Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings

The O. J. Simpson Murder Trial (Part V)

The prosecution responded by showing that a different photograph that showed the blood was present on the back gate on June 13 and before the blood had been taken from Simpson's arm. Officer Robert Riske was the first officer to the crime scene and the one who pointed out the blood on the back gate to Fuhrman, who documented it in his notes that night. Multiple other officers also testified under oath that the blood was present on the back gate the night of the murders. The prosecution also pointed out that the media cameras present proved that Vannatter had never to the Bundy crime scene (Nicole Brown's home), where Simpson's blood was allegedly planted.

Bronco

Barry Scheck alleged that the police had twice planted the victims' blood inside Simpson's Bronco. An initial collection was made on June 13; the defense accused Vannatter of planting the victims' blood in the Bronco when he returned to Simpson's home later that evening. The prosecution responded that the Bronco had already been impounded by the time Vannatter returned and was not even at Rockingham.

Socks

The defense alleged that the police planted Nicole Brown's blood on the socks found in Simpson's bedroom. The socks were collected on June 13 and had blood from both Simpson and Brown but her blood on the socks was not identified until August 4. The socks were found by Detective Fuhrman, but the defense suggested Vannatter planted the blood. He had received both blood reference vials from the victims earlier that day from the coroner and booked them immediately into evidence. Vannatter then drove back to Rockingham later that evening to hand deliver the reference vial for Simpson to Fung, which the defense alleged gave him opportunity to plant the blood. Fung testified he could not see blood on the socks he collected from Simpson's bedroom but the prosecution later demonstrated that those blood stains are only visible underneath a microscope.

Detective Vannatter denied planting Nicole Brown's blood on the socks. The video from Willie Ford indicated that the socks had already been collected and stored in the evidence van before Vannatter arrived and footage from the media cameras present appeared to prove that he never went inside the evidence van when he arrived at Rockingham.

Glove

The last exhibit allegedly planted was the bloody glove found at Simpson's property by Detective Mark Fuhrman. Unlike the sock and the back gate, the defense provided no physical or eyewitness evidence to support their claim that the prosecution could then refute. Jeffrey Toobin published an article in The New Yorker months before the trial began, which cited a source in Simpson's defense team that they intended to accuse Mark Fuhrman of planting the glove with the motive being racism. Robert Shapiro later admitted he was Toobin's source.

Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey suggested that Fuhrman found the glove at the crime scene, picked it up with a stick and placed it in a plastic bag, and then concealed it in his sock when he drove to Simpson's home with Detectives Lange and Vannatter and his partner Detective Philips. Bailey suggested that Fuhrman had then planted the glove in order to frame Simpson, with the motive either being racism or a desire to become the hero in a high-profile case. Bailey also suggested that Fuhrman broke into Simpson's Bronco and used the glove like a paint brush to plant blood onto and inside the Bronco.

During redirect, the prosecution made numerous points to support the contention that Fuhrman did not plant the glove. They noted that by the time Fuhrman had arrived, the crime scene at Brown's home had already been combed over by several officers for almost two hours, and none had noticed a second glove at the scene, including Lt. Frank Spangler. Spangler testified that only one glove was found at the crime scene, by him and the other two officers who were there first, and that he had been with Fuhrman for the duration of Fuhrman's time at the scene. Spangler stated that he would have seen Fuhrman purloin the glove if he had in fact done so. Detective Tom Lange testified on March 8, 1995 that 14 other officers were there when Fuhrman arrived as well and all said there was only one glove at the crime scene. Clark added that Fuhrman did not know whether Simpson had an alibi, if there were any witnesses to the murders, whose blood was on the glove, that the Bronco belonged to Simpson, or whether Kaelin had already searched the area where the glove was found. Prosecutor George Clarke, who specialized in DNA evidence, wrote that it was difficult to refute the defense's corruption claim about the glove deductively because the DNA results would be the same whether it had been planted or not, so they used inductive arguments instead.