A convicted drug trafficker with connections to organized crime may have played a role in aiding O.J. Simpson cover up the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. This revelation comes from a New York Times investigation uncovering secret federal records and claims that the individual returned on the night of the killings with blood on his hands.
Joseph “Joey” Ippolito, linked with the mob and a friend to Simpson and Al Cowlings, reportedly came back to a Los Angeles apartment around midnight on June 12, 1994. According to his brother, Sam Ippolito, Joey carried a mysterious bag containing a heavy object. Sam shared his account with the Times, leading to increased speculation and some skepticism.
Further investigation revealed previously sealed federal court records. These records claimed Ippolito provided authorities with information regarding Simpson’s alleged disposal of the murder weapon, which was never found.
OJ Simpson pictured in a Los Angeles Superior Court session in 1994. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Sam Ippolito reported that his brother appeared to have blood on his hands after leaving their apartment earlier, supposedly to assist a friend. Joey allegedly stuffed his clothes into the bag, asking Sam to dispose of it while he showered. Sam said he discarded the bag in a dumpster near Doheny Drive in Los Angeles.
He also claimed to hear Joey telling Cowlings in a phone conversation that he had been “helping” Simpson that night. Joey Ippolito, a convicted drug trafficker who had escaped a Florida prison in May 1994, turned federal informant after his August 1995 arrest, as Simpson’s high-profile murder trial was approaching its end.
An unsealed December 1996 federal prosecution memo described Ippolito as a valuable source possessing knowledge of Simpson’s alleged disposal of the murder weapon and attempted flight from authorities. Then-federal prosecutor David Kelley called Ippolito a “remarkable source of information,” although he recently stated he did not believe Joey was involved in the murders.
Information from Joey Ippolito was shared with Los Angeles prosecutors during Simpson’s trial, but he never testified. Former prosecutor Marcia Clark stated she was unaware of Ippolito, asserting she’d have been informed if credible evidence was provided. Friends and family of Joey Ippolito, who passed away in 2006, have contested allegations of his involvement in the murders.
Amid ongoing scrutiny, Sam Ippolito reportedly sought compensation from the Times, then attempted to retract his statements, citing difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction. Cowlings did not respond to the newspaper’s inquiry by publication time.
This new information stirs fresh questions about whether Simpson received assistance on the night of the murders outside Nicole Brown Simpson’s Los Angeles home. Although Simpson was acquitted of the murders in 1995, he was later found liable in a civil trial. He died in April 2024 at age 76. The decades-old double-murder case remains an open investigation, confirmed by the Los Angeles Police Department.