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O.J. Simpson's Plan To Retrieve Memorabilia Quickly Unraveled

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By CHELSEA J. CARTER, The Associated Press

Published: September 23, 2007

LAS VEGAS - Standing in a casino hotel room, a fallen football hero played out the final scene of a sting operation to seize prized possessions from his glory days.

But his plan, plotted against the backdrop of a quickie Las Vegas wedding, was suddenly going bad.

There was a gunman impersonating a police officer. Men were screaming at each other. And the prized possessions were being stuffed into pillow cases and cardboard boxes.

In a city where casino heists and celebrity spawn images of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack, the caper allegedly orchestrated by O.J. Simpson has the glint of Sin City's seedy underside - with shadowy figures and deals gone bad.

Based on a review of police reports and interviews with Simpson, sports memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley and other authorities involved in the case, the day unfolded in the following manner:

It began with a phone call, police and those involved say, from an auctioneer with a colorful past.
Thomas Riccio had helped arrange autograph signings for Simpson. He also knew Simpson thought a former associate had stolen many of his pro football belongings and personal items, such as family pictures and a suit Simpson wore the day he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Sports memorabilia dealers were peddling some of the items, Riccio told Simpson. He faxed a list of items and offered to help Simpson get them back.

The timing couldn't have been better: Simpson was headed to Vegas as best man at a friend's wedding.

Make the call, Simpson said.

Riccio called Beardsley, an ex-con who by his own account helped Simpson make money with autograph signings.

Beardsley recalled Riccio telling him: 'I have a client, a big O.J. Simpson fan, who wants to buy a lot of Simpson memorabilia.' He had no idea it was Simpson.

Beardsley then, according to police, turned to Bruce Fromong, an expert in Simpson memorabilia who testified for Simpson at his wrongful death civil trial.

Fromong had sold Beardsley the so-called acquittal suit.

Simpson's Arrival Low-Key

Simpson rated little special attention when he arrived at the Palms on Sept. 12 with his longtime girlfriend, Christine Prody, a woman who bears a likeness to his slain ex-wife.

They checked into a $250-a-night, 550-square-foot 'King Jr.' room in the Palms tower rather than the more upscale Fantasy Tower.

Most of the wedding party was staying at the Palms, but one out-of-towner, Walter Alexander, was staying elsewhere. He and Simpson were mutual friends of the groom, but hadn't talked in years, recounted Alexander's lawyer, Robert Rentzer.

Alexander, 46, and Simpson had once been golfing buddies, and Alexander's uncle was the godfather of a child from Simpson's first marriage, Aaren, who died as a baby in a swimming pool accident.

The two had a falling out after Simpson refused to help Alexander pay for his father's funeral several years ago.

On Sept. 13, though, Alexander accepted Simpson's invite to visit. 'You don't hold a grudge forever,' Rentzer said.

As Simpson tells it, he asked Alexander for help in a plan unfolding across town at a lower-end casino hotel.

While Simpson prepped at the Palms, Riccio waited in the lobby of the Palace Station for Fromong and Beardsley.

The two men brought the Simpson memorabilia, along with other items.

They shook hands, and headed to Fromong's car to take stock of the goods.

Footballs, baseballs, plaques, documents and three ties that Simpson was said to have worn during his 'Trial of the Century' were in the trunk, arrest reports state.

Riccio got a bellman to cart the items to a small ground-floor room he had reserved.

The memorabilia was laid out on the bed and around the room.

Then Riccio got a call. His client had arrived.

Simpson had a problem. He didn't have a car in Las Vegas, and would have to take a taxi.

That meant he had no way to get the items back to his hotel. And he mistakenly thought the room was on the 12th floor, and thought he would need help carting out his belongings.

Alexander agreed to put together a crew with a truck to help.

But when it came time to go, two of the men were running late, and they had to scramble to find others.

By the time they pulled into the parking lot at the Palace Station that evening, the crew of four - Simpson, Alexander and the two helpers - had grown to six when the two stragglers showed up.

It was more help than Simpson wanted or needed.

But he was there, and he wanted his stuff back.

In the lobby, Riccio met Simpson, Alexander and the crew.

Riccio was hit by questions: Are Fromong and Beardsley in the room? Does anybody in the room have a gun?

'How Could You Do This?'

From here, the story becomes murky, depending on who tells it.

Authorities. However, say they know this:

•Riccio led Simpson and company to Room 1203 where Riccio opened the door.

•At least one man, possibly two, Fromong and Beardsley say, pointed guns at them and pushed them against a wall to search for weapons.

According to the police report, one man snarled at Beardsley: 'I'm a cop and you're lucky this ain't L.A. or you'd be dead.'

The original plan had begun to spiral out of control.

'You think you can steal my ... and get away with it?' Simpson yelled.

Fromong pleaded with Simpson, telling him that he had purchased the items from Simpson's former sports licensing agent.

'How could you do this?' Simpson screamed at him.

He ordered Beardsley to pack up the items belonging to him that were scattered around the room.

'I thought you were my friends,' Simpson screamed at Beardsley before leaving.

As Beardsley grabbed his phone and dialed 911, Simpson finally got a look at the items in the parking lot.

There were no pictures. No acquittal suit. Nothing personal other than the three ties. There were no big-ticket items, other than Simpson's All-American football.

There in a parking lot, with the city's flickering neon lights brightening the night sky, Simpson stood nearly empty-handed, his plan in shambles.

That, however, would be the least of his problems.

The police would soon come calling. Simpson would be arrested and charged with armed robbery, kidnapping and other charges that carried the possibility, once again, that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

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