On September 13, 2007, O.J. Simpson, now 60, and five other men allegedly burst into a hotel room at Palace Station occupied by two memorabilia dealers, Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, flashing guns and stealing articles that Simpson claimed were stolen from him.
Apparently what led up to that incident was as follows.
One Thomas Riccio, an auctioneer, long-time memorabilia dealer who was involved in selling Anna Nicole Smith's diary for $500,000, and friend of OJ’s, was approached by Alfred Beardsley, who wanted to sell him the Simpson memorabilia, which Riccio believed to have been stolen. In turn, Riccio called the FBI and LAPD about the goods, but Riccio said, "No one seemed all that interested."
Riccio set up a meeting with Beardsley and Fromong at Palace Station, then tipped off Simpson, setting subsequent events in motion. Riccio claims he and Simpson discussed the details of the raid an hour before it was launched, then Simpson, Riccio, and five other men invaded the hotel room.
Riccio surreptitiously taped the whole event on a tape recorder, claiming he wanted to record Beardsley and Fromong admitting they were fencing stolen Simpson stuff. Riccio says he "escorted" Simpson into the hotel room, then back out again, with the memorabilia, which Simpson claimed had been taken without his permission from his Florida house by his former agent, Mike Gilbert. It consisted of more than 600 Simpson-related items, which included ties he wore during his criminal trial for the 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, and the suit he wore the day he was acquitted of those murders.
Las Vegas police investigators questioned and released Simpson the next day. According to one report, Simpson said, "I’m O.J. Simpson. How am I going to think that I'm going to rob somebody and get away with it?"
When asked why he didn’t seek police help instead of acting on his own, Simpson said, "The police, since my trouble, haven’t worked out for me. When I call them, it just becomes a story about O.J."
But a day later, on September 15, one of the alleged accomplices, Walter Alexander, was arrested on his way out of town and charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of burglary with a deadly weapon.
Over the next couple of days, Simpson was arrested, charged with 12 felony counts, and held in solitary confinement without bail. Another alleged suspect, Clarence Stewart, was arrested and charged with the same felonies as Walter Alexander.
On September 18, in a very weird twist, the memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong, who knew Simpson before the raid, had a major heart attack. He recovered enough to testify at the preliminary hearing in November.
Also on September 18, Thomas Riccio was given immunity by the Clark County District Attorney; he too testified against Simpson at the preliminary hearing.
On September 19, Simpson was released from jail on $125,000 bail.
During the next month or so, the first of Simpson’s accomplices, Charles Cashmore, agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge and sentence in exchange for testifysing against Simpson. Then Walter Alexander turned, copping the same plea as Cashmore.
Interestingly, Alexander had initially defended his buddy O.J. He said that he thought the whole raid was a set-up to nail Simpson, and that Riccio had set it up and recorded to sell it (for an undisclosed amount) to the celebrity-gossip Web site, TMZ.com. Alexander's ex-wife also gave an interview to the New York Times in which she said that many people hang around Simpson with tape recorders with them, to try and catch him slipping, so they can profit from it.
A third accomplice, Michael McClinton, also pleaded guilty in exchange for his testimony for the prosecution.
The preliminary hearing took place on November 8. There, Bruce Fromong claimed that he legally bought the memorabilia, then described the confrontation as a "military-style invasion," in which the six men flashed at least one handgun while taking Simpson’s possessions.
Simpson and two other men -- Charles Ehrlich and Clarence "CJ" Stewart -- pleaded not guilty to 12 felony charges, including conspiracy, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, coercion, and assault with a deadly weapon. Simpson denied asking anyone to carry weapons or even knowing any guns were brought to the confrontation at Palace Station.
But Walter Alexander, a Simpson golfing buddy, testified that bringing guns to the room was Simpson's idea to look tough and act like they meant business; he also claimed that Simpson instructed McClinton to draw his weapon before the group entered the room at Palace Station. Michael McClinton testified Simpson requested they carry guns and look menacing during the incident.
At the hearing, Charles Ehrlich’s attorney referred to Alexander, Cashmore, and McClinton as "crackheads, groupies, pimps, purveyors of stolen merchandise, con artists, crooks."
But a prosecutor rebutted, "It’s not like the state went out and found these witnesses. These are people aligned with O.J. Simpson. These are the people he surrounds himself with."
Judge Joseph Bonaventure acknowledged that the ownership of some of the items was "at least questionable." He also admitted that many issues raised during the hearing by defense attorneys -- including intent, whether kidnapping occurred, and the credibility of the witnesses -- should be sorted out by jurors at a trial, which he originally scheduled for April 7, 2008.
In April, Thomas Riccio’s book, Busted!, was released. It purported to tell the untold story of what really happened when OJ Simpson went to that Vegas hotel room the previous September.
Along the way, the trial was postponed till September 8, next Monday.
Another twist occurred in early August when the fourth defendant, Charles Ehrlich, turned against Simpson, pleading guilty to reduced charges of attempted accessory to robbery and attempted burglary; he could be sentenced to anything from probation to five years in prison.
That leaves Only Clarence Stewart to stand trial with the former Buffalo Bill’s running back. If convicted, the charges could send both men to prison for life.
Simpson, as most people are certainly aware, was acquitted of criminal charges after one of the most sensational trials in American history. However, a civil jury later found him liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman, slapping him with a $33 million judgment. Since, attorneys for the Goldman family have pursued Simpson's financial assets to pay the judgment. In what could be the final irony, the confiscated memorabilia that was taken that night may never be returned to Simpson. Attorneys for Fred Goldman have suggested they may seek a court order to obtain ownership of the items to help satisfy the legal judgment in the wrongful death of his son Ron Goldman.
