By John Geluardi
I was pleased Sunday night when “O. J. Made in America” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. It is by far one of the most thoroughdocumentaries I’ve seen and it recasts the killings of Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and the subsequent murder trial into a powerful context for those who watched the documentary’s five remarkable episodes.
While watching the documentary, I was struck by a scene that occurs about half way through episode 3 when Al Cowlings, at the end of the infamous low-speed chase, pulls the white Bronco into the driveway of Simpson’s Rockingham estate. In the vehicle’s backseat, the fallen sports hero and suspected murderer is supposedly suicidal and resting his chin on the barrel of a handgun while clutching family photographs.
During the scene, taken from helicopter-shot news footage, Cowlings gets out of the Bronco and a standoff between Simpson and the Los Angeles police begins. The scene is tense. Everybody is wondering if the police will shoot Simpson who is emotional and armed. Simpson’s family, the crowds who had poured into Brentwood to be part of celebrity history, the helicopter pilots hovering just overhead and the millions of Americans who watched the scene unfold on live television, all are holding their breath
But it wasn’t the noisy drama of the scene’s central focus that fascinated me. I was drawn to a very short, but compelling scene within the scene. About 10 feet in front of the Bronco, Nicole’s white and brown Akita, Kato, stands looking directly at the Bronco’s wretched occupant. The dog’s presence stuck me because the Akita — who by coincidence had the same name as the quirky human houseboy Kato Kaelin — was the only witness to the brutal murders of Nicole and Goldman.
On that June night in 1994, it was Kato who began to bark and wail “plaintively” at 10:15 p.m., which set the condemning murder timeline that showedSimpson had time to butcher his ex-wife and Goldman and still make it back to the Rockingham estate in time meet limo driver Allan Park who drove Simpson to the airport for an 11:45 flight to Chicago. It was also the Akita who went to the street, his paws soaked in Nicole’s blood, to alert neighbors that two bodies were lying on the walkway of Nicole’s home at 325 Gretna Green Way.
While there are no known human witnesses to the deadly attack, the Akita saw who killed his beloved owner and the young waiter whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The dog was never interviewed by police nor did he give testimony at trial, but five days after the killings, Kato was there waiting when Simpson pulled into his driveway with a dozen police cars in tow. Like Dr. T.J. Eckleberg overlooking the Valley of Ashes, Kato stood in front of the Bronco silently looking at Simpsonwhile chaos surrounded man and dog.
Bred in Japan’s remote northern mountains, the Akita is the most ancient of Japanese dogs. We can only guesswhat Simpson experienced when afixed by the dog’s primordial eyes set deep in the dog’s bear-like head. Kato was the onebeing who knew beyond a shadow of a doubtof Simpson’sterrible transgression. I like to think the sports hero and pitchman was at that moment inescapably confronted with hisabhorrent crime and, for at least a moment, slipped deeper into a morassof oppressive guilt. I also like to think that Kato’s knowing gaze leveled at him all those years ago still occasionally wakes Simpson from fitful sleep in his high desert prison cell at the Lovelock Correctional Facility
Like many involved in the trial, Kato became a minor celebrity. He even had his own spoof autobiography:“O.J.’s Dog Daze,” which was published in 2001 and came with a paw print autograph.
Fortunately Katolanded well. Once the trial was over and the media frenzy died down, Kato ended up in the beach town of Dana Point where he was cared for by Nicole’s parents, Judi and Louis Brown. After a long life, Kato died in October, 2004. The Browns are said to keep his ashes under the family piano, which was Kato’s favorite spot to curl up and watch over family activities with those deep-set, Akita eyes.
FAQs
Called "Kato" since childhood, from actor Bruce Lee's character the in "Green Hornet," Kaelin shared the same name as Nicole's dog, which Nicole and O.J.'s children affectionately named after their mother's friend.
What happened to Nicole Brown Simpson's sister Dominique? ›
Dominique Brown was 29 years old when Nicole died. Since then, she has lived a more private life than her sisters have, but in the Lifetime docuseries, she hopes to join her siblings in reminding the world about the family member they lost so long ago. “It's been 30 years,” she says in a voice-over in the trailer.
How old was O.J. Simpson in 1994? ›
Here is PEOPLE's cover story from July 4, 1994, shortly after the June 12 slayings, about the O.J. nobody knew. AT THE FUNERAL OF HIS BEAUTIFUL 35-year-old ex-wife, a grieving O.J. Simpson, 46, embraced his family and friends, touching them one by one as if for solace.
What was Nicole Brown buried in? ›
Brown is buried in Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California.
What was Nicole wearing when she died? ›
The decedent was wearing a short black dress, blood stained.
Where was Nicole's body found? ›
11:45 p.m. - Simpson leaves on an American Airlines flight to Chicago. 12:10 a.m. - The bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are discovered outside her townhouse.
How old was Nicole Brown when she married OJ Simpson? ›
Simpson soon after her graduation from high school. She was 18, he was 30. The two were married soon afterwards on February 2, 1985, with a child following a just months after their marriage. Her family and friends remember her as a devoted mother who loved her children, Sydney and Justin.
Who took care of Nicole Brown Simpson's kids? ›
According to Business Insider, Nicole's parents took care of the children amid the trial that ensued after the murder. However, they had to hand over the children to their father after losing the custody battle.
How old were Nicole Simpson's kids when she died? ›
Justin and Sydney Simpson were 5 and 8, respectively, when their mother was killed in 1994. A year later, their father was acquitted on murder charges in her death in one of the most notorious criminal trials of the 20th century.
Is OJ's first wife still alive? ›
She is alive but has maintained a low profile since she appeared in Simpson's murder trial. She previously resided in California, USA, but recent reports showed she owns a Fresno home.
Nicole Brown Simpson had two children: a daughter, Sydney, and a son, Justin. The two were raised by their father, OJ Simpson, after he was acquitted of their mother's murder. The siblings — now 38 and 35 — live and work in Florida and have become parents themselves.
How many biological children does O.J. Simpson have? ›
O.J. Simpson was a father of five before his death at the age of 76. The former NFL player shared three children, Arnelle, Jason and Aaren, with his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, and welcomed two kids, Sydney and Justin, with his second wife Nicole Brown Simpson.
Did OJ Simpson go to Nicole's funeral? ›
He also attended the wake. She wept talking about having to find a turtleneck to bury Nicole in because she had been “almost decapitated.” Nicole's friend Robin Greer remembered O.J. standing over the coffin, saying, “Nicole, I'm so sorry” over and over, feeling like it was a confession.
What was OJ Simpson's net worth when he died? ›
Simpson had a net worth of $3 million at the time of his death, most of it coming from pensions from the NFL and SAG.
What happened to Nicole Brown's Ferrari? ›
Her typed will gifted the car, upon her death, to her parents. Although Nicole died on July 14th 1994, a mountain of red tape locked her estate up in probate for years after her death. At long last, the car was turned over to her parents on November 7th, 1997.
Why is Kato Kaelin called Kato? ›
Kaelin was nicknamed "Kato" as a child after the character played by Bruce Lee on the television series The Green Hornet. He graduated from Nicolet High School in Glendale, Wisconsin, in 1977. He attended, but never graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.
What did Kato have to do with OJ Simpson? ›
Kaelin, an aspiring actor, had moved to Los Angeles at the time of the killings and was staying in a guest house on Simpson's Rockingham estate; he bore witness to some of Simpson's movements the night of June 12, 1994.
What is a Kato dog? ›
In Swahili, Kato is a male name meaning "second of twins." This makes it a fantastic name for a second-born pup in a litter of two, adding a personal touch that ties to the dog's birth order and relationship with its sibling.
Was Kato Kaelin friends with OJ? ›
Kaelin continued to grow even closer to Nicole after she began dating one of his friends, and eventually she invited him to stay on her and O.J. 's property in an extra guest house, where he even began helping take care of their children Sydney and Justin Simpson.
