Ron Shipp recalls his horror at OJ Simpson’s acquittal
‘I truly believed he was going to be found guilty’: OJ Simpson’s friend Ron Shipp who testified against him recalls his horror at the acquittal and how he saw domestic violence victims ‘celebrating’ the verdict
- Ron Shipp is recalling his horror at OJ Simpson’s acquittal saying, ‘I truly believed he was going to be found guilty’ in a new Investigation Discovery film
- In October 1995 Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson after she was found brutally killed in June 1994
- Shipp, a former LAPD officer, was friends with the football pro for 26 years
- In 1995 he took the stand against Simpson saying he told him he had ‘dreams’ about killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson
- Shipp was an expert in domestic violence and said Brown told him Simpson beat her and showed him photos of her injuries
- Shipp recalled how when the not guilty verdict was announced he saw women from a domestic violence shelter cheering on TV
Former LAPD officer and friend of OJ Simpson has revealed his horror at the football star’s acquittal for his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson’s murder saying, ‘I thought he’d be found guilty’.
‘I truly believed he was going to be found guilty. I really did,’ Ron Shipp said in the new documentary OJ and Nicole: An American Tragedy on Investigation Discovery, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the famous verdict.
DailyMail.com on Thursday revealed the new show has extracts from Brown’s secret diary, where she describes in horrifying detail the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of the disgraced Buffalo Bills running back before her death.
On June 12, 1994 the revered Pro Football Hall of Fame hero became a murder suspect when Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman were found brutally murdered.
Shipp, who had been friends with Simpson for 26 years, stunned the public when he took the stand against him at the high-profile trial in 1995.
He said Simpson told him he didn’t want to take a polygraph test because he had ‘dreams’ of killing Brown.
Ron Shipp, a former LAPD officer and friend of OJ Simppson who testified against him in 1995, is recalling his horror at Simpson’s acquittal saying, ‘I truly believed he was going to be found guilty’ in a new Investigation Discovery film
On June 12, 1994 the revered Pro Football Hall of Fame hero became a murder suspect when his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found brutally murdered. OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson together in 1993, a year before her murder
OJ’s ex wife also showed him photos of injuries from Simpson’s alleged beatings.
Shipp, who taught courses on domestic violence, said in 1989 Brown confided in him that Simpson hit her and showed her photos of her bruises and injuries from previous beatings.
‘She knew I taught domestic violence. She told me it happened on several occasions. She showed me pictures of past batteries that [her sister] Denise had taken,’ he said in a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair.
‘I came back the following night to bring back pamphlets to read to her. Everything that I said about the batterers, she said, “Wow, that’s OJ This is what he does. This is how he is,”‘ he added.
But to his shock, On October 3, 1995 Simpson was acquitted on both counts of murder.
‘When the verdict came out, all I can remember is watching TV and there was a bunch of women that were actually living in a domestic violence shelter and when they said “not guilty”, they all cheered. They all cheered,’ Shipp said in the documentary.
This week DailyMail.com revealed the secret diaries Brown wrote where she recounted the horrific abuse she suffered by Simpson.
In one post she revealed he once screamed at her: ‘Get out of my f****** house you fat a** liar!’
Nicole wrote about 60 occasions that Simpson allegedly physically abused and threatened her including during their stormy marriage.
‘When the verdict came out, all I can remember is watching TV and there was a bunch of women that were actually living in a domestic violence shelter and when they said “not guilty”, they all cheered. They all cheered,’ Shipp says in the new documentary OJ and Nicole: An American Tragedy
Shipp pictured testifying in February 1995 at Simpson’s trial
A view of crowds cheering after hearing OJ Simpson’s not guilty verdict outside the Los Angeles Courthouse on October 3, 1994
People pictured cheering and celebrating watching Simpson’s verdict on a portable TV outside the Los Angeles courthouse on October 3, 1995
In scratchy handwriting she wrote how he first beat her up in 1978 and punched and kicked her in their hotel room for hours while she tried to escape.
For the next 16 years the abuse included flipping out into a jealous rage and smashing her car up, throwing her against walls and repeatedly leaving her blackened and bruised.
One time Simpson beat her so badly that he tore her sweater and her socks off her body – while another time he screamed at her ‘I have a gun in my hand, get the f*** out of here!’
The diaries were found in Nicole’s safe deposit box along with photos of her bruised face and apology letters from Simpson.
OJ Simpson sits in Superior Court in Los Angeles 08 December 1994 during his murder trial
Simpson’s family members pictured celebrating Simpson’s not guilty verdicts
They were not admitted into evidence during Simpson’s trial because the judge ruled they were hearsay and have been largely ignored since then.
During Simpson’s trial the prosecution brought up his history of domestic violence to undermine his clean-cut image he cultivated as a football player and actor who starred in films like The Naked Gun.
But it didn’t work and the jury found him not guilty, a verdict Nicole’s family regard as an appalling miscarriage of justice.
The first diary entry is from 1978 and shows that Nicole was already realizing her fairytale boyfriend and future husband had a dark side.
They had met in Los Angeles where she moved to pursue a career in photography and had an ‘instant’ connection, Brown’s sister Tanya says in the Investigation Discovery film.
It reads: ‘1st time he beat me up after Louis + Nanie Mary anniversary party. Started on the street corner of NYC 5th Ave at about 9 (pm).’
The documents featured in ‘OJ and Nicole: An American Tragedy’, a new documentary on Investigation Discovery, airing on October 3. They were previously featured in Made in America (pictured)
Nicole described how her husband ‘beat her for hours’ in one harrowing entry
The diaries reveal a chilling pattern of abuse until Simpson allegedly murdered Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994 – he was acquitted of killing them both (pictured in Made in America (pictured)
‘Threw me on the floor, hit me, kicked me. we went to the hotel where he continued to beat me for hours and I continued crawling for the door’.
Another undated entry reads: ‘Smashed my car (white Mercedes) with Baseball Bat after visiting Tommy Hughes. He greeted me at the gate. I was too afraid to get out of the car. He did it because I was late, about 7-8pm’.
Despite this Nicole married Simpson in 1985 but the abuse continued, the diaries reveal.
An entry from 1986 reads: ‘Eric & Val Von Watts. Listened to music at my place on Wilshire (Blvd in Los Angeles).
‘After we finished our drinks we left. (Simpson) beat me up so bad at home. Tore my blue sweater and blue socks completely off me. Went to hospital on Wilshire, pretended it was a bicycle accident’.
Another nasty episode happened on January 10, 1988.
At the time Nicole was two months pregnant with their son Justin and Simpson demanded she have an abortion and aimed a gun at her.
The diaries were found in Nicole’s safe deposit box along with photos of her bruised face and apology letters from Simpson (pictured together in 1984)
In her diary she wrote: ‘OJ was drunk, he never let up. Get out my f****** house you fat a** liar. I packed a few things together.
‘He locked the door again. I buzzed. Do I really have to go tonight? (Their daughter) Sydney’s sleeping, it’s late. Let me tell you how serious I am. I have a gun in my hand, get the f*** out of here’.
Brown filed for divorce in 1992 but she was unable to leave Simpson and wrote a letter in which she said she wanted him back.
After Simpson was acquitted Goldman’s family made it their life’s mission to prove his guilt and brought a civil case against him, which they won.
A jury awarded them $33.5m damages but they have not received anything from Simpson and in the meantime the judgement has grown to $70m.
In 2008 Simpson was jailed for 33 years for an armed robbery at a Las Vegas hotel involving his own memorabilia and was released early in 2017 having served nearly nine years.
Investigation Discovery boss Henry Schleiff said: ‘This documentary is not here to retell the famous trial, but to remember the woman who struggled with domestic violence and now tells her side of the story, in her words, for the first time’.
O.J. & NICOLE: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY premieres on Monday, October 5th at 10/9ct, only on Investigation Discovery. You can also stream the special starting Monday on IDGo.
