Eventually they found and arrested him — but Ippolito decided to flip and become an informant for the US government.

As an informant, Ippolito revealed information about various drug deals throughout the country and helped federal agencies set up sting operations. But he also reportedly shared information with the government about the Los Angeles murders.

The Times raises three separate theories for Ippolito's involvement in the Simpson case, which he was seemingly willing to share with authorities. In one version, Ippolito told federal prosecutors he had information learned from Cowlings about the murders, including the supposed location of the missing weapon.

In a second version, Ippolito's brother told a Times reporter that Ippolito may have been at the scene of the killings — the brother said Ippolito literally had blood on his hands. And in a third version, Ippolito was prepared to help Simpson escape during the wild police chase throughout Los Angeles.

'Taken together, the material points in different directions but veers significantly from the official account that has been proffered by the police and prosecutors,' the New York Times reports. 'With many of the key players now dead, it's possible the full truth will never be known.'

Ippolito's brother, who told the Times he had seen blood on his brother's hands, later asked the publication for money and then recanted his statement. According to the report, the brother said he had been 'offered a ton of money' to share his story elsewhere, likely a television programme.

The extent of Ippolito's involvement is not fully known. Authorities interviewed by the Times expressed doubts about how involved he was and about the value of his information. Three decades on, the biggest question in the Simpson case — whether he acted alone at the scene — remains unanswered.