A longtime friend of O.J. Simpson has reportedly said that another man confessed to having a role in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
The alleged confession is discussed in Peacock’s documentary O.J.’s Accomplice, in which Charlie Ehrlich—who was charged alongside Simpson in a 2007 Las Vegas robbery case—said convicted drug trafficker Joey Ippolito admitted shortly before his death in 2006 that he had been involved in the 1994 killings of Simpson’s ex-wife and her friend.
“You didn’t bring it up, so I’m not going to bring it up,” Charlie told documentary co-director Sumit David while wearing a microphone off camera, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “But yeah. I was very good friends with his brother Lou [Ippolito].”
“Do you know what Lou told me?” Charlie continued. “He told me that a month before Joey died, he took him to Italy—took Joe to Italy. And Joe admitted that he was involved [in the Simpson/Goldman murders].”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, co-director Ari Mark said Lou repeated the account off camera to members of the production team and later requested that his on-camera footage be excluded.
Charlie’s friend Joe Spitaleri offered a similar account in O.J.’s Accomplice.
“It was like a deathbed admission,” Spitaleri said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Louie told Charlie, Charlie told me. I was scared to bring it up because Charlie asked me not to.”
The documentary premiered on Nov. 1, only weeks after an Oct. 18 New York Times investigation revealed previously sealed court records concerning information Joey provided to authorities as an informant during Simpson’s 1995 murder trial.
Joey had been close to Simpson’s best friend, Al Cowlings, who drove Simpson in the white Ford Bronco during the notorious police chase that followed the murders, the outlet reported.
Additional claims came from Joey’s brother, Sam Ippolito, who told the New York Times he was “100 percent” certain Joey had been at the murder scene.
Sam said Joey returned home that night with what appeared to be blood on his hands and a bag holding a heavy object. Joey allegedly asked Sam to dispose of it, and Sam said he did.
Sam also told the outlet that he later overheard Joey call Cowlings and say he had been “helping” Simpson.
According to the Times, Sam sought payment after his interview and tried to withdraw his account, saying he had signed a lucrative deal to tell the story elsewhere. Sam also acknowledged that he could not separate fact from fiction.
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Still, the claim that Joey was involved has been disputed.
Tom Lange, the retired LAPD detective who served as lead investigator in the Simpson case, told TMZ that there was no evidence connecting Joey to the killings and that investigators had never interviewed him.
Joey’s widow, Nicole Ippolito, also criticized the documentary. She told The Hollywood Reporter that it was exploitative and described it as a “woefully misguided project.”
What Was O.J. Simpson Accused Of?
O.J. Simpson was a former NFL running back who later built an acting career, including appearances in the The Naked Gun films.
Simpson married Brown in 1985. Their relationship was marked by incidents of domestic violence, and the couple divorced in 1992.
Brown and her friend Goldman were found fatally stabbed outside Brown’s Brentwood home on June 13, 1994.
Simpson was accused of the killings after blood evidence and a glove appeared to link him to the crime scene. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.
His murder trial, later dubbed the “Trial of the Century,” became a global media spectacle. During one of its most memorable moments, Simpson struggled to put on the gloves, leading defense attorney Johnnie Cochran to deliver the now-famous line: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
Simpson was acquitted of both murders in October 1995, but legal troubles followed.
In his controversial 2007 book, If I Did It, Simpson presented a hypothetical account of the murders, drawing condemnation from both families.
The following year, Simpson was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in connection with a Las Vegas sports memorabilia heist involving Charlie. Simpson spent nine years in prison, while Charlie pleaded guilty to reduced charges and received probation.
Simpson died from prostate cancer at age 76 on April 10, 2024.
The Los Angeles Police Department told the Times that the investigation into the deaths of Brown Simpson and Goldman “remains open and ongoing.”