Family and relatives of O.J. and Nicole Simpson speak out

Jet, Oct 10, 1994

As the O.J. Simpson murder trial finally gets underway after months of media hype, members of the ex-football superstar's family broke their silence on prime-time network news TV broadcasts.

During a three-part interview on "Dateline NBC," Katie Couric quizzed Simpson's two oldest children Arnelle and Jason Simpson, who said, "there's no way" their father could have murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

In a compelling interview on "CBS Eye To Eye," Connie Chung interviewed Simpson's mom, Eunice, who said it would take a miracle to save her Hall of Fame son from a murder conviction.

Meanwhile the grieving family of Nicole Brown Simpson broke their silence to Diane Sawyer on "ABC Prime Time Live."

The Simpson children, Jason and Arnelle, first broke their silence when they told NBC that their father did not have to pull them to the side and tell them that he did not commit the crime because his innocence was understood.

"...There's no way. There's no way that he could have taken somebody's life. There's no way he could have taken Nicole's life," said Arnelle Simpson. "This woman who he loved for years and cared for, who mothered two of his children. There's no way."

Jason Simpson revealed to Couric he never asked his father if he did the heinous crime.

"Never, because I knew he couldn't have done it and that he didn't do it," he said.

Meanwhile, on "Eye To Eye," Eunice Simpson, the mother, told interviewer Chung, "I'm expecting a miracle. That's the only thing it's going to take now to save him, is a miracle."

Unlike his children, Eunice Simpson said that she has discussed her son's innocence or guilt with him and she said that he said he is not guilty.

On the question of her son's character and how the media has portrayed Simpson while he was being slowly pursued down a California freeway as a fugitive fleeing from justice, Mrs. Simpson replied, "I just don't believe that. O.J. has never been a coward to run. I just think he was wanting to get to me because he thought I could solve the problem."

On the now-infamous 911 tape where Simpson can be heard shouting at his ex-wife and on the media's constant coverage of the events, Mrs. Simpson continued, "I believe he cannot get a fair trial... Because of the media. They convicted him from the day that they made him a suspect. He was convicted already."

On ABC's "Prime Time Live," the bereaved family of Nicole Brown Simpson told Sawyer, about how the youngest Simpson children, 9-year-old Sydney and 6-year-old Justin are coping with the ordeal.

Juditha Brown, Nicole's mother, who has temporary custody of the children, said that Simpson's children believe their father is out on the road trying to find "who hurt mommy" and their father is calling them from the road.

"Justin's very happy when daddy calls and his eyes shine, you know, but daddy was gone a lot. They're used to that."

Nicole's father, Lou Brown, explained that if the kids are to be told about their dad's arrest, it must come from O.J. himself.

"It's up to the father... according to the child psychologist. The father should be the one to tell them. And until he does, our hands are sort of tied," Mr. Brown said.