Blood Matches Simpson Type, Police Sources Say : Inquiry: New attorney will seek separate forensic tests. Simpson attends viewing of his ex-wife at O.C. mortuary.

The blood type of samples recovered at the scene of a brutal double slaying match that of O.J. Simpson’s blood, a potentially important piece of evidence in the investigation of the killings of his ex-wife and a man she knew, Los Angeles police sources said Wednesday.

Simpson’s blood type is different from those of the two victims, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman, a source said. Although even rare blood types are shared by many people, any discovery of Simpson’s blood type at the murder scene could lend credence to the suggestion that he was there, sources said.

A more exact test to determine whether the DNA in the blood sample matches Simpson’s has not been concluded, sources added.

Simpson’s lead attorney, newly hired lawyer Robert L. Shapiro, was unavailable for comment late Wednesday on the blood test results. Shapiro earlier said he will seek a second autopsy of the two victims and private forensic tests.

Howard Weitzman, who represented Simpson until Wednesday and continues to serve as an adviser to his legal team, said he was unaware of any test results concluding that Simpson’s blood type matched samples recovered from the scene.

On Wednesday, Simpson slipped out of his Brentwood home for several hours to attend a private viewing of his ex-wife at a Laguna Hills mortuary, along with her family members who live in the Monarch Bay section of Dana Point.

Although sources have said Simpson is the main suspect in the investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department has declined to confirm those reports, and Simpson has not been arrested or charged with any crime.

New details emerged Wednesday about a matching pair of gloves whose existence Weitzman has vehemently denied. According to police sources, investigators found two work gloves, one at the scene of the crime and the other outside Simpson’s Brentwood mansion.

Both had blood on them, but tests for the blood on the gloves have not been completed, sources said. According to one source, the glove at Simpson’s home was found outside a side entrance near a trail of drippings that have been determined to be blood.

“That would be inconsistent with what I was told,” said Weitzman, who has said that a police official assured him that there was no second glove found at Simpson’s home. “Beyond that, I have no comment.”

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Sources said Goldman’s wounds indicated that he fought fiercely when attacked, and they said Simpson was scratched and cut when police interviewed him several hours after the crime.

Weitzman and others familiar with the investigation said the former athlete spent much of the day at his Brentwood mansion, grieving over the death of his ex-wife, surrounded by members of his family and in consultation with his legal team.

As authorities sifted through the evidence in the case, Simpson switched lawyers, hiring Shapiro to head his legal team. He said that Simpson is under treatment for depression.

“He is deeply upset,” said Shapiro, one of Los Angeles’ best-known lawyers. “He is under a doctor’s care for depression. . . . He is going to be in seclusion with his family to grieve over the loss of the mother of his children.”

Weitzman--who has vigorously defended Simpson’s innocence over the past three tumultuous days--has given up the lead role to Shapiro, a celebrated Century City lawyer whose clients have included Darryl Strawberry and Tina Sinatra.

Explaining why he has stepped down, Weitzman said in a statement: “I have decided because of my personal relationship with O.J. Simpson and my many other professional commitments I can no longer give O.J. the attention he both deserves and needs.”

Shapiro said he told Simpson to avoid watching television or reading newspapers and to instead focus on his family.

Two black limousines were seen leaving Simpson’s Brentwood mansion Wednesday afternoon, and a few hours later, he was filmed by a television station as he drove away from O’Connor Laguna Hills Mortuary, where his former wife’s body was being prepared for burial.

“We had a viewing . . . to send my sister off. We all went and paid our respects,” said Denise Brown, Nicole’s older sister. “And . . . yes, O.J. was there. But what’s the big deal? It’s his ex-wife. My God, it’s somebody we all love. We just want to let her go in peace.”

A source close to Simpson said he visited his children, who are staying at their grandparents’ house in Orange County, before returning home. A private funeral is scheduled for today in Brentwood.

In a brief statement released after he took over the case, Shapiro said Simpson was at his Brentwood home waiting for a limousine when Nicole Simpson, 35, and Goldman, 25, were killed Sunday night.

Simpson traveled to the airport late that night and then caught a “red-eye” flight for Chicago. A source said he was the only passenger to travel in the first-class section of the American Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport.

Weitzman had previously said he believed that Simpson was in the limousine or at the airport when the killings occurred. So far, an exact time of death has not been released by authorities, although Weitzman has said he was told that it was about 11 p.m. Sunday--supporting his contention that Simpson could not have committed the crime and still gotten to the airport in time to catch his flight.

Sources have said that police believe that Simpson would have had enough time to make the trip, suggesting that they believe that the time of death may have been somewhat earlier.

Los Angeles police discovered the bodies after midnight and called Simpson at his Chicago hotel Monday morning to tell him that his ex-wife had been found dead in Brentwood. Simpson returned to Los Angeles that morning and was questioned by police the same day.

Among Shapiro’s first moves after taking over for Weitzman was to solicit the services of a criminologist and a pathologist, whom he would not identify except to say that each is a nationally recognized professional. They will review the findings of the police and perform a second autopsy on the two victims, he said.

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The experts would only have standing in the case if Simpson were to face charges, as witnesses are not entitled to bring in their own experts to review evidence. Nevertheless, Shapiro said he had no information indicating that Simpson’s arrest is imminent.

Shapiro met with police Wednesday, saying afterward that he has pledged Simpson’s full cooperation during the investigation.

“I have introduced myself to the members of the Los Angeles Police Department,” Shapiro said, “and to offer our complete cooperation with them in their investigation to solve this crime.”

Sources said investigators spent Wednesday continuing to work their case, and they were said to be just a few days away from turning it over to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. According to sources, investigators were continuing to interview witnesses--including a therapist who said she counseled Nicole Simpson on two occasions. Simpson’s ex-wife said during the sessions that he was stalking her, the therapist has said.

As they conduct their investigation, police were said to be painstakingly reviewing their case, eager to avoid a situation in which they arrest a suspect for the double slaying and then have the case sent back by prosecutors for more work. Once police make an arrest, they have 48 hours to present a case to the district attorney’s office for prosecution.

In some cases, however, prosecutors may elect to present the matter to a grand jury and ask for an indictment. If that procedure were followed in this case, it could delay any arrest by several days, but it also would preclude the need for a preliminary hearing in which evidence is presented in a public courtroom.

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Times staff writers Dianne Klein and Eric Malnic and correspondent Matthew Mosk contributed to this story.