A criminal informant described by investigators as “extremely reliable” provided information about the possible disposal of the knife used in the 1994 murders of OJ Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ronald Goldman, according to newly unsealed federal court documents dating back 30 years.
Simpson was acquitted of the killings in October 1995, but was later found financially liable for the wrongful deaths of Brown and Goldman in a civil trial 16 months later. The murder weapon was never recovered, prompting speculation that an accomplice may have been involved. Simpson, who died in 2024 at the age of 76, continued to deny responsibility throughout his life.
The information is detailed in a newly unsealed 1996 letter seeking a reduced sentence for convicted drug trafficker and prison escapee Joseph “Joey” Ippolito. In the letter, an assistant US attorney told a federal judge that Ippolito had supplied valuable information to investigators, much of it relating to narcotics and organized crime. The document said Ippolito was “privy to many facts” surrounding the high-profile 1994 murders, including “Mr. Simpson’s alleged domestic violence, the Simpsons’ narcotics usage, Mr. Simpson’s attempted flight from justice, and his disposal of the murder weapon.”
“While Ippolito ultimately was not called as a witness he was arrested and began to cooperate as that trial drew to a close my conversations with the Los Angeles authorities indicate that Ippolito’s information was, at the very least, very helpful to their case,” the newly unsealed letter stated.
Ippolito died in 2006, but his brother Sam did speak to the Times, saying the siblings were staying in West Hollywood on the night of the murders. The Times reported that Sam said Joey left to help a friend and later returned with what appeared to be blood on his hands and a bag carrying a heavy object.
However, when contacted by Our News Outlet, Sam disputed that account. He said his fugitive brother was “in hiding” at the time and “not out past 10.” The murders are believed to have taken place after 10 p.m. on June 12, 1994.
Joseph Ippolito Jr was arrested on drug-trafficking charges before the Goldman-Brown murders. Federal prosecutors said the restaurateur had ties to organized crime. He died in 2006.
OJ Simpson denied killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Goldman was not believed to have been the intended target, but he was killed alongside Brown.
In its report, the Times accused Joey’s brother of seeking payment from the news organization in exchange for his account.
According to the Times, the reporter declined the request, after which Ippolito withdrew his account and said he “was offered a ton of money” to tell his story to another outlet. As Our News Outlet reported last month, Sam Ippolito is among the people featured in an upcoming Peacock documentary.
In a text message to Our News Outlet, Sam Ippolito denied asking the Times for money.
Joey Ippolito, who owned a restaurant in Santa Monica, was close to Al Cowlings, Simpson’s lifelong friend and former teammate. Cowlings famously led police on a low-speed pursuit with Simpson in the back of a white Ford Bronco on June 17, 1994. Simpson later surrendered at his Brentwood home.
Cowlings’s attorney told the Boston Herald in August 1994 that Ippolito had once helped Cowlings overcome a freebase cocaine habit. In return, Cowlings asked a federal judge to grant Ippolito bail while he awaited trial on drug charges in 1993.
The letter said Ippolito was “privy to many facts” about the infamous 1994 murders, including “Mr. Simpson’s alleged domestic violence” and “the Simpsons’ narcotics usage.”
After receiving a 10-year prison sentence, Ippolito walked away on May 6, 1994, from a minimum-security prison camp on a military base in Pensacola, Florida, according to a Boston Herald report published at the time. The newly unsealed letter, obtained by Our News Outlet, states that Ippolito became a federal informant after he was returned to custody.
The letter provides a broad outline of Ippolito’s statements to investigators but does not disclose specific details. It also does not say whether he implicated himself or anyone else in the murders.
The Herald previously reported that the FBI and federal prosecutors had telephone records documenting calls between Ippolito’s Santa Monica restaurant and Simpson’s Brentwood estate.
Federal law enforcement officials also alleged that Ippolito had links to the mafia. They claimed he was a member of New Jersey’s DeCavalcante crime family, which had connections to New York’s Lucchese family.
Ippolito was ultimately credited with time served after the government agreed not to prosecute him for distributing drugs in California during the five years before his arrest.
He was released from custody in 1998, according to records reviewed by The Times.
The body of Nicole Brown Simpson is seen where she was found on the bloodstained walkway of her Bundy Drive condominium as seen in this LAPD evidence photo from June of 1994
Lead investigator Tom Lange told the Times that he recalled seeing Ippolito’s name, but never considered him a serious suspect. Lange maintains that Simpson acted alone in the double murder.
The murder investigation was never solved and remains open with the LAPD.
But other investigators do believe Simpson had an accomplice.
A former New York State prosecutor and FBI profiler who went on to write and produce CBS’ Criminal Minds, Jim Clemente supported the theory in a recent podcast interview with media personality Tom Zenner and Kato Kaelin, Simpson’s former tenant and a crucial witness in his murder trial.
According to Clemente, evidence points to another attacker at the scene.
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For starters, he explained that the presence of multiple stabbing victims always increases the likelihood of multiple attackers, simply because it’s difficult for one person to commit both crimes quickly and in the same space.
The bigger clues, Clemente explained, were the defensive wounds left on Goldman’s legs.
‘With the cuts in his jeans, in his pants that he was wearing at the time, the knife wounds could only have been made if both of his legs were elevated and bent and straightened out like he was kicking,’ Clemente said.
‘And the only way that we behaviorally could figure out how that could happen is if somebody has him in a bear hug from behind and he’s being stabbed by somebody in the front.
‘He’s kicking, he’s fighting for his life,’ Clemente continued. ‘It’s a horrible, horrible scene.’
Kato Kaelin (left) sits alongside former FBI profiler Jim Clemente on Tom Zenner’s podcast
Clemente (right) told Zenner (left) that Goldman’s defensive wounds point to an accomplice
Curiously, Clemente explained, Goldman did not have defensive wounds on his arms.
‘If he was punching and kicking, you would see the same kinds of wounds through his clothing on his arms because the person with the knife would have been lashing out,’ Clemente said. ‘He wouldn’t just stab his legs.’
Rather, according to Clemente, Goldman’s ‘arms are being held and his arms were being pinned and that’s why he resorted to his legs only.’
As for why Simpson would bring an accomplice to murder his wife, Clemente suggested the presence of the couple’s two children at her condominium was a good reason.
‘What if the kids aren’t in bed yet?’ Clemente asked, rhetorically. ‘What if the kids wake up and come down?’
Simpson continued to deny any involvement in the Brown-Goldman murders until his death from cancer at age 76 in 2024, but the theory he committed the crimes with an accomplice is nothing new.
Recently, Our News Outlet revealed an upcoming Peacock documentary investigating the theory that Simpson had a mob-linked accomplice in Ippolito.
Peacock spokespeople declined to comment on Our News Outlet’s reporting at the time. The project’s upcoming release has since been confirmed by other outlets.
Speaking with Zenner, Clemente also challenged the notion that the murders were simply a crime of passion.
Rather, he insisted Brown was the intended victim of a carefully planned murder.
Goldman, sadly, was just returning the pair of glasses Brown left at his restaurant when he stumbled upon the crime that was taking place.
‘Whoever committed this crime had an extreme amount of rage and anger in them,’ Clemente told Zenner and Kaelin. ‘And they have been fantasizing about this for a long time. They planned this. This is not a disorganized crime. This is an organized crime. Which means that the offender thought about this, thought it out carefully, thought about every angle, knew when she would be vulnerable.
‘Of course, he thought she would be alone at that moment, but because she left the glasses there at the restaurant, somebody else showed up. That is an unexpected result.’
Asked if he had any clue about the accomplice’s identity, Clemente said he had a ‘pretty good idea’ who was with Simpson but stopped short of revealing a name.
Of course, there is no statute of limitations on murder, so if such an accomplice is still alive, they could theoretically face justice.
Simpson defense attorney Johnnie Cochran also posited an accomplice theory during the murder, saying Brown and Goldman may have been killed by drug dealers looking for her friend, Faye Resnick, who was battling a cocaine problem.
However, at least one member of Brown’s family remains skeptical that Simpson had an accomplice.
‘I’ve heard about the conspiracy theory for years,’ Brown’s sister told Our News Outlet by email. ‘To me it’s a bunch of BS.’
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