Published: Tuesday - August 14, 2007
Words by Liz "Red" Thomas
O.J. Simpson (Photo: AP)
O.J. Simpson's canceled If I Did It book about his hypothetical account of killing his slain ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, will be printed by a New York publisher, a spokesman for literary agent Sharlene Martin told the Associated Press on Monday (August 13).
Martin reportedly struck a deal for the book, which was scrapped last year, on behalf of the family of Ron Goldman, who was murdered along with Brown Simpson at her Los Angeles home in 1994, according to a spokesman.
Although Simpson was acquitted of criminal murder charges in 1995, he was found liable for the deaths two years later in a civil case brought by the victims' families.
A federal judge gave the rights to the book to Goldman's family last month, who are owed $33.5 million in damages by Simpson, but the former football star has vowed to never voluntarily pay damages to the families.
According to Martin's spokesperson, Michael Wright, the family plans to keep the book intact in its entirety. "The family and publisher have pledged to leave Simpson's manuscript entirely intact, but they will also add key commentary," Wright said in a prepared statement to the AP. "The Goldmans, the publisher and Sharlene Martin will all contribute portions of sales proceeds to the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice."
The original draft of the Simpson book, where he would explain how he would have committed the murders if he did it, was planned for release last year, but didn't see the light of day because public outrage.
To date, Simpson maintains his innocence in the 1994 slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Goldman.
In an interview last month with Dallas-based Market News First (MN1.com), Simpson said the book was composed by a ghost author and that he reluctantly agreed to include a "night-of-the-crime" account as told by him only after it was agreed to clearly label it as hypothetical.
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