A new documentary features diary entries by the late Nicole Brown Simpson in which she recounted in chilling detail alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband, O.J. Simpson.
Simpson allegedly murdered Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman on Oct. 3, 1994; he was acquitted in what was termed the “Trial of the Century.”
The court in Simpson’s trial allowed only edited versions of some of Nicole’s diaries to be admitted. “Prosecutors were unable to use Nicole Brown’s diaries in the criminal case, in which Simpson was acquitted, because of the rule excluding hearsay evidence,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
“OJ and Nicole: An American Tragedy,” a new documentary on Investigation Discovery that will air on the 25th anniversary of Nicole’s death, features the numerous diary entries. “Nicole wrote about 60 occasions that Simpson allegedly physically abused and threatened her including during their stormy marriage,” the Daily Mail reports.
The diaries, which were in Nicole’s safe deposit box next to photos of her bruised face and letters of apology from O.J., state that the first time Simpson beat Nicole up was in 1978. “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),” one entry reads, adding, “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 entry states, “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 7-8 p.m.”
The couple wed in 1985; a 1986 entry 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.”
An entry dated Jan. 10, 1988, when Nicole was two months pregnant with their son Justin. States that Simpson demanded she have an abortion and aimed a gun at her. Another entry: “O.J 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.”
One diary entry states that after a gay man kissed their son, “O.J. threw me against walls in our hotel and on the floor. Put bruises on my arms and back. The window scarred me – thought he’d throw me out.”
Former LAPD officer John Edwards appears in the documentary; he recalls visiting the Simpsons’ house after Nicole called 911; he states he found her badly beaten, adding, “A woman came running out, a tall blonde woman, and she was yelling ‘He’s gonna kill me.’ I said who? She said: ‘O.J.’ I said ‘O.J. Simpson?’ She said: ‘You’ve been up here eight times already and you’ve done nothing about it.’”
At the trial, Edwards asserted, “I could see on her face she had a mark like a hiking boot, she looked like she’d been kicked in the head … I look over my head and here comes O.J. Simpson right to where the gate is and he’s yelling, I mean screaming: ‘I don’t want you around here any more. I got two women; I don’t want you around here any more.’”
Investigation Discovery boss Henry Schleiff stated, “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.”