Court Records Suggest Possible Accomplice in OJ Simpson Case
Left 0%
Center 60%
Right 40%
0 left · 3 center · 2 right
What happened
The New York Times first reported on October 19, 2026, that newly unsealed federal court records describe claims by Joseph “Joey” Ippolito, a convicted drug trafficker and federal informant who knew O.J. Simpson and Al Cowlings, that he had information about the unrecovered murder weapon in the 1994 Los Angeles killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Ippolito’s brother Sam told the Times that Ippolito came home that night with a heavy bag and apparent blood on his hands and later discarded the bag in a dumpster on Doheny Drive; Sam later recanted after seeking payment for his story. Simpson was acquitted in the 1995 criminal trial and found liable in a 1997 civil trial; Simpson died in 2024 and Ippolito in 2006. CBS News and Fox News credited the Times as the origin of the story; NewsNation’s first on-record source that day was an attorney.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 5 articles
3 of 5 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report, credited to The New York Times.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 3 of 5
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Alan Dershowitz, Charlie Ehrlich, Sam Ippolito, Attorney and Kaelin
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 4 of 5
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: news report, court records, book
- Credits another outlet 2 of 5
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: New York Times, The New York Times
- Unnamed sources 0 of 5
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 19, 13:49 UTC by CBS News, crediting The New York Times, naming its source. First document in the first report, from CBS News (court records).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only right-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
The Guardian reported it on 2026-10-18.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage has not reported the unsealed court records, so those readers would not know a former Simpson defense lawyer now says the murders remain an open case. Right-leaning coverage reports that Joseph Ippolito told federal prosecutors he had information about disposing of the murder weapon. The same coverage includes that Ippolito's brother later recanted after asking for payment. A reader of left-leaning outlets misses both the snitch claim and the recantation that weakens it.
Right-leaning coverage leads with the accomplice theory as unfinished. Fox News foregrounds Dershowitz calling the claims "plausible and perhaps credible" even as it reports no forensic sign of a second attacker.
Did prosecutors ever act on Ippolito's information before he died?
Bottom line
Fox News is circulating unsealed files on a possible Simpson accomplice while also noting the key brother's recantation, a story left-leaning outlets have not run.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Joseph Ippolito told federal prosecutors he had information on the never-recovered murder weapon
- Ippolito's brother later asked for payment for his story and recanted
- Forensic pathologist Michael Baden said there was no scientific evidence of more than one attacker
- In If I Did It, Simpson wrote a hypothetical confession that included an accomplice thought to be Ippolito
- Kato Kaelin said he never heard of Joey Ippolito and called the new evidence speculative
The Right View
Fox News reported that former Simpson defense attorney Alan Dershowitz called the claims “plausible and perhaps credible,” said the murders remain an “open case,” and argued a second person may have helped dispose of evidence; Simpson friend Charlie Ehrlich said he believes there was a “secondary guy” but denied it was him. OAN framed the unsealed files as renewing questions about Ippolito’s ties to Simpson and Cowlings. CBS News reported that the Times documents show Simpson may have had an accomplice who helped dispose of the weapon. NewsNation quoted an attorney calling the revelation an “interesting postscript,” noted that Simpson’s book “If I Did It” included a hypothetical accomplice thought to be Ippolito, and reported that Kato Kaelin said he never heard of Ippolito and called the evidence speculative. Forensic pathologist Michael Baden told Fox there was no scene, autopsy, or scientific evidence of more than one attacker; Cowlings did not immediately comment.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive in form: it cites newly unsealed federal court records, named actors, and specific checkable details (a bag, Doheny Drive, informant statements to prosecutors). Established is that Ippolito, now dead, claimed knowledge about evidence disposal, including a never-recovered weapon, and that his brother’s corroborating account was later recanted after a request for payment. Remaining alleged is that anyone besides Simpson took part in the killings or hid a weapon; no accomplice was charged, and Baden said the forensic record did not show more than one attacker. No left-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for the unsealed filings themselves, any comment from prosecutors or Cowlings, and whether contemporaneous records independently corroborate Ippolito’s claims.
5 sources
- Former OJ Simpson attorney, longtime friend both support possibility of accomplice in 1994 murders
- Newly unsealed files renew questions about potential accomplice in O.J. Simpson case
- O.J. Simpson could have had an accomplice, court records show
- New OJ Simpson revelation an 'interesting postscript': Attorney
- Man who lived in OJ Simpson’s guesthouse says he never heard of Joey Ippolito
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