LAPD Tests Knife Purportedly Found On O.J. Simpson's Property

A knife that was allegedly found years ago on O.J. Simpson's former property in Los Angeles will undergo DNA testing, an LAPD spokesman said Friday.

The knife was supposedly found by a construction worker, possibly during demolition of Simpson's Rockingham home years ago, and turned over to a now-retired police motorcycle officer who was working as a filming location security guard, police Capt. Andy Neiman said.

Neiman stressed that the authenticity of the story was not confirmed.

"We need to vet that," Neiman said. "We don't know the actual account of how the item came into our possession."

Neiman said the LAPD became aware of the knife -- allegedly recovered at the Rockingham property in the late 1990s during demolition -- within the last month. Neiman said he wasn't sure whether the motor officer was retired at the time he purportedly came into possession of the knife, or whether he was working off-duty at the time and retired afterwards.

Simpson lived in a mansion on Rockingham Avenue in Brentwood, when Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were killed in 1994.

According to Neiman, the former officer, who kept the knife at his home for years, said he didn't turn in the knife because he thought the case was closed. However, Neiman stressed that murder cases remain open if there is no conviction.

"I was really surprised," Neiman said. "I would think an LAPD officer - if this story is accurate is being told - would know any time you come into contact with evidence, that you should and shall submit that to the investigation. "

He said he's not sure why that didn't happen or "if the whole story is possibly bogus from the get go."

In January, the officer apparently told a friend in the LAPD's elite Robbery Homicide Division about the knife. Supervisors then retrieved the weapon. Neiman declined to name the retired police officer or to say why the knife had only come to light last month.

The knife is being tested to see if it has any evidentiary value, Neiman said. He said it will be examined for all forensic evidence including DNA, hair samples and serology.

TMZ first reported the knife's discovery and subsequent testing.

Police have long searched for the weapon used to kill Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. Simpson was charged in their murders, but found not guilty on Oct. 3, 1995. The case is the subject of a TV mini-series currently airing on the FX network.

He likely cannot be retried for the murders, because of double jeopardy statutes, Neiman said Friday.

Goldman's father sued Simpson and in 1997, a civil jury unanimously found Simpson liable for the wrongful death and battery of Goldman, and battery of Nicole Brown Simpson.

Neiman said department could consider charges against the retired officer, but because he is retired, there will be no administrative investigation at this point.

Simpson is currently serving a prison sentence for his role in a 2007 robbery of a memorabilia dealer at a Las Vegas hotel.