The big question: Did OJ do it?
An undercover cop turned reality TV star is reinvestigating the OJ Simpson case, writes
Shaun Bamber.
On June 17, 1994, 10-year-old Rhode Island schoolboy Derrick Levasseur sat and watched – along with 95 million other Americans – while the LAPD pursued former gridiron star turned actor OJ Simpson in a lowspeed car chase that lasted more than an hour.
It hardly bears repeating, but at the time a warrant had been issued for Simpson’s arrest after his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman had been found stabbed to death five days earlier outside Brown’s home in western LA.
Ten years later, Levasseur joined the Rhode Island police force, where he would go on to become an undercover narcotics officer. Ten years after that, Levasseur won the 16th season of the American reality TV series Big Brother, taking home US$575,000 in prize money.
Now, the 33-year-old police sergeant has joined LAPD forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie and Dallas-based private investigator William C Dear – author of OJ Is Innocent And I Can Prove It – to re-examine the OJ Simpson murder case and see if new evidence can be brought to light.
The trio’s investigations form the basis of the new Discovery docu-series Is OJ Innocent? The Missing Evidence.
All of which begs the question – what’s an undercover cop/reality TV star who was barely out of short pants when the murders were actually committed doing investigating the OJ Simpson case 22 years later?
And from Rhode Island of all places, which is almost as far from Los Angeles as it is possible to get while still within the continental United States.
Ask Levasseur himself though, and he’ll tell you that his distance from the Simpson case is precisely what makes him such a valuable member of his investigative team.
‘‘I was so young when it happened,’’ acknowledges Levasseur. ‘‘But I think that’s part of the reason why I got involved with this case, because I was not as familiar with the actual trial as a lot of people were. Which kind of brought me in with a different perspective than most.’’
Quizzing him on the Simpson doco over the phone from New York City, Levasseur seems frank and forthright – or as forthright as he can be when promoting a documentary series that will almost certainly rely on keeping viewers in the dark as much as possible until the final episode.
He certainly talks like a cop – or at
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Kes Tonight, 8.30pm, Maori TV
least like someone who is used to having what he says written down and turned into a report. His responses are precise, concise, informative – there’s a minimum of mucking around.
Speaking of which, it was the last question I asked him, but let’s cut to the chase – is OJ innocent or what?
Levasseur pauses at this. He’s clearly been expecting the question and appears to have no problem with it being asked, but still seems to need some time to gather his thoughts.
‘‘So... I can’t answer that obviously,’’ he continues. ‘‘You know I can’t. What I can tell you is this: I came into this investigation with an opinion on what had happened that night. And I can tell you that, based on what we found, my opinion was altered and the conclusion that I came to was not the conclusion I anticipated I was going to come to.
‘‘So that’s the most I can tell you – if I told you what I thought right now, there would be no need to watch the show.’’
OK, I know I said before his responses were informative, but the guy’s got a show to promote, right?
And – his obvious youth and the reality TV stint aside – Levasseur does seem like a more than credible figurehead to hang a show like this on.
Ken Loach’s Bafta-winning 1969 drama about a 15-year-old neglected and bullied boy who seeks solace by stealing and nurturing a small kestrel. ‘‘A compassionate, powerful high point of low-budget realist cinema, Ken Loach’s It also turns out we can’t even hold the whole Big Brother thing against him.
‘‘Here’s the way I look at it,’’ he says, when I ask what people will think of a reality contest winner fronting a documentary about the OJ Simpson murder case.
‘‘It’s very tough to go on a reality show if you want to go into acting or something, because you’re viewed as a reality TV star. But I didn’t even tell the people in the house I was an undercover cop – I went in there and pretended I was something else. So I treated the Big Brother house as an active undercover investigation.
‘‘That’s the way I played the entire game – and that’s why I was so successful, because it wasn’t a game to Kes is funny, sad, and bitingly authentic, ‘‘ wrote Total Film magazine’s Philip Kemp.
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Marathon: The Patriot’s Day Bombing Monday, 7.30pm, SoHo
New documentary, which revisits the April 15, 2013, bombings at the Boston Marathon through the prism of individuals whose lives were forever me, it wasn’t a reality show. I was there to prove my skills and techniques, and to prove to the world that this is how good undercover cops really are.
‘‘So although some may call me a reality star, I think it’s important to note that before I was on Big Brother I had been a police officer for almost 11 years, and that I’m still an active police officer. I went on this reality show, but it doesn’t define me.’’
Damn. Good answer. OK, so you’re a police officer first, reality TV star distant second. What about the fact that you’re not actually a homicide investigator? What do you say to that?
‘‘By no means am I an expert in homicide investigation. I work in a very small department – we don’t have a homicide division.
‘‘But I’ve investigated motor vehicle thefts, vandalisms, robberies, child molestations, undercover operations – and I’ve assisted on homicide investigations. And what I’ve learned is that although they’re different crimes, they all have the same approach, and they all have the same techniques that are applied – you’re interviewing witnesses, you’re investigating the crime scene – and we all go through the same type of training.
‘‘So I’m certified in blood spatter recognition. I’m certified in forensic collection. I’m certified in how you would actually photograph a crime scene and what you would look for – all those things that you would need in order to actually investigate a homicide.’’
Got me again. Let’s just wrap this up, shall we? Why do you think the OJ Simpson case continues to fascinate – 22 years after the fact?
‘‘You know what it is? It’s a few things. It’s not only the fact that it involves murder.
‘‘You have race being a huge issue in this case. You have police misconduct – alleged police misconduct – being a huge issue. You have this passion and all these other things that were associated with these relationships. And then you have a celebrity who has fallen from grace.
‘‘Everyone loved OJ Simpson, and to think that this guy, who everyone watched on TV and saw running on a football field, was capable of such a heinous crime – I think it was a real shock to a lot of people. And people kind of chose sides in this case, you know – whether to believe OJ or not.
‘‘So I think it’s the fact that to this day, no one has been convicted of the murders – and we as humans do not like unresolved issues. We want to know. We want someone to tell us, this is what happened, here it is, black and white. Until that day, I don’t know if anyone will ever feel a complete resolution involving this case – as it is with many other cases.’’
Is OJ Innocent? The Missing Evidence, Discovery, Sundays from February 5, 8.30pm
changed by the attacks. ‘‘This film was made to remind us that recovery is far harder and more complex than we realise,’’ wrote The New York Times‘ Neil Genzlinger.
Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath Wednesday, 9.30pm, CI
'Everyone loved OJ Simpson, and to think that this guy ... was capable of such a heinous crime – I think it was a real shock to a lot of people.' Derrick Levasseur
Eight-part documentary series that sees The King of Queens‘ actress delving deep into shocking stories of abuse, heartbreak, and harassment experienced by those who have left the church and spoken publicly about their experiences. ‘‘Remini’s presence is compelling (and frequently wacky), while her outrage at the institution she grew up in seems deeply felt,’’ wrote The Atlantic‘s Sophie Gilbert. – James Croot