Today in History - February 12: Piece of paper could have saved OJ Simpson tens of millions of dollars

The father of murder victim Ron Goldman made an offer to his suspected killer OJ Simpson in a deal that would save him tens of millions of dollars on February 12, 1997.

Fred Goldman had successfully sued Simpson in civil court for a total of US$33.5 million (about A$94 million today).

But the elder Goldman offered to drop the judgement in exchange for a signed confession.

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Simpson had been tried and acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Goldman in 1995.

But the Goldmans and Nicole Brown's father Lou then sued Simpson in a civil suit for wrongful death.

The jury sided against Simpson and he was ordered to pay the massive penalty.

But the former US football star declared bankruptcy soon after, sparing him the cost.

It was then Goldman made the offer for a signed confession.

"All I ever wanted is justice. It's never been an issue about money," he said.

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"I don't want to play games. But if he wanted to sign a confession with all the details of his crime and broadcast it all over the country and publish it all over the nation, I would drop the judgement."

Since Simpson had been acquitted in a criminal court, a confession could not be used to retry him.

But in a statement, Simpson rejected the offer.

"No matter how much money I am offered, I would never confess to a crime which I did not commit," he said.

Simpson was pursued by Goldman for the money for the rest of his life.

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In 2006, Simpson announced the release of a controversial book entitled "If I Did it".

The book hypothesised how he would have committed the murders if he committed them.

But the Goldmans successfully sued for the rights to the book to partially satisfy the money owed to them.

When they published the book, the word "If" was printed in a much smaller type than the rest of the title on the cover.

As a result, the book appeared to be titled "I Did It".

Simpson died in 2024, still owing tens of millions to Goldman.

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