Somebody slipped Newsweek a copy of the chapter from O.J. Simpson‘s hypothesize-all book about the murders he was acquitted of committing, If I Did It, and Mark Miller, who covered that trial for the magazine back then, considers the details of Simpson’s confession-like statement. “At Simpson’s criminal trial, to explain how one man could have killed two people, the Los Angeles County coroner theorized that Simpson knocked out Nicole, then quickly slit her throat before turning to Goldman,” Miller reports. “If the book’s account is true, the coroner’s hypothesis was correct—almost.” Among the key differences: Simpson’s version puts a second man at the scene with him, begging him to stop.
Mostly, there’s a lot of summary, but Miller does extract one key quote from the manuscript: “Then something went horribly wrong, and I know what happened, but I can’t tell you exactly how.” Except, of course, that by the end of the chapter, he reminds readers that this is all just a “what if?” story, and that he’s furious anybody could think he would kill his ex-wife and the guy standing next to her. And now that the story’s out there, when the AP comes calling for comment, OJ blames the ghostwriter.
Really, the only interesting development in the story comes at the very end, when the Goldman family attorney explains that he’s not just after the advance Simpson got from ReganBooks for spinning his yarn, but that he’d like to take over the copyright as well. “Of course, to do that, the book would have to be printed and put on sale,” Miller explains. “Would the Goldman family really seek to publish the book in which Simpson, hypothetically or not, describes the brutal murders?” We may find out sooner rather than later: Yale Galanter, OJ’s attorney, says the rights “have already or will soon revert” back to Simpson. While judging the accuracy of this statement, however, keep in mind that Galanter didn’t even know the book existed until just before the confirming newspaper stories.