How Did O. J. Simpson Contribute To The Puzzle

Death scenes are often times extremely complex and no two are ever alike. The pieces to the puzzle lie on and around the body, and it is up to the death scene investigator to put those pieces of the puzzle together. The investigator needs to find the pieces of evidence that are necessary to crack the case open. These pieces of evidence will be crucial in determining the cause and manner of death, injury types, patterns, and the source of the injury/injuries. There is perhaps no case more infamous and studied than the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Brown, the ex-wife of O.J. Simpson, was nationally recognized and instantly drew attention to the case. A case that is still discussed to this very day due to the failures of everyone

involved ranging from the officers, detectives, and medical examiners. Everybody that was involved was going to have their hands full with this case, all under the watchful eyes of the nation.
This case begins on June 12th, 1994. It is on this day that Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were stabbed to death outside of Brown’s condo, which is located at 875 South Bundy Drive, Brentwood, California. It is believed that they were stabbed to death a little after 10 p.m., although the defense would claim that the incident did not take place until after 11 p.m.. Brown, 35, and Goldman, 25, were discovered around midnight by a neighbor and the first police officers arrived at the scene at 12:13 a.m. Being that the murders took place in Brentwood, Los Angeles, the law enforcement jurisdiction belonged to the Los Angeles Police Department. As for the medical examiner jurisdiction, this belonged to the Los Angeles County, Department of Coroner.
Every death scene is unique in its own special way, and as a result, no two scenes will ever be the same. For this reason it’s important for investigators to photograph and document every single piece of evidence that they find so that no piece of evidence will be forgotten or lost. The photos will help the jurors have a basic understanding of the general scene as well. In this case it was especially important for the investigators to have all their facts and information documented due to the high publicity surrounding the case. According to the investigator’s report, “Nicole Simpson’s body was found at the foot of the stairs at the gate to her condominium. The body was in a fetal position with a ‘large sharp force injury to the neck’. She was wearing a black dress and no shoes. Goldman’s body was slumped in the dirt nearby, his back against a tree stump. Near his right foot, a ‘business-size white envelope contained a pair of eyeglasses” (Spolar). The eyeglasses that were found by Goldman’s foot belonged to Brown’s mother (Spolar). In addition to the envelope, there was also a blood-soaked left handed leather glove which was believed to have been the perpetrators (Velasquez). Blood prints were found on the ground, not only footprints but paw prints as well. The paw prints were identified to have come from Brown’s dog, and they led from Brown’s body to the street (Johnson, Velasquez). The footprints however led in the opposite direction, going away from the bodies towards the back of the property towards the alley and it’s believed these prints came from the perpetrator (Velasquez). Although there was a lot of evidence and facts obtained from this scene, it did not come without controversy. For starters, “police used a blanket which came from inside the house to cover Nicole Brown’s body, contaminating the body and anything surrounding it” (crimemuseum.org). In addition to that, the police were careless in how they maneuvered around the scene and the LAPD ended up causing more bloody shoe prints than the perpetrator themselves left (crimemuseum.org).
The cause of death for both Brown and Goldman was determined to be from multiple sharp force injuries (lectlaw.com). Specifically in Brown’s case, it was due to or as a consequence of I. Incised wound of neck, II. Multiple stab wound of neck and scalp (total of seven), III. Multiple injuries of hands, including incised wound, ring finger of right hand (defense wound), and IV. Scalp bruise, right parietal (lectlaw.com). Goldman’s death was due to or as a consequence of I. Sharp force wound of neck, left side, with transection of left internal jugular vein, II. Multiple stab wounds of chest, abdomen, and left thigh: Penetrating stab wounds of chest and abdomen with right hemothorax and hemoperitoneum, III. Multiple incised wounds of scalp, face, neck, chest, and left hand (defense wound), and IV. Multiple abrasions upper extremities and hands (defense wounds) (lectlaw.com). One thing we see here from the autopsy reports is that there were more defense wounds on Goldman’s body than on Browns. Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, a medical examiner on the case, states how a bruise on the right side of Brown’s head caused either by a blow from a fist or a knife handle, could have potentially left her unconscious and unable to defend herself (Seigel). If this were to be the case, it would make sense why Brown’s body would have fewer defense wounds, as she would’ve been unable to fight back after getting knocked out. As for Goldman, Dr. Sathyavagiswaran says that he was cornered by his assailant in a tightly enclosed area, had no means of escape, and that the wounds he suffered were probably inflicted in less than a minute (Noble). This opinion based off the facts of the autopsy from the medical examiner would make sense as to why Goldman had more defense wounds on his body, as he would’ve been stuck in the enclosed area with no other option but to fight. In addition to that, photos of Goldman from the scene show his shirt pulled up, especially in the back, which could potentially be indicative that Goldman was indeed physically fighting with the perpetrator before giving in to his injuries. The manner of death for both Brown and Goldman was ruled as “Homicide”.
The injury types that are present in this case are sharp force injuries and blunt force trauma. There are far more sharp force injuries in this case when compared to just the one sign of blunt force trauma. Both victims were stabbed/cut numerous amounts of times as we see multiple abrasions, incisions, and penetrating stab wounds in both victims (lectlaw.com). The one instance of blunt force trauma comes from Brown, who had a contusion (bruise) on the right side of her head which was caused either by a blow from a fist or from the knife handle used in the attack (lectlaw.org, Siegel).
The source of injury for both Brown and Goldman was a knife, however, the knife used in the attack was never actually recovered.

Dr. Sathyavagiswaran believed that all the slash wounds to Brown’s body could have been left by one single-edged knife about 6 inches long (Siegel). Sathyavagiswaran also stated that a double-edged knife could’ve left some of the smaller wounds, but those wounds could also have been attributed to the tapered tip of a single-knife (Siegel).

Injury patterns were also seen in both deaths as they were both repeatedly stabbed and cut by the assailant. On Brown there were four stab-wounds in a close-set pattern that would suggest that she was held in some way and gave little struggle (Siegel). Further reinforcing the belief that she was possibly knocked unconscious and unable to fight for her life (Siegel).

Nicole Brown Simpson was identified as the owner of the residence. Brown was able to be identified so quickly as she was recognizable due to the fact that she was O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife. Goldman however, was identified through his identification card which was found in his back

pocket.
This case required the use of many forensic and investigative techniques, although some of these techniques and practices were executed rather poorly. For starters, several items of evidence were never logged or entered into the chain of custody (crimemuseum.org). There were also issues with the photography techniques. Photos of critical evidence were taken without scales, and several items were being photographed without ever being labeled or logged in (crimemuseum.org). They also packaged wet items before they could dry and several pieces of evidence would be packed together at times allowing for cross contamination to take place (crimemuseum.org).
There were however times where proper forensic and investigative techniques were used.

DNA and blood samples were used to connect the two victims, Brown and Goldman, to a potential killer in O.J. Simpson. The DNA evidence showed a high possibility that O.J. Simpson was at the scene when the murders took place. The blood sample taken from Brown was also found on a sock at Simpson’s house (crimemuseum.org). There were also blood samples found in Simpson’s Bronco, and these blood samples were also matched to all three of Simpson, Brown, and Goldman (crimemuseum.org). Now a days with such strong evidence such as DNA connecting all three individuals to the scene, it would be likely to determine that Simpson was the killer. However, since DNA was still a relatively new concept at this time in history, it did not carry the weight in court as it does

now.
In my opinion this case was poorly handled. The officers who responded to the scene decided to place a blanket that was found inside Brown’s house over Brown’s body to shield it from people seeing it (crimemuseum.org). As a death scene investigator I’d ideally want the body to remain untouched so that I can examine the body how it was found. Placing the blanket over the body allowed for the contamination of the body and anything around it that may have come into contact with the blanket. In addition to that, the medical examiner on the case could not determine how significant the brain contusion was that Brown suffered because only a portion of tissue was preserved to be later examined (Seigel). If it were up to me, I’d rather preserve more than I needed to adequately test the extent of the contusion, rather than not have enough tissue to do a proper analysis. Personally I believe O.J. Simpson committed both murders. There was a history of domestic abuse between Simpson and Brown which should put up red flags. There was no evidence of anyone breaking into the house, and with there being so many stab wounds on Brown, it leads me to believe that O.J. was out that night to end the life of Nicole Brown Simpson. As for Goldman, I believe he returned Brown’s mother’s glasses at the wrong time and was killed as a result. Even the blood and other trace evidence all signify that Simpson was the one that did it. Simpson’s blood was found at the scene. Brown’s and Goldman’s blood was also found in Simpson’s Bronco and on his sock that was found at his home. In addition to the blood findings, fibers from Brown and Goldman were also found in Simpson’s Bronco. Everything points to Simpson being the killer in this case.
In conclusion, a forensic death investigator’s job is never easy. It a slow process that can’t be rushed.