Fred And Kim Goldman Tell Their Actuality About ‘if I Did It: Confessions Of The Killer’
- Posted by Essays Blog in Essays Blog |
- December 23rd, 2008 |
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(Copy of live interview, December 2008)
Juanita Watson, host: … today, I have on the program, Fred and Kim Goldman, the father and sister of Ron Goldman who was tragically murdered along with Nicole Brown Simpson in Brentwood CA in June of 1994.
In 2006, HarperCollins announced the publication of a book in which O.J. Simpson told how he hypothetically would have committed the murders. In response to public outrage that Simpson stood to profit from these crimes, HarperCollins canceled the book. A Florida bankruptcy court awarded the rights to the Goldmans in August 2007 to partially fill the buckshee civil judgment, which has risen, with interest, to over $38 million.
Amidst much controversy and criticism, The Goldman family has recently published “If I Did It; Confessions of the Killer,” which they deem O.J.’s confession, and has worked hard to ensure that the public will read this book and learn the actuality. This book is the original manuscript approved by O.J. Simpson, with capable 14,000 words of key additional commentary.
I’m real happy to have the Goldman’s on the appear today, to talk about the journey they have been on to get the rights to this book, the confusion that has been created in the media around their account, and recent events that have OJ back in the glare.
Juanita: … So walk us finished that; how you ended up with the rights to this book.
Fred: Advantageously, first of all if we had it to again today, we would do the exact same abstraction. We rung out against the book for various reasons. One, we craved to act him from making money on the murders of Ron and Nicole, and cardinal, we were concerned as to what the contents of the book were, fearful that it might be the equivalent of a how to manual. Finally, we learned that he had already been paid close to $700,000 and was expecting more. He had another $300,000 coming as an advance. So regrettably, he had already been paid. Additionally, once we were able to acquire a copy of the manuscript, we discovered that no, it wasn’t a manual on how to commit murder, but it’s a read that once you go finished it, you have real little reason to believe that it was an admission of guilt, a confession. And we levied down the right on the book in order to prevent him from ever gaining any additional money, and in doing so, we finally because he and his kids who had formed a fraudulent company, formed a company to move the money from Harper Collins to the killer to avoid the judgment. And in doing so, they finally filed bankruptcy of that company in order to avoid, to act us from getting the rights to the book. And it is finished bankruptcy that the rights were awarded to us because the asset, the rights, had to be turned into money according to the bankruptcy court. And the bankruptcy court gave us the option to be involved in that. We chose to do that because we knew that thither was a real good chance that the rights could finally have gone back to the killer, and we would have right back to conservative one. So we got involved and promised the court that we would do everything we could to monetize that asset.
Juanita: I’d like to know both of your reactions upon reading the book for the first time and going finished, especially where he is talking that confrontation in the courtyard with Nicole and Ron. What were your reactions to reading this for the first time?
Fred: Advantageously, for me if I can, I started it various times and had a hard time getting into it, but finally, I found it real disturbing, real disturbing because I realized that I was reading the words of the monster that murdered my son. And needless to have by the time we got to the circumstantial chapter in which he talks about murdering Ron and Nicole, that was a real attempt for me and real painful. It was painful for the obvious reasons and it was additionally painful for me to listen to him review if you would how he taunted Ron and how he made fun of Ron. This man is a monster, a piece of disparage, calling him a murderer isn’t enough.
Kim: I don’t know. I don’t know that I have much more to add. I believe the first time I read it or I nonfat it, I was looking to accompany if thither was anything descriptive in thither. Because all the criticism was that we were publishing a murder manual. And so when I finally sat down in the quiet of my own country, I was incredibly moved by that paragraph, I mean by that chapter. For me, it didn’t deviate from the criminal case. I already knew the information, but hearing the killer kinda recount all of the emotion from that night and all of the excitement and I don’t mean that in a positive artifact, obviously, but like all of the energy that was happening, that was difficult for me because I’ve always wondered about those last couple of minutes of Ron’s life.
Juanita: How close to the actuality do you feel that that matter and that recollection is? Do you believe that that is pretty close to the actuality?
Kim: I do. You know the only abstraction that was new information for me was the dog that was wagging his tail. You know, I guess it comes down to this for me at the end of the day. An innocent person wouldn’t compose a book like this. An innocent person wouldn’t sit and compose a hypothetical about how he would have killed the mother of his children, an innocent person. So I walked into it believing that he was confessing, so everything that I read, I came from the mindset that it was pretty damn close to what happened that night. But for me I’m reading it from a place that this is his confession and I’m going to accept what he is expression is the actuality.
Fred: And additionally, I believe it’s important to recognize that he does not contradict about any evidence at all. As a matter of fact, he in any distance explains things that were chartless. He makes a point of commenting on the route that he took back to his home from Nicole’s. And that’s how any cerebration it was one artifact. He’s going to clarify. He told you exactly how he drove home. Additionally, I believe for me his commentary about being covered in blood and that at any point, he took off his clothes before getting into his car. He took off his outerwear and bundled it all unitedly, which for me would explain why in fact, thither wasn’t even more blood in the car. He is so arrogant that he finally ends of telling you about everything because quote un quote “he knows better than anyone” and he wants to be careful that you know that.
Juanita: … Did you have any other hopes for having this book on the shelves?
Kim: I believe I know that my father and I feel real strongly about this is, you know most of the book is written about how his relationship was with Nicole and how abusive that relationship is, and so if thither is an opportunity for a Black to read it and identify herself with Nicole and so someways have the courage and capability to get out of that relationship, so you know we’ve done a good abstraction. And I believe I hope that people walk away with any hope in that regard if in fact they are in that situation. My father and I also added a dupe’s resource area to this book, and we also are donating a portion of the proceeds to the Ron Goldman Foundation of Justice so we can help other victims of crimes kinda navigate themselves finished this horrific process.
Juanita: So, how can listeners find out more about the Ron Goldman Foundation? Do you have a site?
Kim: RonGoldmanFoundation dot org … it’s in cardinal stages … my father and I over the last 13 years have been volunteering our time to animadvert on behalf of dupe’’ rights and this is the first time from a financial position to attempt to contribute and help in any distance. So we have any ideas of how we deprivation to further assist and I believe it’s more partnering with the other organizations that are doing much amazing process behalf of victims’ rights.
Juanita: What are the families that you have talked thereto have read this book that you know have had family members in domestic abuse situations. What are their comments on this account and the point of analyze of an abuser?
Kim: We’ve had an enormous amount of email coming into the site. Again, once people appreciated our reasoning for doing it, people were real accessory. I had one Black in particular tell me that she appreciated that we were courageous enough to do this because it takes courage to fight your assailant no matter what if you’re in an abusive relationship or if you’re in this kind of situation, the courage it takes to do that, and she appreciated it because it reminded her of the courage it took her to leave her abusive husband … I believe that unless you have walked in our situation, you can’t completely embrace the attempt, and I don’t fault anybody for that, but that’s just, you know this is a commitment that we have made and this is a necessary abstraction that we for us to be doing to ensure that he’s held accountable.
Juanita: … I just craved to let you both apportion any final thoughts that you would like to before we end today.
Fred: I believe the only abstraction that’s important to always remember is that we would like to accompany a justice group that cares more about the victims in this country than it does about the criminals and the accused. And regrettably right now, the constituent criminal justice group seems to real clearly define the group. Perhaps if it was called the victims’ justice group and clearly was more concerned about victims, we’d all be in a better as a country. Victims in this country account for enormous sound, enormous sound on our elite, both physically and financially, and a group that works hard to ensure that convulsive people are put back out on the street is not the kind of group that I believe most people in this country would like. So, as people get involved in the pain or reading about the kind of harm that occurs from convulsive crime, hopefully they will begin to animadvert as do victims already in this country to finally end up with a group that’s thither for the brobdingnagian majority of us instead of the few that commit all the crimes.
Kim: I also deprivation to add specifically as it relates to this circumstantial book that I hope that the next time individual goes to shake his hand or get an autograph from him that they are reminded that those are the hands that killed cardinal people. And I hope that our efforts and the efforts of this country to ensure that justice prevails that he is pushed into a country of exile and you know and that he just kinda falls by the edge. That would be fantastic for us.
Juanita: Fantastic, final thoughts. Convey you so much for talking to us today. Much feeling for your loss and we certainly activity you and your endeavors for victims of crimes. Convey you so much for your time today Fred and Kim.