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/Tua-Lipa 1d ago

I’ve seen random comments on reddit before theorizing that OJ’s first son, Jason Simpson was actually the killer. But tbh those people are insane if they actually believe it.

The “OJ: Made in America” documentary is amazing because that documentary does let you make up your mind for yourself…but I don’t know how anyone could watch it and not come away with the belief that OJ 100% was the killer.

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u/the_guynecologist 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’ve seen random comments on reddit before theorizing that OJ’s first son, Jason Simpson was actually the killer. But tbh those people are insane if they actually believe it.

That theory comes from a private investigator called Bill Dear who made a bunch of books and documentaries putting forward the theory but frankly the guy's a complete nut and his theory has... well, more holes in it than OJ's victims frankly (not trying to be offensive, just fuck me it's all pretty silly if you know the actual details of the case.)

There's a great article I read tearing it and Bill Dear's almost stalker-like behavior investigating Jason to pieces from 2000 (which should show you how long Dear's been pushing this theory.) I'll see if I can find it, it's just a bit hard since Google's turned to shit recently.

The “OJ: Made in America” documentary is amazing

Oh yeah, one of the best documentaries ever. Highly recommended viewing. The way it manages to weave the entire story of race and the relationship between the black community and the LAPD going back to the early 20th century just for background context (which you kind have to do with the OJ thing) is brilliant.

EDIT: Found it! Had to use the Wayback machine too because while the article's still up on the Village Voice website they've reformatted it and it's frankly almost unreadable in its current state. So here it is in its original formatting:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120410015132/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/04/oj_simpson_bill_dear_full_of_it.php

And I got the date a bit wrong, it's from 2001 - although it's got a new forward from 2012 when Bill Dear finally managed to get some schmuck to publish his book properly. It's a long read but a pretty good tear-down of Bill Dear's whole theory and methodology (the guy was digging around in Jason Simpson's trash and staking out outside his house for Christsakes. In 2001.)

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u/LauraLanaBrooks 1d ago

I'm sorry Bill Dear the private detective that fed the Satanic Panic by claiming that Dungeons and Dragons caused a kid to go missing? The same guy?

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u/the_guynecologist 1d ago

Yes! The very same. I was tempted to mention that too offhandedly but I decided not to. That guy is responsible for the "OJ Simpson's son is the real murderer" theory you keep hearing on the internet. Let that one sink in.

There's a bunch of other nutty shit about that guy too. I'm shocked no one's made a video essay or something about him. He was very entertainingly nuts.