“Seemingly Random” Fat Joe Story Bolsters NYT Investigation Into Possible O.J. Simpson Accomplice

A New York Times report claims that a seemingly random anecdote from rapper Fat Joe bolsters the investigation into the possibility that O.J. Simpson had an accomplice involved in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The report, published 31 years after Simpson's acquittal, focuses on the events of the night the murders occurred.

In 2007, Simpson published a book titled If I Did It, in which he detailed a scenario where an accomplice aided in the crime. The LAPD considered this theory seriously, and one of the suspects mentioned was Joseph Ippolito, a mafia associate, serial felon, and prison escapee who was also friends with Simpson. Ippolito's brother, Sam, told the NYT that he was confident Ippolito was with Simpson on the night of the murders due to the blood on his hands.

However, when the brother was interviewed again, he recanted the statement due to a conflict with the NYT's ethics. An interview with Fat Joe, unearthed in a podcast, supports the possibility of Ippolito's involvement. Fat Joe recounted an anecdote about a friend named Joe Bentley, who owned numerous Bentleys, and how Simpson was in the Bronco with a private who was his man.

Bentley said Simpson handed Ippolito a machete and told him, "You did it," before Simpson chased him around the house with the knife. Fat Joe's widow and Ippolito's widow declined to comment, but Simpson's executor, Malcolm LaVergne, stated in a statement to TMZ that the matter should be put to rest for the victims' families and loved ones.