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  • This was a real emotional heart wrenching story. 2

  • Here we had O.J. Simpson. 3

  • Accused of a capital crime and it was tragic. 4

  • It began last Monday 5

  • with an image no one ever expected to see. 6

  • O.J. Simpson in handcuffs. 7

  • His ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson 8

  • and her friend Ronald Goldman, 9

  • the victims of a brutal double murder. 10

  • (sirens wailing) 11

  • It would end with an unbelievable drama 12

  • played out on live TV. 13

  • O.J. Simpson, murder suspect and fugitive, 14

  • being pursued by police as the nation held its breath, 15

  • and Simpson's friends pleaded with the former football hero. 16

  • Give yourself up, man, just stop. 17

  • Please, stop. 18

  • In the time between those two events, 19

  • a media circus rivaling anything in print 20

  • and broadcast history. 21

  • Throughout it all, one question on everyone's mind. 22

  • A question no one imagined would ever be asked 23

  • about one of the nation's most beloved personalities. 24

  • Did he do it? 25

  • Everyone is speculating. 26

  • Last Thursday, 27

  • both victims were laid to rest separately. 28

  • 25-year-old Ronald Goldman, 29

  • a man everyone said was full of dreams, 30

  • dreams that will never be realized. 31

  • And 35-year-old Nicole Simpson, O.J.'s ex-wife. 32

  • At her funeral, a grim looking O.J. Simpson, 33

  • the couple's young children by his side. 34

  • After the funerals, the media began to report 35

  • that the arrest of O.J. Simpson for murder was imminent. 36

  • It looked like this bizarre week-long drama 37

  • was about to come to an end. 38

  • But even here in Los Angeles, 39

  • a town full of screenwriters and storytellers, 40

  • no one could have predicted what was going to happen next. 41

  • O.J. Simpson, the former star running back, 42

  • was about to make his last desperate run. 43

  • He is a wanted murder suspect and we will go find him. 44

  • On Friday, O.J. Simpson 45

  • was to have surrendered to authorities. 46

  • He didn't. 47

  • Simpson was declared a fugitive. 48

  • As authorities mounted their manhunt, 49

  • the rumor mill churned. 50

  • At Nicole Simpson's condo, 51

  • the scene of the murders, 52

  • a huge crowd gathered amid speculation 53

  • that O.J. had killed himself there. 54

  • O.J. Simpson is not at this location. 55

  • There's nothing going on here. 56

  • The near hysteria over Simpson's whereabouts 57

  • continued to mount. 58

  • Don't feel sorry for me. 59

  • I've had a great life, great friends. 60

  • Please think of the real O.J. 61

  • and not this lost person. 62

  • At a televised press conference, 63

  • one of O.J.'s friends read a letter written by Simpson. 64

  • It appeared to us that it was a suicide note, 65

  • and at that point, we decided to get in the helicopter 66

  • and take a look at canyons, and see if we can find O.J. 67

  • Veteran pilot and reporter, Bob Tur, 68

  • has covered virtually every major 69

  • L.A. news story from the air. 70

  • His aircraft was one of a squadron of news choppers 71

  • that would document O.J.'s run. 72

  • Highway patrol. 73

  • Yeah, I think I just saw O.J. Simpson 74

  • on the 5 freeway and he's heading north 75

  • and I got the license plate of the white Bronco, 3DHY503, 76

  • and we like looked at him, you know, 77

  • Aha. 78

  • and he liked stared us down like he was possessed. 79

  • That 911 call helped police zero in 80

  • on the vehicle Simpson was riding in. 81

  • And within a matter of minutes we were overhead, 82

  • we found him, 83

  • the police found him, 84

  • and at first there was one patrol unit 85

  • and within a minute there were literally 86

  • 20 patrol units behind him. 87

  • Simpson was in the back of the vehicle. 88

  • Driving was his long time pal, Al Cowlings, 89

  • who also called 911. 90

  • This is A.C. I have O.J. in the car. 91

  • Okay. Where are you? 92

  • Please. I'm coming up the 5 freeway. 93

  • Okay. 94

  • Right now we're okay, but you gotta tell the police 95

  • just to back off. 96

  • He's still alive, but he's got a gun to his head. 97

  • He just want to see his mother. 98

  • Let me get him to the house. 99

  • During the low-speed pursuit, 100

  • the motorcade would travel some 60 miles. 101

  • Going through two counties on three freeways. 102

  • It was an incredible sight. 103

  • Thousands of people lined up along the side of the road, 104

  • waving and trying to give O.J. Simpson support. 105

  • And what we were watching on live television was almost 106

  • like a funeral for a fallen friend. 107

  • This was one time when were able to help. 108

  • Because there had been enough blood shed, 109

  • enough hurt and enough pain 110

  • and we didn't want to see anymore. 111

  • Local Sportscaster, Jim Hill, 112

  • is a former pro football player 113

  • and longtime friend of O.J. Simpson's. 114

  • He was among the first to appeal to Simpson 115

  • over the radio. 116

  • Hoping the men in the White Bronco were listening. 117

  • O.J. if you can hear me, 118

  • Al if you can hear me, 119

  • whoever is in that truck, if you can hear us, 120

  • please, gentleman, please just pull over and stop. 121

  • It was just one of those things 122

  • that comes from the heart 123

  • and when it comes from the heart, 124

  • you hope you're able to reach out and to touch someone 125

  • and to help someone. 126

  • And we had some people speaking from the heart 127

  • on that Friday. 128

  • Just stop. 129

  • Please stop it. 130

  • In Jesus name, just stop man. 131

  • O.J. it's probably the fourth quarter 132

  • and this is the last play of the game 133

  • and no time on the clock. 134

  • (crowd yelling) 135

  • In one the most disturbing twists, 136

  • some spectators acted like they were at a sporting event, 137

  • a sharp contrast to the reality of a potentially 138

  • suicidal suspect in a brutal double murder. 139

  • I don't know what they were doing 140

  • or what they were even thinking. 141

  • (sirens wailing) 142

  • After some two hours on the road, 143

  • the caravan finally pulled up to the Simpson estate. 144

  • With dozens of police officers waiting 145

  • the tension continued to mount. 146

  • The SWAT team members were in a position 147

  • to make a move. 148

  • If it was necessary. 149

  • And, fortunately, it wasn't. 150

  • Al Cowlings went back and forth from the car 151

  • to the house on behalf of his friend, O.J. Simpson. 152

  • It was just an individual that was just lost. 153

  • He was just absolutely lost. 154

  • And he had his best friend in the world with him. 155

  • Who I think was trying to prevent him 156

  • from taking his life. 157

  • Finally, O.J. Simpson got out of the vehicle 158

  • and went into the house. 159

  • He had a couple of picture frames with him 160

  • and he walked inside the house 161

  • and that was the last we saw of him. 162

  • Inside, Simpson used the restroom, 163

  • had a glass of orange juice, 164

  • and did the one thing he needed to do the most. 165

  • He called his mother. 166

  • When you're at that end of the line. 167

  • When you're at the end of the rope. 168

  • You're trying to tie a knot in that end of the rope 169

  • and hang on. 170

  • You start calling for momma. 171

  • And so ended the manhunt. 172

  • O.J. Simpson was taken into custody. 173

  • And here in the city of the angels, 174

  • one of the most celebrated angels had fallen. 175

  • What route the assailant may have used that night 176

  • is still a mystery. 177