O.J. Simpson goes to trial, dogged by his past

updated 10:59 a.m. ET Sept. 5, 2008

LAS VEGAS - Once upon a time O.J. Simpson was a national sports hero, showered with adulation and endorsement contracts. He was the "Juice" — a Hall of Fame football star, actor, TV commentator and pitchman with a beautiful wife, two children and a Rolls Royce.

But the stabbing death of his ex-wife more than 14 years ago makes those early days seem like a fairy tale for Simpson. It was a life before allegations of murder, robbery and kidnapping, before the world he knew ended and a new, darker one began.

The next chapter unfolds Monday in a Las Vegas courtroom, where Simpson and co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart go on trial on armed robbery and kidnapping charges.

The Nevada Supreme Court rejected a motion filed Thursday by Stewart's lawyers seeking to have the two men tried separately.

A conviction could send them to prison for life.

Simpson, 61, is accused of leading an odd collection of characters, including three convicted criminals, to a casino hotel room, where they were charged with holding two sports collectibles dealers at gunpoint and taking memorabilia that Simpson maintains belonged to him.

Simpson, who lives in Miami, has said he was trying to retrieve personal belongings and family heirlooms, that he didn't ask anyone to bring guns and that he didn't know anyone in the room was armed.

But four of the five men who accompanied him have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Simpson.

One, Michael McClinton, testified that Simpson asked him to bring guns and told him to look "menacing" during the confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.

Shadow of slayings hangs over trial
Hanging over the trial, scheduled to last five weeks, will be the shadow of the 1994 slaying of Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, who was found slashed to death along with her friend, Ronald Goldman.

As a stunned nation looked on, Simpson led a slow-speed chase in a white Ford Bronco and was charged with the killings. A year later, after a televised trial watched by millions, he was acquitted. A civil jury later held him liable for the killings, but he hasn't paid the $33.5 million in damages, insisting he did not commit the slayings.

And then Simpson retreated to Florida seemingly intent on living the life of a retiree, playing golf every day and looking after his children.

Video   O.J. witness Sept. 2: One of the star witnesses in the upcoming O.J. Simpson trial is hoping to cash in on his new found fame. KVBC-TV's Steve Crupi reports. NBC News Channel

But things have not been idyllic for Simpson.

He was tried in a road rage case and acquitted. Family disputes went public.

This latest episode ironically resulted from a clash between past and present — Simpson's obsession with keeping control of memorabilia from his glory days.

One of the men expected to testify against him, Thomas Riccio, a convicted felon and a memorabilia dealer who arranged the meeting, said Simpson's motive was clear when he went to the hotel room at the Palace Station casino a year ago and demanded the return of items he said belonged to him.

"O.J. wanted to be able to pass these things down to his kids," said Riccio, who wasn't charged in this case.

The memorabilia dealer, who has known Simpson for many years and got a book published as a result of the Las Vegas case, acknowledged letting Simpson into the hotel room with a key. He also had a tape recorder running inside the room and later sold an audio tape of the events to a gossip Web site. The audio tape will be key evidence against Simpson, along with the testimony of the four former co-defendants, Riccio, Beardsley and Fromong.

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