USA TODAY International Edition
O. J. Simpson saga: Where they are now
Simpson’s parole hearing on 2007 crime spurs look back at key figures from 1995 murder trial that gripped the country
O. J. Simpson was sent to prison nearly nine years ago, and though much in the world has changed, one thing hasn’t: Kato Kaelin is still getting laughs.
The current Twitter bio for Kaelin, who lived in Simpson’s guesthouse at the time of the 1994 murders of Simpson’s former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, reads: “Former houseguest, current adult, but now living behind my own house.”
Retweeted on Kaelin’s Twitter feed this week was a tweet from @ unknowncomic, “Kato ... Is the rumor true that if O. J. is paroled that you have offered to let him move into your guest house …?”
Simpson, 70, will go before the Nevada Board of Parole on Thursday and could be released from Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada as early as Oct. 1. In the meantime, he has been disinfecting gym equipment, coaching softball teams and sharing a prison cell of about 90 square feet with another inmate while waiting for this day.
Although his acquittal in the 1994 murders are to have no bearing on his chance of parole for his current sentence — a minimum of nine years and a maximum sentence of 33 years for his part in the 2007 armed robbery of two sports memorabilia agents — it has stirred memories of the key people involved in the 1995 murder trial and triggered a question: Where are they now?
KATO KAELIN
He was described by some as the surfer dude living in Simpson’s guesthouse, and records now show Kaelin resides in an apartment in Burbank, Calif. He also said he has no plans to talk to Simpson, even though Kaelin continues to capitalize on his celebrity from the Simpson saga.
Kaelin, who works as a traveling emcee for Wizard World Comic Con, hosts a weekly sports talk show and recently became the spokesman for a venture called Guesthouserent. com, said he recently sold a TV show titled Wrong Place, Wrong
Time.
“It’s because of what I was involved with and the crime,” Kaelin, 58, told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s like how your life can change, how a person’s life changes, in an instant of wrong place, wrong time.”
Yet it seems more like right place, right time for Kaelin, who has gone from living for free on Simpson’s estate to owning his place in Burbank, making appearances at events like celebrity golf tournaments and is in demand again for interviews as Simpson’s parole hearing nears.
“I’m just working consistently,” Kaelin said. “This last two years of my life, it’s just been blessed with stuff.” MARK FUHRMAN The former Los Angeles police detective, who was a chief witness against Simpson in the murder trial and with his testimony fueled suspicion of racism within the L. A. police department, will be easy to find Thursday. Fox News announced Fuhrman will serve as an analyst during its coverage of the parole hearing.
Fuhrman, 65, works as a forensic and crime scene expert for Fox News.
In a 2016 interview with the New York Post, he slammed the FX series The People v. O. J. Simpson for dismissing facts from the case and failing to consult with any prosecution sources. MARCIA CLARK The lead prosecutor in the murder trial cashed in with a book about the case titled Without a Doubt, which netted her and a coauthor more than $ 4 million. Clark, 63, also has written several novels and a pilot script for TV and served as a commentator for high- profile trials.
She is working on a third book in a crime fiction series that is scheduled to be released in August, according to her Twitter account.
Oh, and the still- famous prosecutor ditched her curly- haired look that became an object of fascination, and derision, during the murder trial and now sports a straightened, sophisticated style. JOHNNIE COCHRAN The attorney who uttered the trial’s most enduring words — “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” — died in 2005 of a brain tumor at 67. But he hardly faded away after Simpson’s trial.
Cochran represented Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Jim Brown and burnished his reputation as a high- profile and successful celebrity attorney.
He also wrote two books and made the rounds on TV, appearing on Court TV, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Roseanne Show and The Chris Rock Show.
A middle school in L. A. was renamed in his honor in 2006. FRED GOLDMAN The father of Ron Goldman became a more prominent figure at the civil trial in 1997, when a jury ordered Simpson to pay $ 33.5 million to Ron Goldman’s family and the family of Nicole Brown Simpson. Fred Goldman lives in Arizona and declined to comment about the parole hearing. DENISE SIMPSON The sister of Nicole Brown Simpson has gone from former model to activist, dedicating her life to fighting domestic violence. She founded the Nicole Brown Foundation and lives in Southern California.
During a 1998 TV appearance with Simpson, Brown called him “a pig, a lowlife,” and she has maintained that Simpson killed her sister. LANCE ITO The judge who presided over the murder trial retired in 2015 and kept a low profile in public after the trial. But before hanging up his judge’s robe, Ito, 66, leveraged his status to effect judicial reform, such as increasing the number of courtroom interpreters. ROBERT SHAPIRO Another prominent member of Simpson’s “Dream Team” of attorneys lost his appetite for criminal law. After the murder trial, he shifted his focus to civil litigation and co- founded LegalZoom, an online company that enables customers to sidestep attorneys and create their own legal documents. ROBERT KARDASHIAN Simpson’s pal, a defense attorney who became a fixture during the trial, died in 2003. But his daughters capitalized on his celebrity. Of course, Kim Kardashian, along with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney, star in the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. O. J. SIMPSON’S CHILDREN At a 2013 parole hearing, when Simpson was paroled on kidnapping and lesser criminal counts, he said he’d worked hard to keep his four children out of the spotlight. “To the point where most people wouldn’t recognize my kids,” he said, “other than my oldest daughter.” But their whereabouts are known.
Arnelle Simpson, 48, lives in Fresno and is expected to be with Simpson during the parole hearing Thursday.
Jason Simpson, 47, has pursued a culinary career and in recent years worked as a chef at Atlanta restaurant St. Cecilia, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Times also reported Sydney Simpson, 31, graduated from Boston University in 2010 with a degree in sociology, and, as of 2016, Justin Simpson, 28, was a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker.
“I’m just working consistently. This last two years of my life, it’s just been blessed with stuff.” Kato Kaelin, whose celebrity gained from the O. J. Simpson saga has endured