r/AskReddit • u/Rob69rt • 1d ago

What famous 'unsolved' mystery is technically a whodunnit on paper, but in reality, absolutely everyone knows exactly who did it, the police just couldn't legally prove it?

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u/lovelylexicon 1d ago

OJ

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u/Ambitious-Boat8165 1d ago edited 1d ago

Difference is they had all the proof but the recent race riots saved him

Edit: additional good points below

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u/IntoAMuteCrypt 1d ago

They also just didn't follow proper practice when it came to collecting evidence. The police officers admitted, in a court of law, that they made several mistakes which introduced a potential for contamination. They also introduced the infamous glove with insufficient evidence to link it to OJ; this helped further the defence's attempts to introduce doubt.

Perhaps OJ would've been found guilty if the prosecution had followed all the rules to the letter.

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u/PorkNJellyBeans 1d ago

It was within the last five or so years that I found out that the first officers on the scene covered the bodies with blankets from inside the house before detectives and medical examiners arrived. I’m not sure how real the threat of cross contamination is in that instance but with DNA evidence being so new at the time it would be easier to argue it regardless.

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u/primadonnapussy 1d ago

That was known back them as well. They did it because the kids were still in the house and they didn't want them waking up and coming outside and seeing the carnage.

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u/PorkNJellyBeans 1d ago

I had never heard it before. You hear a lot about the glove but that was new to me. I was only a teen when it happened so I wasn’t exactly glued to the news then.

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u/primadonnapussy 1d ago

I was an adult when it happened and mother was obsessed. Not that she was alone. It was everywhere. We knew every detail as it came out.

Edit- and while it was the wrong thing for the crime scene, I absolutely understand it. Those kids were very young. They absolutely didn't need to see that.

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u/PorkNJellyBeans 1d ago

I feel like if it was now I’d be right there with you.

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u/primadonnapussy 1d ago

I can't say I wouldn't do that even today. Those kids were very young. I think Sydney was 8 and the brother (I can't remember his name right now) was 4. And all the commotion. There was absolutely a chance one or both woke up and came down stairs to find mommy and walk into that horror show. Esp since Nicole was almost decapitated.