OJ's 'murder' mystery story published in US magazine

OJ SIMPSON'S "hypothetical" account of how he might have murdered his ex-wife and her friend has been revealed for the first time, telling how the former American football star was left drenched in blood following the fatal altercation - and how he may have had an accomplice.

Two months after News Corporation cancelled publication of the book If I Did It, admitting after a public outcry it had been an "ill-considered project", the US magazine Newsweek yesterday published a summary of the crucial chapter.

The book was based on a bizarre interview with Simpson by publisher Judith Regan, in which he swore his innocence yet offered a graphic version of how the murders could have unfolded had he committed them.

His allegedly speculative account of the events of 12 June, 1994 begins with the revelation that he was in a "foul mood" that day due to problems with his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

He drives his Ford Bronco to Ms Brown's Los Angeles flat, "parks in the alley behind her condo and dons the knit wool cap and gloves he keeps handy to ward off the chill on the golf course", Newsweek states.

"He also has a knife in the Bronco, protection against LA 'crazies'. He intends to scare her," the account adds.

After entering his ex-wife's property, Simpson encounters Ron Goldman - a friend of Ms Brown's, who says he is there to return spectacles Ms Brown's mother left at the eatery where he works.

Newsweek continues: "Simpson accuses Goldman of planning a sexual encounter with Nicole, which Goldman denies. Nicole tells Simpson to leave him alone. Goldman's fate is sealed when Kato, Nicole's Akita [a dog], emerges and gives him a friendly tail wag. 'You've been here before,' Simpson screams at Goldman.

"Simpson writes that his ex-wife came at him like a 'banshee'. She loses her balance and falls hard, her head cracking against the ground. Goldman assumes a karate stance, further angering Simpson. He dares the younger man to fight."

Simpson then turns vague as to what happens next. "Something went horribly wrong, and I know what happened, but I can't tell you exactly how,'" he states, according to Newsweek.

The magazine also reveals: "Simpson writes that when he regains control of himself, he realises he is drenched in blood and holding a bloody knife. Both Nicole and Goldman are dead. Simpson heads back to the alley but before getting into the Bronco to flee, strips down to his socks. He rolls his bloody clothes and the knife into a small pile."

It also reveals how Simpson's tale involves a second man, "a close friend he calls Charlie, [who] is with him during the killings. Charlie is an unwilling accomplice, repeatedly urging Simpson to stop what he is doing," Newsweek reveals.

Mark Miller, Newsweek's assistant managing editor, who wrote the magazine story, speculated yesterday: "Does Charlie really exist? Some people think it might be OJ's alter ego. Others think, 'How could he have done this by himself?'... Simpson does write that he gets Charlie to give away the bloody knife."

On Sunday, Simpson said he saw factual flaws while proofreading the chapter but did not correct them because he thought that would prove he did not write it. "I'm saying it's a fictional creation," he said.

Simpson, 59, was acquitted of murder in 1995, but found liable for Ms Brown and Mr Goldman's deaths by a civil jury in 1997. He was ordered to pay their families £17.1 million damages, but has paid nothing.

Publication of If I Did It was cancelled in November after it emerged that it stood to land Simpson a £1.8 million pay packet. The publication rights will soon revert to Simpson himself, raising the prospect that his victims' families could launch a new battle to seize his copyright.

"This may be the one opportunity we have to collect," Jonathan Polak, the Goldman family's lawyer, told Newsweek.