THE SIMPSON MURDER CASE : VOICES

T he incredible chain of events Friday regarding O.J. Simpson drew these comments: “Mr. Simpson is a wanted murder suspect--two counts of murder, a terrible crime. We need to find him, we need to bring him to justice.”

--Los Angeles Police, Cmdr. David Gascon

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“Many of us perhaps had empathy, to some extent. We saw the fall of an American hero. . . . But let’s remember, we have two innocent people who have been brutally killed. . . . We will find Mr. Simpson and we are going to bring him to justice.”

--Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti

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“We’re not embarrassed he didn’t turn himself in at the right time. We made arrangements, the same as we would with anyone else, to No. 1, surrender with the attorney.”

--LAPD Chief Willie L. Williams

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“We were not keeping close tabs on O.J. We were assured that he was going to turn himself in, so we lost track of where he was. . . . I’m discouraged and embarrassed for the Police Department.”

--LAPD Sgt. Doug Abney

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“Suspect wanted for a double homicide. . . . Suspect Orenthal James Simpson (O.J. Simpson). . . . Suspect possibly armed, use caution.”

--All-points bulletin

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“O.J. Simpson is in custody.

--LAPD

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“I can’t express the fear I had that this matter would not end the way it did.”

--Attorney Robert Shapiro

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“We all have projected O.J. into our personal lives. He’s kind of the friend we all had, whether we knew him or not. We don’t want to believe he’s involved in this, but the evidence is pretty overwhelming.”

--USC graduate student James Johnson, speaking in front of Simpson’s Heisman Trophy at the university

Sources: Times staff and wire reports