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Nine fingerprints that went unidentified during the original O.J. Simpson murder investigation could hold new clues more than 30 years later, and one filmmaker believes advances in forensic technology could help reveal who left them behind.
Ari Mark co-directed the Peacock docuseries, “OJ’s Accomplice,” which reexamines the 1994 murders of Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
The series explores the theory that the former NFL star may not have acted alone, focusing on convicted drug trafficker and Simpson associate Joey Ippolito, who reportedly had ties to organized crime.
Mark told Fox News Digital he wants investigators to consider reexamining nine fingerprints recovered from the crime scene that could not be matched to any known samples during the original investigation.
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O.J. Simpson sits in Superior Court in Los Angeles in 1994 during an open court session. “OJ’s Accomplice” is currently available for streaming. (Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“The fact that there’s nine fingerprints sitting around that nobody wants to put through a system that’s very updated and technologically not what it was before, that just seems unnecessary,” Mark said. “Just do it.
“You can take latent prints and analyze those in a way that you couldn’t before,” Mark continued. “Also, remember, the systems over time are obviously collecting more data and more people. So, if you’re looking for a match, you have a greater chance of getting one all these years later.”
Former DEA agent Robert Brisolari appears in Peacock’s “OJ’s Accomplice,” which explores the theory that O.J. Simpson may not have acted alone. (Peacock)
In 1995, the Los Angeles Times reported that none of the identifiable fingerprints investigators collected at the Bundy Drive condominium where Brown Simpson and Goldman were murdered matched Simpson. Fingerprint specialist Gilbert Aguilar, a defense witness, testified that police knew that Simpson’s fingerprints did not match the identifiable prints recovered at the crime scene.
O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson March 16, 1994, in Los Angeles. She was murdered in June of that year. (Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
Under questioning by lead defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr., Aguilar testified that nine prints found at Bundy Drive could not be matched to any known sample. According to the Los Angeles Times, Simpson’s lawyers argued that unknown attackers committed the murders and that detectives failed to adequately investigate that possibility because they quickly concluded Simpson had killed his ex-wife and her friend.
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According to Aguilar’s testimony, investigators compared the unidentified prints with those of Simpson, Brown Simpson and 58 friends, relatives and acquaintances but found no matches. Aguilar also testified that investigators searched federal and state computerized fingerprint databases without finding a match.
Mark said his goal for the docuseries was “to raise enough questions that it gets a second look.”
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A family photo of Ronald Goldman, who was murdered with O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, June 12, 1994. (Lee Celano/WireImage)
“I’m very careful about the call to action because there are victims’ families involved here, and you would want them to be supportive of that,” Mark said. “That would be my first priority. Assuming it was something they were interested in, I think everyone deserves to know what actually happened and if that involves a second person, third person or whatever it is, great.”
Aguilar, who appears in the docuseries, raised the possibility that today’s expanded fingerprint databases could produce a match.
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“At the crime scene, there were nine identifiable prints that I never identified to whom they belong,” Aguilar said in the documentary.
“Back in 1994, you’re running prints through AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System). But, first, it’s checking everybody that’s been arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department. Then it would be run through Sacramento. Then run through all the Western states.
Denise Brown, sister of murder victim Nicole Brown Simpson, cries on the witness stand in Los Angeles as a picture she took of an injured Nicole Brown Simpson is shown on a screen. (Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“If somebody is arrested outside your database, like in New York or the state of Florida, you’re not going to get anything,” Aguilar continued. “LAPD has all the prints, and they could have them [tested again]. They may or may not. I don’t know. It’s up to them now.”
It is unclear whether investigators have reexamined the nine unidentified fingerprints using modern forensic technology or updated fingerprint databases.
Tom Lange is a retired LAPD detective who served as one of the lead investigators in the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. (Peacock)
An LAPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital the investigation remains open.
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O.J. Simpson looks at a new pair of Aris extra-large gloves prosecutors had him put on for the jury during his double murder trial in Los Angeles June 21, 1995. The gloves were the same type found at the Bundy murder scene and the Simpson estate. (AFP via Getty Images)
“The O.J. Simpson case remains an open and ongoing investigation. The Department has an obligation to continue to pursue justice in this matter, at a point that, if new evidence is found, detectives will follow those investigatory leads. At this point there is no other information available for release.”
In the docuseries, defense investigator Pat McKenna said the fingerprints should easily be sent to a lab for further analysis.
Kato Kaelin was staying in a guesthouse at O.J. Simpson’s estate on the night of the 1994 murders and later testified at Simpson’s criminal trial. (Peacock)
“This is like a door,” he said. “Wide open. Don’t you want to close that door? I would think they should want to do that. But I think they’re afraid of what it would show.”
Pat McKenna, an investigator for O.J. Simpson’s defense team during his 1995 murder trial, appears in the Peacock docuseries, “OJ’s Accomplice.” (Peacock)
According to the docuseries, the producers asked the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to have the unidentified fingerprints reexamined but received no response. Fox News Digital contacted the office for comment.
“I wouldn’t put anything past technology,” Mark said. “I think we all know that tech, it’s just gotten so advanced, especially when it comes to forensics, that I believe something could be pulled from those fingerprints. Ideally, there’d be some sort of DNA that’s been preserved, and the right type of reopening would force a reinvestigation of those materials.
OJ Simpson in a Los Angeles Police Department mugshot (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“I feel very confident that if everyone was on the same page, and we wanted to look at something objectively and see if there’s any new truth there, we could do it.”
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OJ Simpson, Nicole Brown Simpson and their two children attend the “Naked Gun 33 1/3” premiere at the Paramount Pictures Studio Backlot in Hollywood. (Barry King/WireImage)
The unidentified fingerprints are part of the docuseries’ broader investigation into whether Simpson had an accomplice the night Brown Simpson and Goldman were killed.
Before the docuseries premiered, Joey Ippolito’s brother, Sam Ippolito, told The New York Times Joey returned to a Los Angeles apartment around midnight on June 12, 1994, carrying a bag containing a heavy object.
Police officers stand outside the home of Nicole Brown Simpson in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles in June 1994. (Getty Images)
Sam said his brother appeared to have blood on his hands after leaving the apartment hours earlier to help a friend. According to Sam, Joey stuffed his clothes into the bag and instructed him to dispose of it while he showered.
Sam Ippolito told the newspaper he tossed the bag into a dumpster near a construction site along Doheny Drive in Los Angeles. Sam shared a similar account in the docuseries.
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Sam Ippolito (pictured here), the brother of Joseph “Joey” Ippolito, has alleged that his brother returned to their Los Angeles apartment on the night of the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and asked him to dispose of a bag containing a heavy object. Sam later sought to retract his account. (Peacock)
Sam’s account has also faced questions about its credibility. According to The New York Times, he sought compensation from the newspaper and later attempted to retract his statements after the newspaper declined his request for payment. Friends and relatives have disputed suggestions that Ippolito participated in the murders.
Ippolito, who escaped from a Florida prison in May 1994, became a federal informant after his arrest in August 1995, while Simpson’s nationally televised murder trial was nearing its conclusion. He died in 2006.
Ron Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, and his sister, Kim Goldman, in court. (Getty Images)
A December 1996 federal prosecution memorandum, unsealed at The New York Times’ request, described Ippolito as a valuable source who possessed information about Simpson’s alleged efforts to dispose of the murder weapon and his attempted flight from authorities.
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Charles “Charlie” Ehrlich, a longtime friend of O.J. Simpson who later became his co-defendant in the 2007 Las Vegas armed robbery case, appears in Peacock’s “OJ’s Accomplice.” (Peacock)
Former federal prosecutor David Kelley described Ippolito in the memorandum as a “remarkable source of information” whose cooperation had proven valuable to investigators. Kelley later told The New York Times he did not believe Ippolito participated in the murders.
“My instinct is that not only did I feel that he was telling the truth, but I also felt that he had more to share,” Mark said.
Prosecutor Marcia Clark points to a chart as she describes to jurors where evidence was found at O.J. Simpson’s home during opening statements in the murder trial. (AFP via Getty Images)
“I think The New York Times probably spooked him a bit because they are a big publication. … But I really do believe him. I believed him then, I believe him now.”
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Tanya Brown, the youngest sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, has become an advocate for domestic violence awareness following her sister’s 1994 murder. (Peacock)
Brown Simpson’s sister, Tanya Brown, rejects the theory that Simpson had an accomplice. In the docuseries, Tanya Brown said she believes Simpson alone was responsible for her sister’s murder.
“I think it’s impossible if you’re in her position to speculate about theories, and I don’t blame her for that,” Mark said. “Everything about her felt like the little sister of somebody who’s an unfortunate victim.”
Nicole Brown Simpson’s grave (Sygma via Getty Images)
Simpson and Brown Simpson married in 1985. They had two children, Sydney and Justin, and divorced in 1992. Two years later, Brown Simpson and Goldman were found stabbed to death.
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The white Ford Bronco, driven by Al Cowlings and carrying O.J. Simpson, during a 90-minute slow-speed car chase on June 17, 1994, on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles. (Sygma via Getty Images)
Investigators quickly focused on Simpson. After the 1995 murder trial, he was acquitted of killing Brown Simpson and Goldman. In 1997, a civil jury found Simpson liable for their deaths. He later served nearly nine years in prison after his conviction on armed robbery and other charges stemming from an unrelated incident in Las Vegas. He died in April 2024 at age 76.
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OJ Simpson died April 10, 2024, at age 76. He had been battling prostate cancer. (Jason Bean-Pool/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
