Unidentified fingerprints could offer new leads in O.J. Simpson case, filmmaker says

Nine fingerprints collected during the investigation into the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were never matched to a known person. More than three decades later, filmmaker Ari Mark says improved forensic tools may give investigators another chance to identify who left them.

Mark co-directed the Peacock docuseries “OJ’s Accomplice,” which revisits the killings and examines the possibility that Simpson had help. The series focuses in part on Joey Ippolito, a convicted drug trafficker who knew Simpson and was said to have connections to organized crime.

Mark told Fox News Digital that investigators should consider testing the nine unidentified prints again. Technology and fingerprint databases have advanced considerably since the original investigation, he said, making a new comparison worthwhile.

In 1995, fingerprint specialist Gilbert Aguilar testified for the defense that none of the identifiable prints collected at the Bundy Drive condominium matched Simpson. Under questioning by defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr., Aguilar also said nine prints could not be matched to any known sample.

Aguilar testified that investigators compared the prints with samples from Simpson, Brown Simpson, Goldman and 58 other people, including friends and relatives. They also searched state and federal fingerprint databases, but found no match. Simpson’s lawyers argued that someone else could have committed the murders and that detectives had not adequately pursued that possibility.

Aguilar, who appears in the docuseries, said the fingerprint system available in 1994 had significant limits. It searched records held by the Los Angeles Police Department, then California and other Western states, he explained. A person arrested elsewhere might not have been included in those databases.

Aguilar said the LAPD still has the prints and could submit them for testing again, though he did not know whether that had happened. It remains unclear whether investigators have used current forensic methods or expanded databases to reexamine them.

An LAPD spokesperson said the case remains open and ongoing. The department would pursue any investigative leads if new evidence emerged, the spokesperson said, adding that there was no further information to release.

Mark said the series was intended to raise questions and encourage another look at the evidence. He added that any renewed review should take the victims’ families’ wishes into account, while arguing that the public deserves to know what happened if evidence points to another person’s involvement.

Defense investigator Pat McKenna also argued in the series that the prints should be sent to a laboratory for further analysis. The filmmakers said they asked the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to arrange a review but did not receive a response.

Mark said advances in forensic technology might reveal useful information in the fingerprints. He also raised the possibility that preserved DNA evidence could be examined as part of a broader reinvestigation.

The unidentified prints are one part of the series’ examination of whether Simpson had an accomplice. Before the series premiered, Joey Ippolito’s brother, Sam, told The New York Times that Joey returned to a Los Angeles apartment around midnight on June 12, 1994, carrying a bag with a heavy object inside.

Sam said Joey had left earlier to help a friend and returned with what appeared to be blood on his hands. According to Sam, Joey put his clothes in the bag and asked him to get rid of it while he showered. Sam said he threw it into a dumpster near a construction site on Doheny Drive. He gave a similar account in the docuseries.

Sam’s account has been disputed. The New York Times reported that he sought payment from the newspaper and later tried to withdraw his statements after it declined. Friends and relatives have also challenged claims that Joey took part in the killings.

Joey Ippolito escaped from a Florida prison in May 1994. He was arrested in August 1995 and later became a federal informant, while Simpson’s murder trial was nearing its end. Ippolito died in 2006.

A federal prosecution memorandum from December 1996, later unsealed at the newspaper’s request, described Ippolito as a valuable source. It said he had information about Simpson’s alleged efforts to get rid of the murder weapon and evade authorities. Former federal prosecutor David Kelley called Ippolito’s cooperation useful, but later told The New York Times he did not believe Ippolito was involved in the murders.

Mark said he believed Ippolito had been truthful and might have had more information to share. Brown Simpson’s sister, Tanya Brown, rejects the accomplice theory and said in the docuseries that she believes Simpson acted alone. Mark said he understood her position.

Simpson and Brown Simpson married in 1985 and had two children, Sydney and Justin. They divorced in 1992. Brown Simpson and Goldman were found stabbed to death two years later.

Investigators quickly focused on Simpson. He was acquitted of the murders in 1995, but a civil jury found him liable for their deaths in 1997. He later served nearly nine years in prison after being convicted of armed robbery and related charges in an unrelated Las Vegas case. Simpson died in April 2024, aged 76.