USA: OJ SIMPSON TRIAL: COMPUTER SIMULATION OF INCIDENT

(22 Jan 1995) English/Nat The OJ Simpson murder trial finally opens in Los Angeles tomorrow (Monday). The jury will have to decide whether the former American Football legend is guilty of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. But a computer programme, which recreates the murders, has been weighing the evidence and hints at a possible verdict. It’s a kind of voyeurism. A computer simulation of the fatal attack on O.J. Simpson’s ex- wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman. George Washington University Law Professor James Starrs studied hundreds of pages of police records and court transcripts to recreate the events of the night of June 12th, 1994. Based on the evidence, he reasons that Simpson and Goldman were killed separately. He says that doesn’t look good for O.J. SOUNDBITE: It is quite clear to me, however, that if the killings occurred separately as I portray it, also with a design to kill, that O.J. Simpson is the person who had the greatest motive to kill of anyone I can think of in this situation. SUPER CAPTION: James Starrs, George Washington University Starrs says the killer lured Nicole to the front gate of her condominium by ringing the front bell. She had to leave the safety of her home to open it because the buzzer wasn’t working. Also, unknown to the killer, Nicole was expecting Ronald Goldman. He had just called to say he was on his way to return sunglasses her mother had left at the restaurant where he worked. Unable to see in the dark through the mesh of the gate, the murderer caught Nicole by surprise and quickly killed her. He slit her throat from behind, and police reports said her head was nearly severed. According to Starrs, Ronald Goldman arrived on the scene seconds later. He tried to run but was pulled back into the courtyard by his shirttail. Starrs says the evidence suggest there was an intense struggle. . The computer simulation, created by an Iowa company - EAI, Engineering Animation Inc. - shows the crime from four perspectives: that of a witness, the assailant, and the two victims. The creators were careful to make the assailant “race-neutral“ so as to avoid suggesting O.J. Simpson was the perpetrator. The simulation won’t be used in the trial, but it will help satisfy the American public’s vast appetite for information about the Simpson case. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: