O.J. Simpson may have had an accomplice, former defence lawyer says: ‘IT SEEMS PLAUSIBLE’

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More than 30 years after the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, new claims about the possible disposal of the murder weapon are raising questions about whether O.J. Simpson acted alone.

Alan Dershowitz, a former member of Simpson’s high-profile defence team, says the allegations deserve another look.

“It seems plausible and perhaps credible,” Dershowitz said Monday on Fox News’ America Reports, adding that unresolved questions remain.

The claims stem from newly unsealed court documents detailed in a New York Times report Sunday, per CBS News. They involve Joseph Ippolito, a drug trafficker with alleged mob connections who reportedly knew Simpson through Al Cowlings, the friend who drove Simpson during his infamous white Bronco chase in June 1994.

‘Disposal of the murder weapon’

Simpson, who died in 2024, was accused of murdering his ex-wife, Brown Simpson, and Goldman. He was acquitted in 1995, but the murder weapon was never recovered, according to Fox News.

Court records show that a federal prosecutor once asked a judge to consider a lighter sentence for Ippolito on a prison escape charge because he had become a government informant. The prosecutor described him as a valuable source who had learned facts relevant to the Simpson case, including allegations involving domestic violence, drug use, Simpson’s attempted flight from authorities and the “disposal of the murder weapon.”

Ippolito, who died about 20 years ago, reportedly told federal prosecutors he had information about the weapon.

His brother, Sam Ippolito, initially told the New York Times that he remembered hearing his brother say he had been helping Simpson on the night of the killings. He also reportedly said he saw his brother with what appeared to be bloodstained hands and carrying a bag containing clothes he was asked to dispose of.

Major wrinkle to Sam Ippolito’s claims

In a subsequent interview with ABC News, Sam Ippolito denied making those statements to the Times and insisted his brother had nothing to do with the murders.

“I said he could be involved in a lot of things but not that,” he told ABC News, as cited by ABC7 New York.

That contradiction makes the allegations difficult to assess. Ippolito is dead, the murder weapon remains missing, and the account of what happened that night is now being disputed by the very person who allegedly provided key details.

Still, Dershowitz believes the information warrants further investigation.

“I think we ought to start from scratch and look at this evidence anew and see if there is credible evidence of a second person,” he told Fox News.

Prosecutors rejected theory O.J. had an accomplice

Dershowitz said he has long questioned whether one person could have carried out the killings of two people and disposed of the evidence without help.

Prosecutors rejected the theory that Simpson had an accomplice. But Simpson himself later raised the possibility of another person being present in his controversial 2007 book, If I Did It. In a later interview with Fox News, he also described a hypothetical scenario involving someone he called “Charlie” and a knife, as cited by ABC7 New York.

No murder weapon was presented at Simpson’s criminal trial. Although he was acquitted in 1995, a civil jury later found him liable for the wrongful deaths of Brown Simpson and Goldman.

For Dershowitz, the latest allegations are enough to reopen questions about a case that has captivated the public for decades.

“This should be looked at,” he said. “This is not a closed case.”

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