Considered one of O.J. Simpson’s friends still thinks he’s innocent of the 1994 murders of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
“I never believed he was involved. Never, ever believed he was involved within the killing of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman,” Charlie Ehrlich exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, April 11, at some point after Simpson died at age 76 following a battle with cancer. “I once brought it up and he had tears in his eyes. … I knew in my heart that he has nothing to do with it. … I just know.”
Ehrlich was a part of a bunch of men led by Simpson who entered a Las Vegas hotel room in September 2007 and took sports memorabilia from sports dealer Bruce Fromong at gunpoint. Simpson was subsequently charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison in 2008 and released from prison in 2017.
Ehrlich’s charges were reduced to attempted accessory to robbery and attempted burglary after he agreed to testify against Simpson within the trial, and he was sentenced to probation.
Nicole Brown and O.J. Simpson in 1984. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Ehrlich noted that he had previously been “very near [O.J.] and his family” and “spent Christmases” and holidays at his home, but that modified.
“After the Las Vegas situation I used to be not involved with [O.J.],” Ehrlich told Us. “I never had sick feelings toward him. Time passed and it’s what it’s and life goes on, what are you going to say? I do know he didn’t want me to be in a nasty situation once we went to the hotel room. He knew I didn’t know that they brought weapons. It was a debacle. Unfortunately, it happened the best way it happened. Despite the fact that things went bad for me and him I never had sick feelings toward him.”
Although Simpson was found answerable for the wrongful death of and battery against Goldman and battery against Brown in February 1997 — he was infamously acquitted of the crimes during his criminal trial in 1995 — Ehrlich doesn’t think Simpson was violent or able to murder.
MYUNG J. CHUN-/POOL/AFP via Getty Images NFL star O.J. Simpson was infamously acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman following a high-profile trial within the ‘90s. The legal battle was some of the notorious criminal trials in American history, and a defining moment of the Nineteen Nineties. Brown Simpson […]
“I never saw him offended and I never saw him yell or be inappropriate or in any way being an offended individual. And in his home he has pictures of his wife Nicole throughout his house,” Ehrlich said. “Someone who could do something so terrible and horrific wouldn’t want to recollect his wife. He had pictures in every single place of her with him and her and the youngsters. He would mention her to me, how much he loved her, so the media outlets can say what they need. I wasn’t there, I don’t know, but knowing him the best way I did, no way. There are murderers [still] on the market.”
Simpson was an instantaneous person of interest within the 1994 murders after he pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge against Brown in 1989. He was fined and placed on probation.
Ronald Goldman Lee Celano/WireImage
Simpson and Brown shared daughter Sydney, now 38, and Justin, now 35. Simpson also shared three children along with his first wife, Marguerite Whitley: daughter Arnelle, 55, son Jason, 53, and daughter Aaren, who died one month shy of her 2nd birthday in 1979 after drowning within the family’s swimming pool.
The late O.J. Simpson was father of 5 children, whom he shared along with his two former spouses. The previous athlete tied the knot along with his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, in 1967. Prior to their 1979 split, the pair welcomed three kids together: Arnelle, Jason and Aaren. Simpson went on to wed Nicole Brown Simpson in […]
Simpson’s family announced his death in an announcement shared via X on Thursday.
“On April tenth, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren,” the statement read. “During this time of transition, his family asks that you just please respect their wishes for privacy and charm.”
Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, reacted to the news in an announcement shared with Us.
“The one thing I even have to say that today is an extra reminder of how long Ron has been gone and the way long now we have missed him,” Fred said. “The one thing that is actually necessary today are the victims.”
