AP WAS THERE: OJ Simpson’s Sluggish-speed Chase

EDITOR’S NOTE: The primary week of the O.J. Simpson case in mid-June 1994 moved rapidly, with reporters racing to succeed in the information. The one factor that was sluggish was The Chase.

The soccer nice had been accused of killing his ex-wife and her pal, and there he was on dwell tv, behind his pal’s white Ford Bronco with a gun to his head. The freeway was like a parade — with the police, media and followers following “The Juice.” There have been crowds on the overpasses, indicators, cheers and fists punching the air because the pursuit unfolded.

In The Related Press newsroom, editors and writers have been riveted to small televisions. And that’s the place many would keep for the following 17 months — glued to a TV because the so-called “Trial of the Century” unfolded.

After Simpson died Wednesday at 76, the AP is making accessible the story wrapping up all of the developments from The Chase.

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O.J. Simpson was hunted down and captured in his driveway Friday evening after working from costs of murdering his ex-wife and her male pal and main police alongside 60 miles of freeways and metropolis streets.

“I can’t specific the concern I had that this matter wouldn’t finish the way in which it did,” stated Simpson’s legal professional, Robert Shapiro, who had nervous earlier that the previous soccer nice would kill himself.

Outdoors the partitions of Simpson’s property, members of Simpson’s household hugged one another and cried after phrase of the arrest got here out.

A cheer got here up from the group of 300 spectators.

The arrest shortly earlier than 9 p.m. culminated an unbelievable drama that unfolded on dwell nationwide TV wherein police first introduced costs towards the previous soccer nice, then stated he had disappeared and at last adopted him alongside the highways for greater than an hour.

After the white Ford Bronco got here to a halt at Simpson’s property, a person believed to be his lifelong pal and teammate, Al Cowlings, bought out. Simpson’s lawyer arrived on the mansion almost an hour later and the arrest got here minutes later.

Earlier than fleeing as he was about to be arrested, the previous soccer nice left a handwritten letter proclaiming his innocence, saying goodbye to pals and making “a final want” to “depart my kids in peace.”

Shapiro earlier stated he feared Simpson was suicidal and pleaded with him to surrender. On the similar information convention, a pal learn Simpson’s letter.

“I’ve had an important life, nice pals,” the soccer Corridor of Famer’s letter stated. “Please consider the actual O.J. and never this misplaced particular person.”

The district legal professional known as it “the autumn of an American hero,” and Los Angeles police, angered that he reneged on a promise to give up earlier within the day, mounted a manhunt for him and a former teammate.

Within the letter, Simpson wrote that he tried to do “many of the proper issues” in life and requested: “Why do I find yourself like this?”

“First, everybody perceive, I had nothing to do with Nicole’s homicide,” Simpson’s letter begins. “If we had an issue, it’s as a result of I beloved her a lot.”

“I don’t wish to belabor knocking the press, however I can’t imagine what’s being stated. Most of it’s completely made up. I do know you will have a job to do, however as a final want, please, please, please, depart my kids in peace,” he wrote.

Shapiro stated Simpson has been “exceedingly depressed,” however he didn’t know if Simpson had dedicated suicide.

“I’m protecting my fingers crossed and praying that we will carry him right into a courtroom,” Shapiro stated.

“Wherever you’re, for the sake of your loved ones, for the sake of your kids, please give up instantly.”

Police instantly mounted a manhunt when Simpson fled, and stated he could also be armed.

“Mr. Simpson is on the market someplace and we’ll discover him,” Police Cmdr. David Gascon instructed reporters.

If convicted of killing Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Simpson – among the many most outstanding celebrities ever charged with homicide – may face the loss of life penalty.

“We noticed, maybe, the autumn of an American hero,” District Lawyer Gil Garcetti stated.

Simpson, 46, was scheduled to give up at 11 a.m. however didn’t honor the settlement made with Shapiro, Gascon stated.

Shapiro stated he was with Simpson, Cowlings and two medical doctors in a home within the San Fernando Valley on Friday morning when police known as to say they have been coming to arrest him. He stated Simpson and Cowlings, who grew up with Simpson in a San Francisco housing mission and was his teammate in highschool, on the College of Southern California and the Buffalo Payments, vanished earlier than police arrived.

“The Los Angeles Police Division is actively looking for Mr. Simpson,” Gascon stated. “The Los Angeles Police Division can be very sad with the actions surrounding his failure to give up.”

Authorities additionally have been on the lookout for Cowlings, Garcetti stated, warning, “If you happen to help him in any manner you’re committing a felony.”

The investigation was anchored by a grisly array of proof, from media experiences of a blood-stained ski masks to a bloody glove.

Gascon declined to say how the police misplaced Simpson, who was handcuffed and questioned by police Monday however let go. He had been seen at his home earlier within the week and attended his ex-wife’s funeral Thursday. Somebody resembling Simpson was seen driving away from his home an hour earlier than his anticipated give up.

Mike Botula, a spokesman for Garcetti, stated the costs included the particular capital punishment circumstance of a number of killings. There isn’t any bail in such instances, Botula added.

“A remaining resolution on whether or not we’d search the loss of life penalty shall be made at a later time,” Botula stated.

Followers and colleagues of the sports activities legend who had insisted on his innocence have been pressured by Friday’s arrest warrant to confront an ominous risk – that Simpson may have killed the mom of their two kids, daughter Sydney, 9, and son Justin, 6.

“There’s nothing to say besides that the regulation should take its course,” stated Howard Cosell, who labored with Simpson on ABC’s “Monday Evening Soccer.”

The our bodies of Mrs. Simpson, the soccer star’s strikingly lovely ex-wife, and Goldman, a 25-year-old aspiring mannequin and waiter at a stylish restaurant, have been discovered outdoors Mrs. Simpson’s posh condominium.

Mortally wounded by a number of stab wounds, the our bodies have been found in a pool of blood by a passerby.

The couple divorced in 1992 following a seven-year marriage. Whereas nonetheless married, Mrs. Simpson known as police in 1989 saying she feared he was going to kill her. She had been punched, slapped and kicked by Simpson, who pleaded no contest within the case, authorities stated.

Some experiences urged the 2 have been trying to reconcile on the time of the slayings. That they had just lately been seen collectively, however a household pal stated these makes an attempt failed and Simpson had turned vengeful.

“He was telling her girlfriends and her that if he ever caught her with anybody he would kill her,” the pal instructed The Related Press, talking on situation of anonymity. “She completely broke it off with him three weeks in the past.”

By way of his attorneys, Simpson maintained his innocence, claiming he was at residence on the time of the slayings, ready for a limousine to take him to the airport for a flight to Chicago. He attended his spouse’s funeral Thursday and employed forensic specialists to help in his protection.

Simpson flew to Chicago the evening of the killings and was summoned residence by police the following morning.

In submitting the costs, authorities painted a grim image in stark distinction to Simpson’s sleek strikes on the soccer subject. Simpson was accused of utilizing a knife to kill Mrs. Simpson and Goldman. The knife hasn’t been discovered, Garcetti stated.

Goldman, his household stated, wasn’t romantically concerned with Mrs. Simpson. Studies indicated he fought valiantly for his life.

Orenthal James Simpson is understood to many because the nimble and highly effective working again for the Buffalo Payments, for whom he set a single-season NFL dashing file with 2,003 yards in 1973. He helped make USC a nationwide champion in 1967 and received the Heisman Trophy in 1968.

He additionally was broadly seen as a tv sports activities commentator and in commercials for Hertz rental vehicles. He additionally produced a number of tv motion pictures and had featured roles in such productions as “Roots” and “The Bare Gun” comedies.

After the warrant was introduced, Hertz dropped Simpson.

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Learn the AP’s full obit right here

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Related Press)