Read Online Murder in Brentwood by Mark Fuhrman - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mark Fuhrman
Tags: United States, General, History, Biography & Autobiography, True Crime, 20th Century, Murder, Criminals & Outlaws
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mention the fact that the Bronco was parked at an odd angle, or that there was blood observed inside the car; a package addressed to O.J. Simpson, a gardening shovel, and a piece of heavy gauge folded plastic in the rear cargo area; or that a piece of wood that did not fit the neighborhood was found near the car. These items were not easily explainable, and taken together indicated that the Bronco might have some connection to both Simpson and the Bundy crime scene.
The search warrant also failed to describe a Nissan 300Z that was parked on Ashford, which DMV records showed was registered in Hollywood. Although the Nissan later proved to be Kaelin’s, it was at that early stage important to establishing probable cause: who did the vehicle
[These errors were minor compared to the truly tragic loss of evidence that could have put the case away that morning.]
belonged to, and why it was parked outside the estate? Vannatter described waking and interviewing Arnelle Simpson, at which time he learned that Simpson was the primary driver of the Bronco, and that Simpson had gone to Chicago. The warrant mistakenly describes his trip as “unexpected,” an error that was made much of during both the preliminary hearing and the criminal trial. I don’t know why Vannatter said the trip was “unexpected.” To my knowledge, no one characterized it as such.
Why didn’t Vannatter even mention Kato Kaelin in the warrant? Not only was he interviewed before Arnelle, but he described suspicious thumps on his wall that he thought so unusual he went outside to investigate.
Although Vannatter did note the discovery of the glove behind Kaelin’s bungalow, his description was vague and incomplete. The search warrant described the glove as being found “during the securing of the residence,” almost implying that someone tripped over it, rather than its being discovered during a search following Kaelin’s statement. And by the time Vannatter wrote the warrant, he knew that the gloves matched, but even though he sent me back to establish exactly that detail, he never put it in; he simply described it as a brown leather glove.
Throughout the warrant Vannatter missed important details. He did not describe the blood seen inside the Bronco or the three drops of blood in the foyer. He did not include the theory that the suspect probably left the Bundy scene in a vehicle parked where the blood drops stopped and that blood drops started again from the Bronco and led into the residence.
Because so many easily described pieces of evidence and easily explained observations and conclusions were omitted from the first search warrant, Vannatter appeared to be groping for probable cause, when it was staring him right in the face.
A second search warrant was executed on June 28, after Simpson had already been arrested and the preliminary hearing was well under way. It gives a concise and detailed description of all of the probable cause leading up to the June 13 search warrant. There were few similarities between the two documents, except for the first three paragraphs of both warrants, which are almost identical, with the exception that Ron Goldman is identified as the male victim in the second one.
The first warrant was obviously written in haste, while the second might well have taken days. Even beyond that, however, the style, verbiage, and syntax of these two warrants have little in common. Vannatter signed both, but the documents are so different they could have been written by two different people. If Vannatter didn’t write the second search warrant, who did?
When Vannatter established the Rockingham estate as a crime scene and asked Brad and me to evacuate the home of family and friends, we checked all the rooms for people. As we walked into Simpson s bedroom, we immediately noticed a pair of socks on the floor. After completing our search, I told Vannatter about the socks. This was about 8:00 A.M.
There was nothing obviously
The search warrant also failed to describe a Nissan 300Z that was parked on Ashford, which DMV records showed was registered in Hollywood. Although the Nissan later proved to be Kaelin’s, it was at that early stage important to establishing probable cause: who did the vehicle
[These errors were minor compared to the truly tragic loss of evidence that could have put the case away that morning.]
belonged to, and why it was parked outside the estate? Vannatter described waking and interviewing Arnelle Simpson, at which time he learned that Simpson was the primary driver of the Bronco, and that Simpson had gone to Chicago. The warrant mistakenly describes his trip as “unexpected,” an error that was made much of during both the preliminary hearing and the criminal trial. I don’t know why Vannatter said the trip was “unexpected.” To my knowledge, no one characterized it as such.
Why didn’t Vannatter even mention Kato Kaelin in the warrant? Not only was he interviewed before Arnelle, but he described suspicious thumps on his wall that he thought so unusual he went outside to investigate.
Although Vannatter did note the discovery of the glove behind Kaelin’s bungalow, his description was vague and incomplete. The search warrant described the glove as being found “during the securing of the residence,” almost implying that someone tripped over it, rather than its being discovered during a search following Kaelin’s statement. And by the time Vannatter wrote the warrant, he knew that the gloves matched, but even though he sent me back to establish exactly that detail, he never put it in; he simply described it as a brown leather glove.
Throughout the warrant Vannatter missed important details. He did not describe the blood seen inside the Bronco or the three drops of blood in the foyer. He did not include the theory that the suspect probably left the Bundy scene in a vehicle parked where the blood drops stopped and that blood drops started again from the Bronco and led into the residence.
Because so many easily described pieces of evidence and easily explained observations and conclusions were omitted from the first search warrant, Vannatter appeared to be groping for probable cause, when it was staring him right in the face.
A second search warrant was executed on June 28, after Simpson had already been arrested and the preliminary hearing was well under way. It gives a concise and detailed description of all of the probable cause leading up to the June 13 search warrant. There were few similarities between the two documents, except for the first three paragraphs of both warrants, which are almost identical, with the exception that Ron Goldman is identified as the male victim in the second one.
The first warrant was obviously written in haste, while the second might well have taken days. Even beyond that, however, the style, verbiage, and syntax of these two warrants have little in common. Vannatter signed both, but the documents are so different they could have been written by two different people. If Vannatter didn’t write the second search warrant, who did?
When Vannatter established the Rockingham estate as a crime scene and asked Brad and me to evacuate the home of family and friends, we checked all the rooms for people. As we walked into Simpson s bedroom, we immediately noticed a pair of socks on the floor. After completing our search, I told Vannatter about the socks. This was about 8:00 A.M.
There was nothing obviously
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