Here we go: LAPD testing knife found on O.J. Simpson's property

No matter what happens from here on in, O.J. Simpson will neither be re-tried nor convicted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. And while I wouldn’t say that’s a good thing per se, it’s the result of a constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy that it’s very good we all have. But what very well may have happened is the discovery of more conclusive evidence than was presented at his trial that Simpson was, in fact, the killer:

In another twist in the long-running O.J. Simpson saga, Los Angeles police are investigating and testing a knife that was recovered on property once owned by the former football star. The elite Robbery Homicide Division is investigating a buck knife now in possession of the department. The knife was apparently turned over to a police officer a number of years ago by a person working construction at the property, a law enforcement source said. Detectives more recently learned of the knife's existence and are now investigating where it came from, according to the source, who cautioned that the investigation is still in its early stages. The officer who had the knife was retiring and apparently informed Robbery Homicide detectives of the weapons' existence in the last few months. An LAPD detective informed superiors, who immediately launched an investigation into the knife's history and ordered a series of forensic tests to determine whether it had any connection with the 1994 murders of Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Finding the knife that killed the two had been an obsession of police and others in the wake of the 1994 murders.

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As with so much about the original investigation and trial, there’s a lot that’s screwy about this story. How do you explain that someone gave a knife to a police officer several years ago, and told him, oh, hey, I found this on O.J. Simpson’s property – and Robbery Homicide isn’t told about it until just a few months ago? What did this officer think he should do with the knife that was more important than informing the people who had responsibility for one of the most famous murder cases of the 20th Century? And what’s with the bit about his impending retirement? Gee, know what? Someone gave me this knife years ago and I guess it was found on O.J. Simpson’s property. I didn’t bother to tell you about it but now that I’m retiring I guess I will. What? Now you might think this is pointless because Simpson can’t be tried for the murder again. I disagree. I think that if you could present really conclusive evidence that O.J. was the killer and should have been convicted, it would at least have the chance of creating a clearer understanding in the public’s mind about the truth in the case. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t even do that. At the time, most attitudes about the case were sadly divided along racial lines – something I found very hard to understand and still do. If a man has committed a murder, why do you want him to get away with it simply because he’s “one of you” or however it is that you see it? He’s in prison now anyway for the burglary that stemmed from the civil judgment against him, so I guess you could say that in a way the murder landed him in prison indirectly. But if there’s more evidence to tell us what really happened, everyone should want to know it because nothing should be more important – one way or the other – than the truth.