O.J. Simpson Ghostwriter on Why He Let Him ‘Murder’ Nicole in Book

Pablo Fenjves, the ghostwriter behind O.J. Simpson’s If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, told Newsweek he was shocked at how unaware Simpson was of how “terrible” he came across in the book.

Simpson’s family announced his death on Thursday, saying that he had succumbed to cancer while surrounded by his kids and loved ones. Twelve years after being acquitted of charges that he killed his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994, Simpson put out a book about how he would have committed the murders if he had done them. Seen as a confession by some, the book became a bestseller, and a judge ended up awarding the rights of the then-canceled book to the Goldman family.

Fenjves said he was reluctant to take on the ghostwriting project because he thought it was morally wrong for Simpson to profit from the murders. But he changed his mind when he found out the profits were going to benefit his children. While sitting with Simpson to write the book, Fenjves got the feeling that Simpson not only did the crime but “knew he’d done it,” he said.

“One of the things that struck me, in a strange way, you know, he murdered Nicole twice. He murdered her in real life, and then he proceeded to murder her character in the book. And I let him. I let him do it. I just listened and took down what he said because he was unaware of what a terrible light he was putting himself in,” Fenjves said.

It’s part of Fenjves’ job as a ghostwriter to let the subject tell the story he or she wants to tell, but he said working with Simpson was different. With other clients, he’s had conversations about whether they really want to include unflattering or unsavory stories. With Simpson, he served more as a scribe than a sounding board.

Fenjves hasn’t spoken to Simpson since working with him on the book and said the two had an “interesting, slightly bizarre, slightly combative relationship.”

Simpson’s trial is credited with changing the nature of televised trials, and 150 million people watched as he was acquitted on October 3, 1995. After finishing his book over a decade later, it was initially canceled following immense public criticism, including from the Goldman family. However, the book was published after the Goldman family got the rights to it. It became a bestseller, and in 2013 an original first edition sold on eBay for $250,000.

Fenjves lived in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, not far from where Nicole lived at the time of the murders. On the night of the killings, he heard a dog howling outside his window. He described it as a “plaintive wail” during his testimony at Simpson’s trial. His testimony played a crucial role in helping prosecutors create a timeline for the killings.

He said that Simpson’s death is “sad” but the real loss “happened when the murders were committed.”

The killings of Nicole and Goldman have continued to captivate people 29 years after the trial ended. Fenjves said he understands the curiosity surrounding Simpson, but at one point he got “a little tired of it.” He doesn’t expect that curiosity to slow down now.

“I think that the next, you know, few weeks are going to be nothing but O.J. Simpson,” Fenjves said. “I’ve moved on…but I mean, it really is sort of the ultimate American tragedy.”

Simpson denied killing Nicole in a letter he left at home on the day he fled in his Bronco. After the trial, he said in a statement that he would pursue finding whoever killed Nicole and Goldman.

“They are out there somewhere. Whatever it takes to identify them and bring them in, I will provide somehow,” Simpson said in a statement read by his son Jason at the time.

In 2018, Simpson told The Buffalo News that he was “concerned” that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disorder. He said there are days he “can’t find words” and suddenly won’t remember the names of people he knows. About a year later, Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered the disease, told ABC News he would “bet my medical license” on Simpson having CTE.

CTE can be diagnosed only in an autopsy. As for answering questions about Simpson’s potential diagnosis after his death. Fenjves isn’t sure the result would change anything.

“What’s that going to tell us? I mean, is that gonna exonerate him?” Fenjves asked. He added that Simpson might not be the right “poster boy” for raising money to fund research on the disease.

While Simpson’s death is reigniting interest in the former football star, when asked if there are any questions that Fenjves wants answered, he simply responded, “Not really.”