Simpson Knew Some Details of Slayings, Witness Testifies

As he flew to Los Angeles after learning of his ex-wife’s death, O.J. Simpson told a fellow airline passenger that Nicole Brown Simpson and a male victim had been murdered in the garden near her home, the traveler testified Thursday in an account that appeared to contradict Simpson’s sworn statements that he had been unable to find out details of the slayings.

Simpson has testified that he spent much of the flight frantically calling friends and family to learn anything he could about the death, since the police officer who alerted him to the tragedy would say only that Nicole Simpson had been killed. But no one was able to give him information, Simpson said.

In his pretrial deposition, Simpson described his efforts to learn what had happened as futile: Denise Brown, Nicole’s sister, yelled something and hung up on him, he said. Arnelle Simpson, his grown daughter, “didn’t know anything” and “was somewhat hysterical.” He could not reach guest house tenant Brian “Kato” Kaelin or football buddy Marcus Allen. And though he talked repeatedly with his secretary and his lawyer, Simpson said they never discussed what the police knew or what information had been uncovered.

In his interview with police several hours after he had returned from Chicago, Simpson repeated his utter ignorance about Nicole’s death. He complained that he had “absolutely no idea what happened” other than a vague notion from his daughter that “somebody else might have been involved.”

But Thursday’s testimony from Mark Partridge, a Chicago attorney who sat next to him on the American Airlines flight, suggested that Simpson did know at least a few details of the crime.

“As the flight went on, he communicated more information to me about the death of Nicole,” Partridge testified.

Simpson indicated that his ex-wife died as a result of a crime, said her body had been found near her house and talked about a second victim, whom he identified as a male, Partridge testified. Asked whether he was sure he accurately remembered what Simpson had said, Partridge responded: “I am confident that’s what he told me.”

Partridge’s testimony was not live; instead, plaintiffs’ lawyers read aloud sections from his sworn deposition. Defense attorneys chose not to read any of their cross-examination into the record.

The plaintiffs may use Partridge’s testimony to argue that Simpson knew more details about his ex-wife’s death than he could possibly have gleaned from his limited conversation with the police and his emotional calls to friends and relatives. But Simpson will have a chance to explain the source of his knowledge--or to deny Partridge’s account--when he testifies in his own defense later in the trial. The issue did not come up when he testified last month.

Although Partridge testified during Simpson’s criminal trial, he did not describe in any detail his conversation with the football great. Instead, the defense called him to confirm that Simpson was extremely distraught during the flight--though he did sign at least one autograph.

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Partridge’s testimony capped an abbreviated court session Thursday. Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki opened the proceedings by admonishing jurors that testimony they heard Wednesday about a call to a shelter hotline from a frightened woman who identified herself as Nicole could not be taken as evidence that O.J. Simpson ever stalked or beat Nicole Simpson.

The hotline counselor, Nancy N. Ney, testified that the caller described an abusive marriage and complained that her ex-husband had been following her around town.

But Fujisaki advised jurors that they must not consider Ney’s testimony as proof of stalking. Instead, he told them to weigh the testimony for one narrow purpose: to determine Nicole Simpson’s state of mind about her relationship with O.J. Simpson. Fujisaki also instructed the jurors to decide for themselves whether the caller--who never gave her last name--was in fact Nicole Simpson.

Also Thursday, the plaintiffs’ attorneys read aloud testimony from two Hertz Corp. employees who dealt with Simpson in Chicago the morning after the murders.

Vice President Raymond Kilduff testified that Simpson twice expressed concern about his golf clubs, which he had left in another employee’s car. “O.J. wanted to make sure his golf clubs got back,” Kilduff said. The plaintiffs contend that Simpson’s anxiety about the golf clubs was suspicious, and not consistent with an innocent man in shock about his ex-wife’s death.

The plaintiffs plan to finish their presentation today, with testimony from the murder victims’ relatives.

Simpson, who is battling his former in-laws for custody of his two children, briefly took the stand in Family Court in Orange on Thursday during what was supposed to have been the final day of the proceedings.

But the 3-week-old trial is now expected to conclude next Wednesday when attorneys for the children’s maternal grandparents, Louis and Juditha Brown of Dana Point, give their closing arguments.

The custody case is closed to the public, and a gag order has been imposed on all courtroom participants.

Times staff writer Greg Hernandez and special correspondent Jeff Kass contributed to this story from Orange.