The O.J. Simpson case has been debated for more than three decades, but a former FBI profiler has now put forward a theory that could make people look at the infamous 1994 slayings differently.
Simpson was acquitted of slaying his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1995, although a civil jury later found him liable for their passings.
Highlights
- Former FBI profiler Jim Clemente suggested evidence from Ronald Goldman’s injuries could point to another attacker.
- Clemente theorized Goldman may have been restrained during the attack.
- A new Peacock documentary is also examining the long-running theory that Simpson may have had an accomplice.
Now, former FBI profiler Jim Clemente alleged the evidence may point to another person being involved.
His theory focuses on Goldman's injuries, the possibility that someone restrained him, and a question that has followed the case for years: Did Simpson have help?
A former FBI profiler shared that the evidence points to another attacker being involved in the slaying
Clemente, a former New York State prosecutor and FBI profiler who later worked as a writer and producer on CBS' “Criminal Minds,” discussed the theory during a podcast interview with media personality Tom Zenner and Kato Kaelin on October 2.
Kaelin, who was Simpson's former tenant, was also a key witness during the 1995 trial.
Clemente's argument centered partly on the fact that there were two victims.
He said that when two people are attacked in the same place, investigators should consider the possibility of more than one attacker because it would be difficult for one person to carry out both attacks quickly.
But he said Goldman's injuries provided an even bigger clue.
According to Clemente, Goldman had cuts in his jeans and knife wounds on his legs that suggested he was moving his legs while trying to defend himself.
“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,” Clemente said.
He then described what he believed Goldman was doing in those final moments.
“He's kicking, he's fighting for his life,” Clemente said. “It's a horrible, horrible scene.”
Clemente also pointed to something he found unusual about Goldman’s injuries
Clemente's theory did not stop at the wounds on Goldman's legs.
He pointed out that Goldman did not appear to have similar defensive wounds on his arms.
That detail made Clemente question whether Goldman's arms had been restrained while the attack happened.
“If he were 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 continued, “He wouldn't just stab his legs.”
Instead, Clemente suggested Goldman's arms may have been pinned, leaving him to fight back with his legs.
It is this interpretation of the wounds that Clemente says supports his belief that another attacker could have been present.
Clemente also had a theory about why an accomplice could have been there
Clemente was also asked why Simpson would potentially need another person if he were planning to attack Nicole.
His answer focused on Nicole's children.
The children were at her condominium, and Clemente suggested that their presence could have created an unpredictable situation for someone attempting to carry out the attack alone.
“What if the kids aren't in bed yet?” Clemente asked.
He then added, “What if the kids wake up and come down?”
Clemente also challenged the idea that the slayings were simply a sudden crime of passion.
He told Zenner and Kaelin that he believed Nicole was the intended target and that the attack appeared planned.
“Whoever committed this crime had an extreme amount of rage and anger in them,” Clemente said.
He went on to argue that the person responsible had thought about the attack beforehand.
“They planned this. This is not a disorganized crime. This is an organized crime,” he said.
Clemente suggested that the attacker may have believed Nicole would be alone, but Goldman unexpectedly arrived while returning a pair of glasses Nicole had left at a restaurant.
“That is an unexpected result,” Clemente said.
O.J. Simpson was acquitted but later found liable in civil court
The theory comes against the backdrop of the evidence that made Simpson the focus of the investigation.
Nicole and Goldman were fatally stabbed on June 12, 1994, outside Nicole's Los Angeles condominium.
Investigators found Simpson's blood and DNA connected to the crime scene. Investigators also found bloody shoe prints that matched his size-12 Bruno Maglis. A bloody trail was reported leading from the m*rder scene toward his white Ford Bronco and onto his property.
Simpson was arrested after the infamous low-speed Ford Bronco chase that was broadcast across the country.
His trial lasted eight months, and in October 1995, the jury acquitted him of the slayings.
However, the outcome was different in a later civil case.
In 1997, a civil jury found Simpson liable for the wrongful passings of Nicole and Goldman and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to their families.
Simpson continued to deny involvement in the slayings until he passed from cancer in 2024 at age 76.
A new documentary is also exploring an alleged accomplice in the case
Clemente's comments come as a new Peacock documentary revisits the possibility that Simpson had help.
The upcoming two-part documentary, O.J.'s Accomplice, is examining the long-running question of whether someone from Simpson's inner circle could have been present that night.
Peacock's official description says the project will feature Kato Kaelin, one of Nicole Brown Simpson's sisters, and previously unheard first-person accounts from eyewitnesses.
The documentary is expected to premiere in December 2026.
According to its producers, it will present material that raises questions about whether someone connected to Simpson was at the scene. That remains a documentary theory and has not established that an accomplice committed the slayings.
The source material also names Joseph “Joey” Ippolito Jr. as a person whose possible involvement is being examined.
The Daily Mail reportedly reviewed unauthorized clips from the documentary that included interviews with two of Ippolito's brothers. A source familiar with the project reportedly said the possibility that Ippolito committed the mu*ders with Simpson is discussed in the film.
Ippolito passed away in 2006.
Ippolito's name has drawn attention because of his reported connections to people in Simpson's circle
Ippolito was close to AC Cowlings, Simpson's former teammate and longtime friend. Cowlings was driving the white Ford Bronco during the famous police chase on June 17, 1994, with Simpson sitting in the vehicle.
According to a Boston Herald report, Ippolito had helped Cowlings with a co*aine a*diction, and Cowlings later asked a federal judge to release Ippolito on bail while he faced d*ug charges.
The same report said federal investigators had telephone records showing calls between Ippolito's Santa Monica restaurant and Simpson's Brentwood estate.
The source also said federal law enforcement officials had alleged that Ippolito was a member of New Jersey's DeCavalcante crime family, which they said had connections to New York's Lucchese family. Those claims are allegations and do not establish that Ippolito took part in the slayings.
The idea that Simpson may have had help did not begin with the upcoming documentary
The source noted that rumors about one or more possible accomplices have circulated for years.
Simpson's 2007 book If I Did It also became part of those discussions. The book presented a hypothetical account of how the m*rders could have happened, while being framed as a fictional scenario.
In that account, Simpson described going to Nicole's condominium with a person called “Charlie.” However, the source noted that ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves later explained that the character was fictional and was not based on Simpson associate Charles “Charlie” Ehrlich.
Other theories also emerged during the original trial.
Simpson's defense attorney Johnnie Cochran suggested that d*ug dealers could have been responsible for the slayings while searching for Nicole's friend Faye Resnick, who was dealing with a co*aine problem.
However, not everyone connected to the victims accepts the idea that Simpson had an accomplice.
Nicole's sister told the Daily Mail that she had heard versions of the theory for years but remained skeptical.
“I've heard about the conspiracy theory for years,” she said by email. “To me it's a bunch of BS.”
That leaves the accomplice theory exactly where it has remained for years- as a disputed explanation surrounding a case that has already produced one of the most famous criminal trials in American history.
Clemente has said he has a “pretty good idea” about who he believes was with Simpson, but he did not name that person during the interview.
"Lmao all these years later and still lying," wrote one netizen
