LAS VEGAS: Cable talking heads and gossip Web site owners
covering the latest O.J. Simpson news can't believe their lucky
stars that an audio recording apparently from the incident has
somehow emerged.
But the ex-wife of one of the suspects says it's actually
quite common for folks around the football great and former
murder defendant to have a tape rolling.
"Many people carry recorders around him to see if they can
catch him slipping to make money," said Debbie Alexander, 41,
former wife of Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Arizona.
While the man who made this latest recording, Thomas Riccio,
earned an undisclosed sum by selling his tape to TMZ.com, Ms.
Alexander said that he was probably hoping for something related
to the 1994 double murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson,
and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Mr. Simpson was acquitted of the crimes in 1995 but found
liable for the deaths in a civil suit in 1997 and ordered to
pay the Goldman family $38 million and the Brown family $24
million.
Ms. Alexander, who lives in West Hills, Calif., says her ex-husband
told her during a visit on Monday that some of the items in
the Palace Station Hotel-Casino were Simpson family photos that
featured his ex-wife. It is unclear why such items were in the
possession of the two memorabilia collectors, Alfred Beardsley
and Bruce Fromong, who told police that Mr. Simpson, Mr. Alexander
and other men had robbed them at gunpoint.
They went to the room after Mr. Riccio, another sports memorabilia
dealer, informed him that Mr. Beardsley and Mr. Fromong were
there with several of Mr. Simpson's items, according to Mr.
Riccio.
This afternoon, O.J. Simpson, Mr. Alexander and two others
with eight felony counts each in the incident. If convicted,
they could face life in prison, according to KNBC.com.
Ms. Alexander believed that her ex-husband "had no idea he
was walking into anything like this."
"They were going out for their night, about to go clubbing
as they do, and O.J. said they should swing by the Palace Station,"
she said. "There's no way he would place his own life in jeopardy
for O.J."
