Who Is Charlie? Speculation Mounts Over Identity Of OJ 'Friend' From 'Lost Confession'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Newly-released video footage of O.J. Simpson speaking hypothetically about the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman has social media speculating on one question: who is Charlie?
Simpson made reference to the unidentified personal friend while during an interview with publisher Judith Regan that was taped in 2006 and broadcast for the first time Sunday night.
He told Regan the hypothetical scenario which led to the murders of Brown and Goldman outside Brown's home in Brentwood on June 12, 1994, began with a friend whom Simpson referred to simply as "Charlie".
According to Simpson's scenario, he and Charlie went to Brown's home and confronted her and Goldman.
"As things got heated, I just remember Nicole fell and hurt herself, this guy [Goldman] kind of got into a karate thing," said Simpson. ""I remember I grabbed the knife...I do remember that portion, taking the knife from Charlie, and to be honest, after that I don't remember, except I'm standing there and there's all kind of stuff around ... blood and stuff around.
I think everything is covered... would have been covered in blood," he added.
Throughout the interview, Simpson alternated between talking about Charlie and speaking in the first person.
When Regan asks him "about removing a glove before taking the knife from Charlie", Simpson replies, "You know I have no conscious memory of doing that, but obviously I must have because they found the glove there."
The former football star says he and Charlie then fled and tossed the bloody clothes.
And while Simpson was ultimately acquitted in the murder trial, this "confession" raises the question of whether whomever was responsible for the murders had any help.
There was no shortage of speculation about Charlie's identity on social media, with some suggesting Charlie was simply a name for Simpson's own alter ego, and others wondering whether it was a pseudonym for his son Jason.
But Simpson's attorney Malcolm LaVergne claimed Regan was leading Simpson through the interview simply to push book sales.
"This idea that this is a confession interview is a joke," LaVergne said. "This was scripted by Judith Regan - the publisher of the book. Mr. Simpson went along with it because quite frankly he got a lot of money up front to go along with this."
In response, Regan released the following statement to CBS News: "As anyone can see from his responses on the special, I did not feed him lines."
An attorney for Ron Goldman's father said, "While justice has eluded our family, Fox Entertainment enables everyone to make their own judgment."
Simpson was found liable for the deaths of Brown and Goldman in a 1997 civil trial.
