Mysteries & Scandals

He was

- He was the charismatic celebrity...

I'm the Juice.

- Acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend.

- Not guilty of the crime of murder.

- But O.J. Simpson's luck ran out

after a bizarre robbery in a Las Vegas hotel.

911 emergency.

And it was all caught on tape.

Now exclusive revelations from people close to O.J.

about that armed confrontation.

- It was definitely O.J. pulling the strings.

They was screaming.

I had no idea they had guns.

- Was Simpson the target of retribution?

- I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody.

- The whole thing was just a setup, from A to Z.

- To the recordings of the police saying,

"If California can't do it, we'll get him."

- Or was O.J. the victim of his own arrogance?

- It was a matter of ego, basically.

- If you're here to become famous,

this is not the case for you.

- I want to be a witness to the truth.

- After nine years in prison, Simpson is free.

O.J. has a target on him.

- He's now famous as the guy who got away with two murders.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

This is "Mysteries and Scandals:

The Crimes and Punishment of O.J. Simpson."

O.J. Simpson, NFL Hall of Famer, movie star,

and perhaps the most celebrated American

ever to be accused of murder.

Yet, after being acquitted of a double homicide in Los Angeles,

Simpson wound up in prison

for robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas.

What really happened during the bungled sting in Sin City?

Was the sentence in Las Vegas retribution

for the verdict in L.A.?

Did O.J.'s punishment fit his crime?

- Police have damaging evidence linking O.J. Simpson

to the murder of his ex-wife.

- Most people probably know the story.

After all, it had everything-- celebrity, scandal,

a violent double murder.

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson,

O.J. Simpson's ex-wife

and mother of his two young children,

was found brutally stabbed to death,

along with her friend Ron Goldman.

O.J. was the prime suspect.

- Somebody like O.J. that was in movies,

somebody that was so well-known

and so famous, so popular,

to see them fall and be charged with such a heinous crime,

it really touched people.

- The case of O.J. Simpson polarized Americans

and captivated the world.

- We have someone who's a major, major star.

- When you say the word "actor" and O.J.,

you kind of smile a little bit.

- We have a violent case, and then we have the dynamics

and the theatrics of what was occurring in court.

I mean, you can't even write this type of stuff.

You must acquit.

- When I took his case on as counsel,

we became friends because I would go in

every morning before court,

and I would give him an appraisal--

where we were, where I thought we were going.

O.J. was a national hero,

but that trial so took him down in reputation

and public attitude--

something that tainted him.

- It was the trial of the century

because O.J. Simpson was a national hero.

People loved O.J.

He had crossed racial barriers.

He was a great football player, a great actor.

They never said, "Oh, he was black."

- I'm the Juice... Whatever that is.

- Could you please stand and face the jury?

- We, the jury in the above entitled action,

find the defendant, Orenja--Orenthal James Simpson

not guilty of the crime of murder

in violation of penal code section 187--

- I think the state of California didn't prove the case

beyond a reasonable doubt.

- I think everything having to do with O.J. henceforth--

People don't talk about him necessarily being

a football star anymore or a movie star.

They talk about the murders in L.A.

- The country was divided about whether Simpson

was a famously wealthy and abusive man

who got away with murder

or an innocent target of a racist system.

- There were several issues that became pivotal in the trial

that also touched people deeply.

One was race...

God bless the...

- And there was also domestic violence.

O.J. had beaten Nicole

and had been arrested for it.

- The verdict crystallized the division.

Many African-Americans celebrated,

while many white Americans were dumbfounded.

- I think that his cases started a lot of conversation

about race and its impact in our communities.

- You were either Team O.J., and you were African-American,

or you were Ron and Nicole, and you were white.

- One year after the criminal trial,

the families of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman

continued to seek justice

and filed separate wrongful-death lawsuits.

During the civil trial, a jury found Simpson liable.

He wouldn't serve any jail time,

but a judge ordered Simpson

to pay damages of more than $33 million.

- They took everything he had from him--

from the civil judgment, and he had a lot.

- Simpson's Brentwood home and luxury possessions

were liquidated to help pay down the civil judgment.

- The Goldmans were going to seize every asset he had.

- Simpson's former sports agent, Mike Gilbert,

claimed O.J. asked him to help move his personal property

and sports memorabilia into various storage units,

allegedly to hide them from authorities.

Simpson claimed Mike Gilbert later stole

and sold many of his belongings to memorabilia dealers.

However, Gilbert denied the accusations.

That was very painful for O.J.

He'd lost things like his mother's picture

or the Heisman Trophy

or a football-- some things of that sort.

- There was nothing left for O.J. in Los Angeles...

so in 1999, Simpson relocated to South Florida

with his younger children with Nicole--

Justin and Sydney.

- Look what they've been through.

These kids have been through unthinkable circumstances.

- For Simpson, the move was strategic.

Florida state law forbids the seizure of a person's house

to pay a civil penalty.

Federal law also protected

Simpson's $300,000-a-year football pension.

- O.J--the main reason that he went to Florida

was because the Goldmans could not touch his money there.

After he settled in Miami,

Simpson's natural charisma attracted new fans.

- O.J. has an adoration for the spotlight.

It really is his oxygen.

He can't live without the attention.

- O.J. loved Florida, because he could walk down the street,

and people weren't mean to him.

People didn't yell at him.

He blended in better in Florida.

He has the touch.

He can walk into a room, and within five minutes,

all the girls in the room

are around O.J. with their drinks,

and they're all laughing and having a great time

and wondering, "Wow, he's not so bad."

- O.J. is a tremendously affable, amiable guy,

and I think normal people tend to like him.

Simpson was still a celebrity,

but he was no longer surrounded

by accomplished athletes and business tycoons.

- When O.J. lived in California,

he lived a very glamorous lifestyle.

O.J.'s life in Florida was a lot of partying,

a lot of strip clubs.

- One of Simpson's new friends was Tom Scotto,

a Florida body shop owner.

It was around 23 years ago.

O.J. was putting out his garbage,

so my brother stopped and talked to him,

invited him to dinner,

and as soon as we sat down, we just clicked immediately,

and we were best friends ever since.

- For seven years, O.J. lived in Florida,

collecting his football pension and staying out of the news,

but if he assumed his troubles with the law were over,

he was mistaken.

In 2007, Simpson got a call from someone with information

that would change his life.

- This guy just wouldn't let up, and O.J. finally gave in,

and, you know, the rest is history.

Coming up...

what made O.J. Simpson gamble

on a scheme with drastic repercussions?

- Did I think that something crazy might happen?

Definitely a possibility.

12 years after being acquitted

for the brutal slaying of his ex-wife and her friend,

O.J. Simpson was still famous,

even though his reputation was shot.

Nevertheless, O.J. was enjoying life in Miami, Florida,

until a trip to Las Vegas changed everything.

- Not that I think O.J. goes looking for trouble,

but trouble comes looking for O.J.