Former American football star OJ Simpson was tonight charged eight offences including kidnapping, conspiracy and robbery.

 

The charges are in connection with what authorities say was the armed theft of his sports memorabilia at a Las Vegas hotel.

 

Simpson, acquitted in a sensational double murder trial in 1995, is being held without bail.

 

Three co-defendants were charged with 11 criminal counts including coercion and assault with a deadly weapon. Simpson was due in court on Wednesday morning for a hearing in the case.

 

The charges came a day after an audio recording was released apparently showing the former sports star orchestrating the armed robbery.

 

On the tape, Mr Simpson can be heard angrily confronting two dealers of sports memorabilia, who claim that he robbed them at gunpoint with a gang of associates.

 

The robbery allegedly took place on Thursday, the night before the release of his book, If I Did It, a “hypothetical confession” to the killing of his wife and her friend.

 

The tape was recorded by Thomas Riccio, co-owner of the auction house Universal Rarities, and released by the celebrity gossip website TMZ.com.

 

The website said that Mr Riccio had reportedly agreed to join Mr Simpson on a private "sting" operation to see if Alfred Beardsley, one of the memorabilia dealers, was trying to sell goods that belonged to Mr Simpson.

According to the alleged agreement, they would threaten Mr Beardsley with the police only if he did not give any stolen items back.

 

But on the tape, Mr Simpson can be heard bellowing: "Don’t let nobody out this room, motherf*****s. Think you can steal my s*** and sell it?"

 

In an interview with Good Morning America on ABC Bruce Fromong, another dealer, who was also in the room, said: "The door burst open and they came in almost commando style, OJ Simpson and some of his people, I guess you would call it, with guns drawn. OJ at that time was saying, 'I want my stuff. I want my stuff.' The thing in my mind as soon as I saw him, I’m thinking, 'OJ, how can you be this dumb? You’re in enough trouble.'"

 

Mr Simpson was taken into custody in handcuffs on Sunday. His arraignment has been set for tomorrow.

 

Yale Galanter, a lawyer for Mr Simpson, said: "Mr Simpson is not guilty of these charges. We believe it is an extremely defensible case based on conflicting witness statements, flip-flopping by witnesses and witnesses making deals with the Government to flip."

 

Source: The Times Online

 

 

Will he get put away this time or we he walk yet again?

I have no doubt at all that he killed his ex wife and her partner but on this occasion I have some sympathy with the guy based on the initial information.

 

IF and it is indeed a big IF this guy was selling OJ's stolen personal property then I think OJ was perfectly entitled to recover it by any means necessary, this memorabilia dealer seems a very shady character indeed so if he was selling stolen property of OJ's then OJ should be acquitted of this

The man's an idiot, and a clearly dangerous one at that. Seems to me that the person he went in with did not agree to a "hold-up" style attempt to get back the alleged property... It's one thing to do this "sting operation" with the back-up of legal sanctions and the police, quite another to go in mob-handed like some gun-toting vigilante.. Whether or not this guy was selling on Simpson's property should have been a matter for the police to deal with, not for this psycho to take the law into his own hands and burst into the place brandishing firearms at all and sundry (if this was a store, presumably there were actual customers totally innocent of any alleged wrong-doing whatsoever..). Yet more evidence to his unstable, volatile nature.... -_-

 

At the end of the day, the worst thing these guys are guilty of is stealing a few things of OJ's and if they are guilty, then yeah, they should do time, but OJ, by his alleged actions of threatening with a deadly weapon, hostage taking and attempted armed robbery (regardless of whether the stuff was his or not, he would first have to prove that they were illegally selling his property...), is being charged with considerably more serious charges than just mere theft...

 

Lock this w/anker up, it's clear that he's a menace and psychologically unstable..... And, like Craig, I almost certainly am convinced he did in fact kill his wife and her lover....

im not bothered wether hes guilty or not... i hope hes convicted.. wouldnt it be ironic if he got off with the murder he most likely comitted, but got sent down for this even if he was within his rights?...lol

im not bothered wether hes guilty or not... i hope hes convicted.. wouldnt it be ironic if he got off with the murder he most likely comitted, but got sent down for this even if he was within his rights?...lol

 

How can he be within his rights though Rob...? I dont believe that it's within anyone's rights to go to a place of business and start brandishing firearms around for whatever slight might have been committed upon you.. It was only ONE dealer that was being targeted for the 'sting' operation here as I understand it, there were several other dealers totally unconnected with the matter who were also put into a position of potential mortal danger by this gun-toting maniac, and what about the completely innocent customers, bystanders which may have been in or around the shop who may have been injured or killed should any kind of shoot-out have occurred....? He did not go into this place to try and gather evidence, he went in to terrorize people and act like the uncontrollable thug that he is....

 

No, sorry, he has NO right whatsoever to put people in this kind of danger, whatever they may or may not have done....

oh i agree scott, i dont think he is within his rights, i meant IF he was. its time that thug got what he deserved.

What a moron - I really hope he is sent down. Society is better off with such people behind bars. I am also convinced he murdered them both, and did'nt he later admit it in a book? :unsure:

I am also convinced he murdered them both, and did'nt he later admit it in a book? :unsure:

 

Well, it could certainly be read as a "confession", but it was basically a "This is how I'd do it if I did it...." book.. According to Simpson anyway..... It's in incredibly poor taste regardless and frankly no publisher should have touched it with a bargepole.....

O J has anger management issues.

Look how he acted just because someone stole a few jumpers/ memorabillia items. Guns, armed robbery, kidnapping.....

 

I can just see him going ballistic and killing his wife and his wifes lover, for "stealing" his wife, judging by this latest episode.

 

 

He was found not guilty and people are still after him. Why can't people focus on crimes being committed today instead of going after one person all the time?

He was found not guilty and people are still after him. Why can't people focus on crimes being committed today instead of going after one person all the time?

 

Oh please, the OJ "verdict" was a total travesty of justice, ANY poor, working class bloke of whatever colour who couldn't afford someone like Johnnie Cochrane to defend them would be sitting on Death Row no question.... The ONLY reason O J got off was because of ONE corrupt, racist copper tainting one or two pieces of evidence.. The Jury couldn't convict for that reason and that reason only... The LAPD fukked it up, but the Prosecution case would've been strong enough to stand on its own two feet... I'll never believe O J was innocent of double homicide...."Not Proven" in my eyes, as opposed to "Not Guilty"....

 

And perhaps if he wasn't trying to gain financially out of his wife's brutal homicide by writing tacky books or being involved in "documentaries" basically saying "hey, I didn't do it, honest guv, but this is how I would do it... If I did, mind....", then perhaps people would actually "leave him alone"... The facts are, he is a shameless piece of sh!t trying to make money out of a very real murder.... Even if he didn't do it, it's still extremely poor taste..... <_<

And perhaps if he wasn't trying to gain financially out of his wife's brutal homicide by writing tacky books or being involved in "documentaries" basically saying "hey, I didn't do it, honest guv, but this is how I would do it... If I did, mind....", then perhaps people would actually "leave him alone"... The facts are, he is a shameless piece of sh!t trying to make money out of a very real murder.... Even if he didn't do it, it's still extremely poor taste..... <_<

 

True, but if the victim's families don't mind making money off their relatives then no wonder he didn't care.

 

True, but if the victim's families don't mind making money off their relatives then no wonder he didn't care.

 

Oh, come on, you can hardly compare a civil lawsuit against the man who, in all likelihood, got away with murdering your fukkin' daughter to punish them financially - because justice was clearly NOT served in that utter sham of a trial - to what that sleazy b/astard OJ did.... And didn't the victim's families actually set up some sort of fund for victims of violent crime...? What the hell did that scumbag OJ ever do that was worth a damn...? <_< He's a piece of sub-human trash who I would happily see gunned down like a mad dog, because clearly, "Street Justice" is the only justice that's gonna come his way....

Oh, come on, you can hardly compare a civil lawsuit against the man who, in all likelihood, got away with murdering your fukkin' daughter to punish them financially - because justice was clearly NOT served in that utter sham of a trial - to what that sleazy b/astard OJ did.... And didn't the victim's families actually set up some sort of fund for victims of violent crime...? What the hell did that scumbag OJ ever do that was worth a damn...? <_< He's a piece of sub-human trash who I would happily see gunned down like a mad dog, because clearly, "Street Justice" is the only justice that's gonna come his way....

 

I'm not talking about the civil lawsuit, I'm talking about them selling the book he wrote called something like "I didn't kill them but if I had." If that was my family member, I wouldn't want people to read about that...unless I had bills to pay and was greedy, which seems to be their issue. Note: If the money from the book went to this fund, I apologise, if not, they're as bad as he is.

Edited September 26, 200717 yr by SunriseSunset