O.J. a criminal suspect yet again

[Badgerinmaine]

You'd think by now I wouldn't be surprised to hear O.J. Simpson's name tied up with something tawdry...but here he goes again. This time, he's a suspect in a break-in involving sports memorabilia in Las Vegas:

http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1422678.html

Here's the start of the story:
LAS VEGAS — Investigators questioned O.J. Simpson and named him a suspect today in a break-in at a casino hotel room involving sports memorabilia.


The break-in was reported at the Palace Station casino late Thursday night, police spokesman Jose Montoya said. He said investigators determined the break-in involved sports collectibles.


"When they talked to him, Simpson made the comment that he believed the memorabilia was his,'' Montoya said. "We're getting conflicting stories from the two sides.''


Simpson was released after he and several associates were questioned, but he is considered a suspect in the case, Montoya said. He is believed to be in Las Vegas.


"We don't believe he's going anywhere,'' he said.

[swede]

Simpson has denied stealing any memorobilia that didn't belong to him, but he has begun writing a book called, "If I Had Broken Into That Room".

[Badgerinmaine]

Simpson has denied stealing any memorobilia that didn't belong to him, but he has begun writing a book called, "If I Had Broken Into That Room".

Nice one!

[Deputy Nutz]

Was OJ hanging around Madtown again? Gotta stay away from those mexicans son. They will get you in a whole bunch of trouble.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Simpson has denied stealing any memorobilia that didn't belong to him,

Maybe to make sure that baseball glove he stole belonged to him the cops ought to make him try it on.

[Badgerinmaine]

Well, and even if the stuff belongs to you, is breaking in the smartest way to get it? "Hi, Fred--I threw a brick through your garage window and broke in because you still had the rake I loaned you".

[swede]

My bank allows direct deposit but they frown upon direct withdrawal. Somehow the argument that the cash was mine anyways doesn't persuade the night watchman that finds me in the safe.

[oregonpackfan]

Why are we hearing about this? I thought whatever happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas?

[CaliforniaCheez]

The items he attempted to take might have once been his but they were confiscated legally to help pay for part of the civil judgement against him which has yet to be satisfied. Try telling a casino you changed your mind after losing a bet. You really didn't want to bet and want your money back, casinos are good about that.

Rodney King gets over 70K a year on his annuity and has had several more DUI convictions. The two passengers in his car who complied with the police got nothing.

This country rewards blatant criminal behavior. Look how many cheered his verdict when he was found not guilty of killing white folks!!

The current owners should just give O J the property they bought.
No justice, no peace.

[KYPack]

After considering all the legal variables, I believe the following would be the appropriate punishment:

Castration, following by a public hanging.

[mraynrand]

You always knew O.J. was going to be trouble - ever since he got caught having that affair with Howard Cossell. I have nightmares when I think about what Roone Arledge saw when he walked into Cossell's trailer on the set of MNF

[Jimx29]

Man....oj's men got in and payed off this dude pretty fast

Simpson accuser now 'on O.J.'s side'



By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY and LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writers 31 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS - A sports memorabilia collector who accused O.J. Simpson of armed robbery said Saturday that he was "on O.J.'s side" and wants the case dropped.

"I want this thing to go away. I have health problems," said Alfred Beardsley, the collector who told police on Thursday that Simpson and several other men stormed a Las Vegas hotel room and stole memorabilia at gunpoint.

Beardsley, of Burbank, Calif., told The Associated Press he is not interested in pursuing the case.

"I have no desire to fly back and forth to Las Vegas to testify," he said. "How are they going to have a witness who's on O.J.'s side?"

Beardsley said he called police only because the items were valuable and if he had not reported them as stolen he would be "held accountable for all the stuff." Beardsley said Friday that Simpson had called him to apologize.

Lt. Clint Nichols said later Saturday that Beardsley had not formally withdrawn his complaint and that another collector in the room, Bruce Fromong, had not indicated that he wants to drop the complaint.

Earlier, Las Vegas police said they were questioning one of the three or four men who were thought to have accompanied Simpson to the hotel room. No arrests had been made and police were still trying to determine what took place before Simpson left the room with memorabilia he says was stolen from him, Nichols said. Police think a weapon was involved and want to review hotel surveillance tapes.

Simpson told The Associated Press on Saturday that he did he did not even consider calling the police to help reclaim personal items he believed were stolen from him, because he has found the police unresponsive when he needed help ever since his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were killed in 1994.

"The police, since my trouble, have not worked out for me," he said, noting that whenever he has called the police "It just becomes a story about O.J."

"I'm at the point where I don't rely on the police and this is not a police issue anyway," he said, expressing hope that it will soon be resolved.

Simpson, 60, said he was just trying to retrieve memorabilia, particularly photos of his wife and children. There were no guns and no break-in, he said.

As police try to determine what happened in the hotel room, they must unravel the contorted relationships between the erstwhile athlete and a cadre of collectors that has profited from his infamy since the slayings of his ex-wife and Goldman. He was acquitted of murder in 1995, but was found liable for their deaths in a civil case.

Fromong considered Simpson a close friend. Beardsley had collected Simpson items for years.

On Saturday, Simpson declared: "None of these guys are friends of mine."

Attempts by the AP to reach Fromong on Saturday were unsuccessful.

Simpson, who lives in Miami, said he expected to find the stolen items when he went to an arranged meeting Thursday.

The man who arranged the meeting, according to Simpson, was another man who makes a living on the fringes of the celebrity.

Thomas Riccio, a well-known memorabilia dealer, made headlines when his auction house, Corona, Calif.-based Universal Rarities, handled the eBay auction of Anna Nicole Smith's handwritten diaries.

Simpson said Riccio called him several weeks ago to inform him that people "have a lot of your stuff and they don't want anyone to know they are selling it," Simpson said.

Along with the personal photos, Simpson expected to find one item in particular: the suit he was wearing when he was acquitted of murder.

It's not clear where they got the suit, but Beardsley, a former real estate agent and longtime Simpson collector, and Fromong had been trying to sell it for several months. They'd recently tried eBay and the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com.

Simpson said Beardsley and Fromong were attempting to profit off personal items including the wedding video from his first marriage.

In an interview with TMZ.com, Beardsley noted that during the alleged robbery in the hotel room Simpson appeared surprised the pair were the ones selling the items.

"Simpson was saying that 'I liked you, I thought you were a good guy,'" Beardsley said.

Simpson accused Mike Gilbert, a one-time associate, of stealing the items from him. He said he believes Gilbert stole items from a storage locker once held in Simpson's mother's name.

Attempts to reach Gilbert by phone were unsuccessful.

As Simpson's licensing agent in the late 1990s, Gilbert admitted snatching Simpson's Heisman Trophy and other items from his client's Brentwood home as payment for money he said was owed to him. He later turned the items over to authorities, save the trophy's nameplate.

Gilbert swore he'd go to jail before turning the nameplate over to the Goldman family, which was trying to collect on the $33.5 million civil judgment it won against Simpson. Gilbert later surrendered it under court order.

As questions swirled around the curious cast of characters and their mysterious meeting, media scrutiny and public interest that has dogged the fallen athlete was in full swing.

By Saturday afternoon, Simpson's new book, "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer," was the top seller on Amazon.com.

None of the men will profit from the book's sales. After a deal for Simpson to publish it fell through, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the book's rights to the Goldman family.

linkage

[falco]

The items he attempted to take might have once been his but they were confiscated legally to help pay for part of the civil judgement against him which has yet to be satisfied. Try telling a casino you changed your mind after losing a bet. You really didn't want to bet and want your money back, casinos are good about that.

Rodney King gets over 70K a year on his annuity and has had several more DUI convictions. The two passengers in his car who complied with the police got nothing.

This country rewards blatant criminal behavior. Look how many cheered his verdict when he was found not guilty of killing white folks!!

The current owners should just give O J the property they bought.
No justice, no peace.

Cheez, what does the race of the people he killed have to do with any of your points?

[oregonpackfan]

If the case goes to court, I hope the prosecution is not lead by the attractive, but incompetant, DA named Marcia Clark.

O.J. would be acquited for sure.