New Book Says OJ Didn't Do It, Evidence Points To Son
BOSTON (CBS) - The O.J. Simpson murder trial divided the country, but now a private eye from North Texas wants you to question everything you've heard. He says the real killer wasn't O.J., but probably someone very close to him.
"I realized based on what I had been told that OJ didn't do it," says retired police officer Bill Dear. "But I believe that he had to have been at the crime scene, but I believe he was at the crime scene after the murders," says Dear.
If O.J. didn't do it, then who did? Dear, author of the book "O.J. Is Innocent And I Can Prove It" spent 18 years developing his own theory.
"We checked the records and found that Jason Lamar Simpson was never interviewed by the Los Angeles Police Department because he was represented by an attorney and he refused to cooperate," says Dear.
Dear says he ruled out a number of suspects before focusing on Jason Simpson, O.J.'s son from his first marriage. His book paints a picture of a deeply disturbed young man.
"We have a young man who was 24 at the time, 5-foot-11, 235 pounds and when we checked his criminal record, he was on probation at the time of the murder for assault with a knife to his former employer," says Dear.
Under a deal, Jason Simpson agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace and was ordered to stay away from his former boss. The private eye dug through Jason Simpson's trash where he says he found prescriptions used to treat seizures and possibly a rage disorder. He also claims to have bought the contents of Jason Simpson's storage locker, put up for auction after no one paid the bill. He says it contained diaries from 1993, personal photos of the Simpson family, and at the bottom of the box, a knife.
His book says on the night of the murders, Nicole Simpson had made plans to eat with friends at a restaurant where Jason worked, but changed her mind and went to another restaurant instead.
"I interviewed several people who were there that night and who told me Jason appeared to be very upset. They attributed that to the fact that Nicole did not show up," says Dear.
He believes Jason Simpson could have gone to Nicole's home to confront her.
"She may have gotten in his face, he may have gotten in hers. She's wanting him to go because she's expecting Ron Goldman. Then I think whatever happened escalated, and as a result the knife came down on the top of her head," says Dear.
He says the bottom of the knife he found roughly matches a cut on the top of Nicole Simpson's head. "I think he either got in touch with his Dad by cell phone or called him or went directly to the house. His Dad didn't totally believe him. When O.J. came back he bent down, took off one of the gloves, checked for her pulse. He drops the glove, looks up and sees Ron Goldman, panics and he's out of there," theorizes Dear.
Dear also has a photo of Jason Simpson wearing a black hat which looks like one found at the crime scene.
"We know it contained hair from an Afro America and from a dog, but they couldn't definitely say it came from OJ Simpson," says Dear.
Dear wants DNA testing on the hair, but says no one involved with the case is willing to take a second look at that evidence, or anything else in his 500 page book.
"It could be opened at any time, but they don't choose to do so," he says.
But what if he's wrong?
"I'll let the evidence speak for itself. That's why you don't see me saying he did it. He's a major overlooked suspect," says Dear.
CBS News made numerous attempts to contact Jason Simpson about William Dear's book, but were unable to reach him. THe District Attorney's office in Los Angeles says they have no comment. And OJ Simpson's attorney also says he has no comment on the allegations in the book.
