Investigating CSI – Background material Table of Contents I ...

DNA & O.J.
by Katherine Ramsland
A barking dog alerted a neighbor to the crime scene. Sukru Boztepe followed the dog
back to the Brentwood condominium, saw the horrendous bloodshed, and urged his wife
to phone 911. That set into motion the initial events in a convoluted series that made up
what many called "the Crime of the Century." It also brought DNA testing in criminal
cases to public awareness.
Nicole Brown Simpson, former wife of former football celebrity
O. J. Simpson, went outside her home late in the evening of
June 12, 1994, and was met by an assailant who slashed her to
death. The killer also slaughtered the man who was with her,
Ronald Goldman, age 25. He had brought Nicole the
eyeglasses that her mother had left behind at the restaurant
where he was a waiter. They were both found dead, covered in
blood, just inside the front gate.
O.J. Simpson booking
photo (AP)
62
Ronald Goldman & Nicole Simp
Although Nicole was no longer married to Simpson, the police
contacted him right away. Going to his home, detectives noted a
bloodstain on the door of his white Ford Bronco. A trail of blood also
led up to the house, but Simpson appeared to be gone. It turned out
that he had just flown to Chicago.
He returned to Los Angeles and agreed to answer questions. Investigators then noticed
a cut on a finger of his left hand that would prove to be problematic for him when they
eventually charged him with the crimes. First, he told several conflicting stories about
how he had gotten the cut, and second, the crime scene indicated that the killer had
been cut on his left hand and had trailed blood outside the gates. That hardly seemed
coincidental. Nevertheless, another narrative eventually overshadowed these problems.
Several droplets of blood at the scene failed to show a match with either of the victim's
blood types. Then Simpson's blood was drawn for testing (after the droplets had already
been collected) and comparison between Simpson's DNA and that of the blood at the
scene showed strong similarities. Contrary to what Simpson's defense team was to say
after his arrest, this blood could not have been planted after Simpson's blood was
drawn.