Earlier today, TMZ reported that a knife which may have been used in the 1994 murders of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson was found buried at the former estate of disgraced football legend O.J. Simpson.
Now, the Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed that it is investigating the matter and treating the knife as possible new evidence in one of the most high-profile crimes of the 20th Century.
“Within the last month LAPD became aware of an item that was allegedly recovered by a citizen from the Rockingham property during the demolition of the site,” says LAPD Captain Andrew Neiman in the video above.
“We need to vet that, we still don’t know if that’s an accurate account.
“That item has been recovered by robbery homicide investigators. It is being treated as we would all evidence. It has been submitted to our lab. They are going to study it and examine if for all forensics, including serology and DNA and hair samples.”
Addressing the rumor that a retired LA police officer may have been in possession of the knife since as early as 1998, Neiman stated:
“I was really surprised. I would think that an LAPD officer – if this story is accurate as we’re being told – would know that anytime you come into contact with evidence, you should and shall submit that.”
TMZ’s sources claim that the knife was discovered by a civilian and turned over to an officer, who allegedly decided to keep it as a valuable momento.
The timing of the discovery is bizarre, as the Simpson case has been back in the news in recent months due to the popularity of an FX miniseries about the trial.
Simpson, of course, was acquitted of the murders in 1995, but is currently in prison after being found guilty on unrelated kidnapping, robbery and assault charges in 2008.
We’ll have further updates on this story as more information becomes available.
