On Tuesday night, the O.J. Simpson case was resurrected by the new FX series American Crime Story, and even after just one episode, new questions are beginning to surface. During the premiere episode, Simpson, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., writes a suicide letter and holds a gun in Kim Kardashian's room, contemplating suicide before choosing to flee Robert Kardashian's house instead. Could it get any more suspenseful? The series is a drama, not a documentary, but the scene definitely holds some major veracity. According to Robert Kardashian Sr., O.J. Simpson truly considered suicide in real life.
To back up a bit, American Crime Story is a brand new crime anthology series produced by the creator of American Horror Story — FX's five-season-strong hit thriller series. The first season (the production of season two is already underway) is titled The People vs. O.J. Simpson and is based upon the book by Jeffrey Toobin titled The Run of His Life: The People vs. O.J. Simpson. And if you've watched the trailer, let alone the first episode, it's clear that the series, which claims to reveal what went on behind the scenes and beyond the trial, is going to be insanely intense.
O.J.'s alleged suicide attempt, which was featured in the first episode, gained media buzz back in 2015 when it was advertised as a new development in the 1995 case. In an interview with ABC News' 20/20, Lawrence Schiller, the author of another O.J. Simpson trial book titled American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the O.J. Simpson Defense, shared the details of the attempt. He contributed an earlier recording of his conversation with Robert Kardashian Sr., Simpson's friend and attorney, to the segment. Kardashian confirmed that Simpson contemplated suicide in his daughter Kim's room. Kim Kardashian was just 14 years old at the time and was not featured in the interview.
Then O.J. said, "I'm going to kill myself in this room," and I said, "You can't. This is my daughter's bedroom. My little girl Kim sleeps here. I can't have my little girl in this bedroom, and every time I come in here, I'm going to see your body lying in this. You can't do that."
The American Crime Story reenactment of the scene was shot in Kim's old bedroom at the Encino, California, home actually owned by the Kardashians at the time. The 20/20 special also included the actual tape recorded by Simpson that day and later obtained by Schiller. In the bizarre recording, taken in Kim's bedroom, the former football star doesn't admit to murder. But he also doesn't admit to not killing them. Instead, he seems genuinely confused by the situation.
Oh boy, I don't know how I ended up here. Please remember me as "The Juice." Please remember me as a good guy. Don't remember me as one of the negatives that might end up here. Please, please, please, please leave my kids at peace. I love everybody.
Prior to the famous Bronco car chase on June 17, 1994, authorities discovered what appeared to be an actual written letter from Simpson, signed with a smiley face drawn inside of the "O." You can read the letter in its entirety here. The integrity of the letter, however, has been under speculation for years. If Robert Kardashian was present when Simpson was making his recording, it's possible that he was also present when he was writing the letter.
