What if O.J. Simpson didn't act alone? Defense investigator raises chilling new questions in the Goldman-Brown case

The murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman remain among the most widely discussed criminal cases in American history.

Now, a new two-part documentary is bringing fresh attention to the possibility that O.J. Simpson may not have acted alone on the night of June 12, 1994.

Titled OJ's Accomplice, the series premiered on Peacock on November 1. Directed by Ari Mark and Sumit David , it revisits evidence from the original investigation and features interviews with people who were connected to the case, including former defense investigator Pat McKenna, lead detective Tom Lange, Kato Kaelin and Nicole 's sister, Tanya Brown .

One of the most striking arguments comes from McKenna , who questions whether the physical evidence is consistent with Simpson confronting and fighting both victims without assistance.

The documentary presents photographs of Simpson taken the day after the killings. According to McKenna , the images show little visible damage beyond a cut on one of his fingers.

“We took all these pictures of O.J.,” McKenna , 78, explains before the documentary shows photographs that “have never appeared in a documentary” before.

“Here’s O.J.’s hand. He’s got one little cut, but this is not a guy who’s just killed two people. He’s got no bruises. He hasn’t got a black eye. He’s got nothing, not even a bad lip, the guy has.”

He then questions whether Simpson could have overpowered Goldman without help.

“So, if it’s O.J. Simpson , maybe he went to kill Nicole . But then, fighting Ron Goldman, that’s going to take more than one person. It has to be two people.”

These are McKenna's interpretations of the photographs, rather than proof that another person was present. Nevertheless, they form part of the documentary's wider examination of evidence that its filmmakers believe deserves another look.

The mystery surrounding Charlie and Joey Ippolito

Another important element concerns nine unidentified fingerprints reportedly recovered in connection with the investigation.

The documentary says the prints have never been matched to an individual and that requests to have them checked again through fingerprint databases were declined by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the LAPD.

The series also revisits Simpson's 2007 book, If I Did It, in which he described a hypothetical version of the murders involving an accomplice named Charlie. In that account, the character was portrayed as someone who accompanied Simpson and could have helped dispose of evidence.

The documentary examines whether the fictional name might have been connected to a real person, Charlie Ehrlich , a friend of Simpson who was later involved in the former football star's 2007 Las Vegas armed robbery case.

Ehrlich has maintained that Simpson told him the name was simply a placeholder and that he was not the person described in the book.

However, the documentary takes the theory further by considering Joey Ippolito, a deceased former drug smuggler who had connections to Simpson's circle.

In a recorded conversation, Ehrlich claims that Ippolito's brother told him Joey had admitted involvement in the murders.

That allegation is not independently established. Ippolito's widow has also criticised the documentary, describing the project as misleading and disputing the claims made about her late husband.

The theory has received additional attention following separate reporting by The New York Times about allegations made by Ippolito's brother, Sam, concerning Joey's movements and a heavy bag on the night of the killings.

Those claims have not established that Ippolito participated in the murders, and they remain allegations rather than proven facts.

The documentary also revisits the role of A.C. Cowlings, Simpson's longtime friend who drove the white Ford Bronco during the infamous 1994 police chase.

Ultimately, the series does not provide a definitive answer about whether Simpson had an accomplice. Its central claims remain theories that would require further corroboration.

The legal history is also important: Simpson was acquitted of the murders in his 1995 criminal trial, but a civil jury found him liable for the deaths of Brown and Goldman in 1997. He died in April 2024, aged 76.

As one participant concludes: “I don’t think we’ll ever know if there were accomplices for this murder.”

OJ's Accomplice is available to stream on Peacock, with both episodes examining questions that have surrounded the case for more than three decades.