Simpson Auction Extends to Internet

Items from the O.J. Simpson estate will be auctioned off over the Internet and in a Los Angeles gallery this month, with the proceeds going to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Yahoo Inc. will use technology from Seattle-based LiveBid.com to allow Web surfers to bid on items for sale at Butterfield & Butterfield on Feb. 16. Among the items in the 78 lots is Simpson’s 1968 Heisman Trophy, which is expected to fetch more than six figures. Bidders can register online through Feb. 12, when preliminary bids can be placed. On Feb. 16, registered bidders can listen to and watch the auction online as well as place bids. The court-ordered auction is part of the $33.5-million verdict in the wrongful-death case against Simpson, who was found liable for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole and Goldman. Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman were found stabbed to death in Brentwood on June 12, 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in criminal court. Proceeds from the auction will be the first money the families will receive from the civil judgment, which was issued two years ago.