First-Degree Kidnapping Added To Charges Faced By O.J. Simpson
Posted September 18, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With a slew of assault and robbery charges already threatening to send O.J. Simpson to prison for upwards of 30 years, the former NFL star had first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping charges added to the lengthy list Tuesday. He faces it in connection with an alleged attempt to rob sports collectors of items he claims belonged to him.
The kidnapping charges stem from the fact Simpson allegedly prevented one of the men involved from calling 911 on his cell phone, supposedly at the point of a gun. The complaint doesn’t say who wielded the weapon.
Meanwhile, not long after another suspect in the alleged robbery of a Las Vegas hotel room surrendered, one of the former star’s co-accused suggested Simpson may have been tricked. His reasoning? The person that tipped him off also recorded the whole exchange on tape.
“It sounds like a setup to me,” 46-year-old Walter Alexander said Tuesday in a television interview.
He said Simpson had thought the memorabilia belonged to him after getting a call from the dealer.
“He did believe that he was going to retrieve his own property,” Alexander said.
On Monday, 53-year-old Clarence Stewart of Las Vegas surrendered to police in connection with the case. Police searched Stewart’s home Sunday and recovered signed footballs and other missing possessions, and is being held on six felony charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
And there’s more. Since winning a multimillion-dollar settlement against Simpson in Ron Goldman’s death, the Goldman family has waged a decade-long campaign to track down and claim the ex-athlete’s assets. The family announced plans Tuesday to file a request in Superior Court to obtain ownership of all the seized goods.
Alexander was released without bail and faces charges almost identical to Simpson’s.
David Cook, an attorney for Goldman’s father, said he believed Nevada authorities would turn over the items with a court order after Simpson’s criminal case finishes. The items include Simpson’s Hall of Fame certificate, a gold Rolex watch and the suit the former NFL star wore on the day he was acquitted.
“Assuming that this case is resolved one way or another, at the end of the case, the stuff will never go back to Mr. Simpson,” Cook vowed. “He’s going to walk out of Clark County empty-handed.”
Simpson is still locked up in a Las Vegas jail and will be in court Wednesday for a bail hearing. If convicted, he could get up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count alone.
