Killer Thriller: Denise Brown Watched O.J. Grab Nicole by the Throat, Then Nicole Went Back to Him

Emily Simpson (0:30)

You discovered that Nicole called a shelter just five days before she was murdered. How did you find that out, and can you talk about how turning to a shelter, essentially strangers, might seem more palatable than calling a supportive family?

Denise Brown (0:49)

I found out in court.

Emily Simpson (0:51)

Oh my gosh.

Denise Brown (0:53)

Yeah, I found out in court that she had called the shelter because they called them up on the sand and they wouldn't talk.

I was really, really, really angry because I thought, how could you not tell them what happened to my sister or what she said to you? Then once I started learning about it, I understood, but this took years to understand, that they are there to protect the other victims that are, our clients that they call them, there, that are in the shelter. Because if they start talking about Nicole, per se, they have to open up and let their books be shown about everybody. I never understood that. That's why I got so angry and I just thought, oh my God, they're awful. I would never call them.

Emily Simpson (1:42)

Right.

Denise Brown (1:42)

Please, but I understand it now. But as a sister to someone that was murdered, of course, I didn't understand it at all.

Emily Simpson (1:54)

Of course.

One of the most disturbing scenes in your book is your account of seeing OJ put his hands around Nicole's throat and lift her off the ground. It's a lot to metabolize. What do you remember about that moment?

Denise Brown (2:12)

Oh my gosh, every detail. Every single detail, that is something that is so ingrained in my brain that I cannot forget it. I mean, it was, it was a fun, we had such a fun night. A fun night that we, you know, you go and you eat Mexican food and you're drinking to keep, well, you're drinking the margaritas and you're having a great time and everything is fun. We go back to Rockingham. He's making more margaritas and we're all sitting around the bar having a great time. And then all of a sudden he said, Nicole, go get some food. I go, oh my God. I said, we just ate. I said, what do we need more food for? Nicole, go get some more food. I said, come on. You see, I don't know why I can't keep my mouth shut. But anyhow, I said, why do you take her? You take my sister so for granted. She does everything for you.

Okay, Denise had to open her mouth. Well, this is when he came around the bar. And I thought, what in the world is he doing? And I saw dark, black eyes. I saw veins popping out of his head. I just thought, oh my God. He ran up the stairs, started throwing pictures down into the floor here. Not pictures of his family, pictures of our family.

And he runs into the bedroom, takes her clothes, throws them into the floor here, shoes, jackets, hangers, everything. All of a sudden, he comes running back down. He sees Nicole, he grabs her by the throat, and he has her six inches off the ground. And I am sitting there watching this, and he is just black eyes. And I am going over there and I'm pounding on him as hard as I can, and crying and screaming. And finally he released her.

And he took her by the arms and he threw her outside, and she was all bloody, her elbows, and she landed on her butt. And then he came, grabbed me, threw me out of the door, but I didn't fall down. And I just said, we're out of here. I grabbed Nicole and I took her out, and we spent the night at a hotel because a friend of ours that was with us, he ended up, he was at the Beverly Hills Hotel. So we ended up taking Nicole there. And the next day she said, Denise, I have to go back and get some clothes. I said, okay. I said, I'm going with you.

And she said, no, she goes, don't even worry about it. She goes, she's not going to be there anyway. And I said, no, no, no, I'm going to go. And she said, she goes, Denise, I'll be gone like maximum two hours. You know, I'll go there, pick up some stuff and I'll be back.

I said, okay.

And she goes, one hour, two hours, three hours. I finally get on the phone. Remember, we didn't have cell phones at the time. And I call the home phone. She pick up, she picks up the phone and she said, she goes, oh, Denise, she goes every, I said, Nicole, I said, what's up? And she goes, oh, everything's okay.