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The Boston Herald

July 29, 1994 Friday FIRST EDITION

O.J.’S Buddy Off The Hook - For Now

BYLINE: HELEN KENNEDY

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 001

LENGTH: 724 words

As O.J. Simpson waited yesterday to hear when his murder trial will start, his friend A.C. Cowlings was let off the hook - at least temporarily.

Prosecutors said they won’t immediately charge Cowlings with aiding a fugi-tive when he drove Simpson during the bizarre June 17 freeway police pursuit watched by millions of stunned television viewers.

Before Cowling’s last court date two weeks ago, it appeared likely prosecu-tors would not charge a man many saw as a loyal friend who saved Simpson from suicide.

But two days before the hearing, police leaks in Los Angeles revealed $ 10,000 in cash and Simpson’s passport were found in Cowlings’ Bronco June 17, making it appear that Cowlings could have been helping Simpson flee the country.

Cowlings has been free on $ 250,000 bail. Los Angeles County District Attor-ney Gilbert Garcetti said yesterday he needed still more time before deciding whether to charge Cowlings. In Superior Court today, Judge Lance Ito is expected to set a start date for Simpson’s murder trial.

The key evidence in that trial went under the knife molecule-by-molecule yes-terday at a Maryland laboratory where a new round of complex DNA tests got under way.

Prosecutors hope the tests, which could take as long as eight weeks, will place Simpson’s ‘genetic fingerprints’ at the scene of the June 12 murder of his ex-wife.

Simpson, 47, has pleaded not guilty to killing Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and waiter Ronald Goldman, 25.

On Wednesday, Simpson’s defense announced they would refuse to take part in the testing, despite being granted the right to observe all procedures and to ‘cut’ 10 percent of each sample for possible future defense use.

Simpson defense attorney Robert Shapiro said he would not agree to using the equipment and rules of Cellmark Diagnostics, the independant lab that is con-ducting the tests. — However, defense scientists Henry Lee and Edward Blake showed up at the lab yesterday morning.

They would start cutting the samples ‘if the conditions are OK,’ Lee told re-porters. ‘If we don’t preserve some samples for the future, we don’t have any chance to do any testing.’ Later, Lee said the defense experts will not exercise their right to watch the prosecution’s tests. He did not say who did the cut-ting.

Ito is expected to order expert testimony to begin Monday on whether the de-fense should be given the remaining 10 percent of each sample for their own tests.

In a separate hearing today, Ito will address several pre-trial motions filed by the defense.

Contending that the police have never seriously considered any suspects other than Simpson, Shapiro has said the defense must do its own investigation.

To that end, Shapiro has demanded all records of prowlers near Nicole Simp-son’s house during 1994, a computer match of all unidentified fingerprints found at the murder scene and police files of all similar unsolved murders in Califor-nia. The defense has also asked for the criminal histories of the victims’ friends and the results of any internal police investigations of the officers assigned to the case. Lastly, Shapiro asked for hospital records of any dog-bite victims who may have been treated just after the murders, because an investiga-tor theorized early on that the killer may have been bitten by Nicole Simpson’s dog.

In an answering filing, the prosecution rejected nearly all of the defense’s requests except the fingerprint matches. The argument will be taken up in court today.

Meanwhile yesterday, Nicole Simpson’s father, Louis Brown, filed a petition seeking legal guardianship of his grandchildren, Sydney, 8, and Justin, 5.

Also yesterday, Shapiro reported the toll-free line established by the de-fense to gather information about the ‘real killer’ had recorded 250,000 calls in a week.

‘It’s beyond belief,’ Shapiro said.

Calls ranged from a Maryland psychic who dreamed of another killer to a bur-glar who said he was casing Brentwood homes the night of the slayings and said he saw two white men fleeing the crime scene.

One woman suggested Nicole Simpson’s white Akita carried the incriminating bloody glove from the murder scene to Simpson’s estate two miles away.

‘We’re hearing from every psycho and every crazy person,’ said Bill Pavelic, a private eye working for Simpson.

LOAD-DATE: March 08, 1995

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

The Boston Herald

July 29, 1994 Friday

O.J.’s buddy off the hook _ for now

BYLINE: HELEN KENNEDY

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 705 words

As O.J. Simpson waited yesterday to hear when his murder trial will start, his friend A.C. Cowlings was let off the hook - at least temporarily.

Prosecutors said they won’t immediately charge Cowlings with aiding a fugi-tive when he drove Simpson during the bizarre June 17 freeway police pursuit watched by millions of stunned television viewers.

Before Cowling’s last court date two weeks ago, it appeared likely prosecu-tors would not charge a man many saw as a loyal friend who saved Simpson from suicide.

But two days before the hearing, police leaks in Los Angeles revealed $10,000 in cash and Simpson’s passport were found in Cowlings’ Bronco June 17, making it appear that Cowlings could have been helping Simpson flee the country.

Cowlings has been free on $250,000 bail. Los Angeles County District Attorney Gilbert Garcetti said yesterday he needed still more time before deciding whether to charge Cowlings.

In Superior Court today, Judge Lance Ito is expected to set a start date for Simpson’s murder trial.

The key evidence in that trial went under the knife molecule-by-molecule yes-terday at a Maryland laboratory where a new round of complex DNA tests got under way.

Prosecutors hope the tests, which could take as long as eight weeks, will place Simpson’s “genetic fingerprints” at the scene of the June 12 murder of his ex-wife.

Simpson, 47, has pleaded not guilty to killing Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and waiter Ronald Goldman, 25.

On Wednesday, Simpson’s defense announced they would refuse to take part in the testing, despite being granted the right to observe all procedures and to “cut” 10 percent of each sample for possible future defense use.

Simpson defense attorney Robert Shapiro said he would not agree to using the equipment and rules of Cellmark Diagnostics, the independant lab that is con-ducting the tests.

However, defense scientists Henry Lee and Edward Blake showed up at the lab yesterday morning.

They would start cutting the samples “if the conditions are OK,” Lee told re-porters. “If we don’t preserve some samples for the future, we don’t have any chance to do any testing.”

Later, Lee said the defense experts will not exercise their right to watch the prosecution’s tests. He did not say who did the cutting.

Ito is expected to order expert testimony to begin Monday on whether the de-fense should be given the remaining 10 percent of each sample for their own tests.

In a separate hearing today, Ito will address several pre-trial motions filed by the defense.

Contending that the police have never seriously considered any suspects other than Simpson, Shapiro has said the defense must do its own investigation.

To that end, Shapiro has demanded all records of prowlers near Nicole Simp-son’s house during 1994, a computer match of all unidentified fingerprints found at the murder scene and police files of all similar unsolved murders in Califor-nia.
The defense has also asked for the criminal histories of the victims’ friends and the results of any internal police investigations of the officers assigned to the case.

Lastly, Shapiro asked for hospital records of any dog-bite victims who may have been treated just after the murders, because an investigator theorized early on that the killer may have been bitten by Nicole Simpson’s dog.

In an answering filing, the prosecution rejected nearly all of the defense’s requests except the fingerprint matches.
The argument will be taken up in court today.

Meanwhile yesterday, Nicole Simpson’s father, Louis Brown, filed a petition seeking legal guardianship of his grandchildren, Sydney, 8, and Justin, 5.

Also yesterday, Shapiro reported the toll-free line established by the de-fense to gather information about the “real killer” had recorded 250,000 calls in a week.

“It’s beyond belief,” Shapiro said.

Calls ranged from a Maryland psychic who dreamed of another killer to a bur-glar who said he was casing Brentwood homes the night of the slayings and said he saw two white men fleeing the crime scene.

One woman suggested Nicole Simpson’s white Akita carried the incriminating bloody glove from the murder scene to Simpson’s estate two miles away.

“We’re hearing from every psycho and every crazy person,” said Bill Pavelic, a private eye working for Simpson.

LOAD-DATE: March 16, 2007

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

Los Angeles Times
July 28, 1994, Thursday, Home Edition

BYLINE: By JIM NEWTON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
SECTION: Part A; Page 1; Column 3; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 1270 words

Encouraged by the promise of a huge reward or the chance to contribute to a historic investigation, 250,000 callers have flooded a newly created defense hot line with tips about the O.J. Simpson murder case, while similarly besieged po-lice have designated a full-time “clue chaser” to run down the leads coming to them.

“It’s beyond belief,” Simpson attorney Robert L. Shapiro said Wednesday of the hot-line deluge. Shapiro, who disclosed the number of calls in an interview with The Times, said they have become so overwhelming that the operators have had to install a special backup recording system to keep up with the crush.

Tipsters have included private investigators with clues based largely on news reports, amateur detectives with theories implicating other possible suspects, and people claiming to have witnessed the events involving the grisly slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman.

Although some of the tips are seemingly credible, many appear to be the prod-ucts of overactive imaginations. One Maryland woman has called repeatedly to tell of dreams in which she sees another killer. To her frustration, Simpson’s camp has not gotten back to her.

“We’re hearing from every psycho and every crazy person,” said Bill Pavelic, an investigative consultant working with the Simpson team. “But if I get one call in a hundred that’s a good lead, it’s worth it.”

Rising to that thin promise, investigators on both sides of the case are painstakingly chasing down each lead, reluctant to pass up any information that could prove important.

The onslaught of tips has convinced some Police Department officials that Simpson’s camp may be fueling the fires in part to occupy detectives who might otherwise be building a case against Simpson.

Any tip that is not checked out could be used against the prosecution at trial. Simpson’s camp already has made clear its intention to attack the thor-oughness and competence of the investigation into their high-profile client.

“There’s people that are giving us theories, there’s psychics, that kind of thing,” said Detective Dennis Payne of the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division. “And then there’s people who have information. We’re checking it all out.”

Some officers say they’re braced for Simpson’s team to show up someday with a basketful of leads, wondering whether all of them have been thoroughly investi-gated.

“They’re absolutely right to be concerned,” said Pavelic, a retired LAPD de-tective now at odds with his former colleagues.
“We’re getting calls from people who are saying they’re being kissed off by the Police Department. If they don’t interview these people, they’ve got a problem. We’re going to ask: ‘Why not?’ ”

With the stakes so high for both sides, police detectives and Simpson inves-tigators are simultaneously pounding the pavement. In fact, Simpson’s crew and LAPD detectives have occasionally run into one another at the crime scene and other locations.

According to sources in both camps, the most recent wave of tips has featured several from eager private investigators trying to uncover clues in the case.

Paul Katz of Los Angeles-based Katz Investigations hooked up with a pair of Colorado private eyes last week to take a crack at the case. They scoured the area near Nicole Simpson’s condominium and found red spots resembling blood in an alley close to the crime scene. They photographed the spots, as well as some intriguing tire tracks, and forwarded the pictures to police, who are investi-gating.

Katz said he has rejected tabloid offers of money for the story and added that neither he nor his colleagues are interested in the reward. They are just trying to solve a mystery that has preoccupied much of the country, he said, and hope to get credit for their efforts.

“This is something that was missed by O.J.’s team and by the LAPD,” said Robert S. Hatch Jr., one of the Colorado investigators who flew to Los Angeles at the behest of some Colorado businessmen interested in the Simpson case. “It’s potentially important evidence, and we found it.”

Hatch said he and his colleagues also turned up a witness who purportedly saw Nicole Simpson arguing with someone — he’s not sure who — on the morning of the killings. Having uncovered those tidbits, Hatch and Salvador C. Torres, an-other Colorado investigator, headed home this week, leaving Katz to continue hunting for clues.

“We didn’t really expect to come up with too much,” Hatch said. “When we turned up what we turned up, we were amazed.”

They are not alone. Private investigators from throughout the region and some from beyond have descended upon the crime scene in recent days. They are quick to tout their finds.

One investigator forwarded information to both sides that he says will shed new light on Nicole Simpson’s character, while others have offered thoughts on the police and medical examiners involved in the case. Scores of calls to the hot line, meanwhile, come from people who say they have information about Simp-son, his ex-wife or Goldman that could help the case one way or the other.

Although most of the tips — founded and unfounded — are about the principal players in the celebrated whodunit, many come from people with a dizzying array of thoughts on other issues. One Santa Barbara woman hypothesized that a large dog might have carried a bloody glove to Simpson’s home.

She called police and Simpson’s hot line Wednesday, urging both sides to de-mand a test of the glove to determine whether it had saliva that could be matched to a large white Akita owned by Nicole Simpson. So far, neither side has complied.

Then there’s the self-professed burglar who says he was casing houses in Brentwood on the night of the killings, looking for some quick jewelry and cash. He came forward within days of Simpson’s arrest and said he heard a woman scream and saw two white men fleeing the crime scene about the time the killings took place.

The two men, according to the prowler, were carrying a bag or a pillowcase and fled Nicole Simpson’s home by running out the front of the condominium prop-erty, not out the back gate, as police and prosecutors have theorized that Simp-son did.

Although Simpson has offered $500,000 for information leading to the arrest of the “real killer or killers,” the prowler says he wants no part of the re-ward.

“I just want to straighten this out,” he told The Times.

The prowler, who asked that his name not be used, has been interviewed by Simpson’s investigators, who said they find him credible. He also has spoken with detectives over the phone and is scheduled for a formal interview later this week.

It won’t be his first face-to-face encounter with the detectives. When he was being videotaped at the crime scene by Simpson investigator Pavelic, LAPD Detec-tive Tom Lange happened by. According to Pavelic, Lange asked who the witness was, but Pavelic said he brushed him off.

Police are reluctant to disclose their investigative efforts, but law en-forcement officials say both police and prosecutors have received a stream of calls and letters from across the nation and even other countries. The pace of tips slowed down a bit after Simpson’s preliminary hearing, officials said, but picked up again after the Simpson camp opened its toll-free tip line.

“That seemed to make everyone out there feel like they were Deputy Dan,” said one law enforcement source. “Our phones started ringing and the letters started arriving.”

* REVERSING FIELD: O.J. Simpson’s lawyers told a judge their experts will not participate in DNA testing of crime scene blood samples. B1

LOAD-DATE: July 29, 1994

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CNN

July 22, 1994

SHOW: NEWS 1:11 pm ET

O.J. Simpson Arraignment Special, Part 3

BYLINE: ART HARRIS

SECTION: News; Domestic

LENGTH: 587 words

HIGHLIGHT: The Simpson defense team plans to prove their client couldn’t have had time to murder Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman, clean himself up annd make his plane to Chicago. They’ll also point out police errors.

JIM MORET, Anchor: CNN’s Special Assignment Correspondent Art Harris has been delving behind the scenes into the O.J. Simpson case, and he’s uncovered a num-ber of interesting tidbits.
 
Art joins us now with what he knows about the defense team’s own investigation into the killings.  Art?
 
ART HARRIS, Correspondent: Jim, the new chief investigator for the defense, John McNally, is already on the job out here.  Last night, he met with other investi-gators to plan the strategy.  We talked with Bill Pavelic, one of McNally’s troops.
 
Pavelic was once a detective with the LAPD and is an expert on police procedure.  He comes across as a Colombo without the cigar.
 
BILL PAVELIC, Defense Investigator: Nothing is in, and nothing is out.  This case is like an Agatha Christie play, Murder, She Wrote.  We have only seen the opening scenes; we haven’t even begun to look at the other real issues.
 
HARRIS: So there could be other killers?
 
Mr. PAVELIC: There is no question in my mind that there are other killers.
 
HARRIS: As bizarre as that may sound, investigators for the Simpson side will also try and close the window of time in which the murders could have been com-mitted to show Simpson couldn’t possibly have had the time to do the crime.
 
It’s a three-pronged attack - that our guy couldn’t have done it; someone else did; and the police have mishandled evidence in the case.  Jim?
 
MORET: Art, what are you hearing about how the defense team will try to do that?
 
HARRIS: Jim, defense sources tell us they’ve been looking at TV news coverage of the crime scene, looking for errors in police procedure.  They’re also going to try to show that Simpson couldn’t possibly have had the time to drive to Nicole Simpson’s house, kill two people, drive home, clean up and make his flight to Chicago.
 
So they’ll be trying to show Ron Goldman got to Nicole Simpson’s house later than police believe.  They plan to interview Goldman’s friends to track his movements and also suggest that he may have been the killer’s target, not Nicole Simpson.
 
But one thing that’s been haunting the defense is what O.J. Simpson told police when he agreed to talk to them the day after the murders.  Sources close to the case tell CNN Simpson contradicted himself about his activities, and that’s a trump card the prosecution has yet to play.  Jim?
 
MORET: Now Art, how will the defense team try to deal with that?
 
HARRIS: One defense source tells us any inconsistencies will be explained away by Simpson’s condition - that he was exhausted during the interview, traumatized by the tragedy and on medication.  The strategy is to put everyone on trial, ex-cept O.J. Simpson.
 
So we can expect to hear more about the private lives of the police officers on the case and the people around Nicole Simpson.  But that’s dicey, because if they trot out too much trash, it could spill over on the victim, who, after all, was the mother of O.J. Simpson’s two young children.  Jim?
 
MORET: Thank you Art.  When we come back, we’ll have more on what the defense team has been doing this week.  We will examine court motions they’ve filed and get opinions of our experts when we return, right after this.  Stay with us.
 
The preceding text has been professionally transcribed.  However, although the text has been checked against an audio track, in order to meet rigid distri-bution and transmission deadlines, it may not have been proofread against tape.

LOAD-DATE: July 22, 1994

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Transcript # 363-3

TYPE: Package

Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
July 22, 1994 Friday, 3 STAR

BYLINE: Compiled From Wire Reports
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 568 words
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

Former football great O.J. Simpson is to be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court today on charges he killed his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman.

The arraignment is to begin at 1:30 p.m. Live coverage is planned by all television networks.

At the arraignment, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito will assign a judge to preside over the case. He also will set a date for the first pretrial hearing.

One of nine judges who preside over lengthy trials on the high security floor of the downtown Criminal Courts Building will be assigned the case, court officials have said.

The judge will determine a schedule for hearing pretrial motions, including one filed Wednesday by Simpson’s defense attorneys that seeks access to any investigatory leads that may support Simpson’s claim of innocence.

Prosecutors formally pursued their case against Simpson in Superior Court on Thursday with the filing of a criminal “information.”

The information charges Simpson with two counts of murder alleging that on June 12 he “willfully, unlawfully and with malice aforethought” killed Nicole Simpson and Goldman with a knife, along with a special allegation that he committed more than one murder.

Also Thursday, the two lead police investigators in the case took blood samples to the FBI crime laboratory in Washington for genetic testing, KNBC-TV reported, citing unidentified law enforcement sources.

Police Lt. John Dunkin declined to comment on the report, citing a media blackout ordered by Police Chief Willie Williams on the Simpson investigation.

Meanwhile, Simpson’s media blitz - including a toll-free tip line and $500,000 reward - got mixed reviews Thursday from lawyers.

“It’s being run like a political campaign,” said attorney Harland Braun, who represented former police officer Theodore Briseno after the Rodney King beating.

“The problem is you don’t have an election at the end. You have a criminal trial.”

Defense attorney Robert Shapiro said hot-line operators were receiving 100 calls a minute. Earlier, an operator for American Telephone & Telegraph had said technical difficulties were blocking some calls.

In other developments:

- Newport Beach police Sgt. Andy Gonis said the department was investigating attorney John Stewart’s acquisition of a notepad found in the car of Simpson’s friend, Paula Barbieri.

The notepad was found in January after police arrested a man for investigation of stealing the car. It was turned over to Stewart because he claimed the notepad belonged to his client, Gonis said.

Stewart said he picked up the notepad without realizing it belonged to Barbieri, and returned it to police when his client told him what it was.

Cable News Network, citing an unidentified source, said the notepad had a first page titled “Nicole’s schedule” that listed her whereabouts and who she saw over several months last winter. Stewart declined to discuss the contents.

- The Associated Press reported that a top investigator for O.J. Simpson, Zvonko “Bill” Pavelic, has been portrayed in court papers as a bitter ex-cop with a vendetta against a former colleague assigned to the Simpson case.

- Leroy Taft, Simpson’s personal attorney for 25 years, announced that the defense team had hired a well-known private investigator, retired New York police detective John McNally, to head a probe to prove Simpson’s innocence.

LOAD-DATE: July 22, 1994
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: BOX: About arraignment; O.J. Simpson will appear today before Superior Court Judge Lance Ito.; Simpson likely will waive reading of the charges, then enter a plea.; Ito will announce the name of the trial judge and set a date for the first pretrial hearing.; Simpson lawyer Robert Shapiro has said he will file motions, but Ito will probably defer action on them to the trial judge.; BOX: Simpson on TV; ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC plan live coverage of O.J. Simpson’s arraignment on murder charges today in Los Angeles. The court session can also be seen on Court TV. It is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT.