Robert Kardashian, figure in Simpson case

By Associated Press, 10/2/2003

LOS ANGELES -- Robert Kardashian, a lawyer who was an important figure in the O.J. Simpson saga and part of his legal "dream team," died Tuesday. He was 59.

Mr. Kardashian died at his Encino home eight weeks after being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, said his ex-wife, Kris Jenner.

Simpson, a former football star, lived at Mr. Kardashian's house in the days after Simpson's ex-wife and her friend were stabbed to death in 1994. The infamous televised chase involving Simpson in a white Ford Bronco began after he fled Mr. Kardashian's home. "I will always remember him as the world's greatest father, whose first priority in his life was his kids," Kris Jenner said yesterday.Mr. Kardashian married Ellen Pierson about six weeks ago.

Mr. Kardashian, who attended the University of Southern California before Simpson arrived on campus, became friends with him in the 1970s.

"He stood by O.J. irrespective of how he felt because he felt that nobody else was standing by O.J. Not because of his innocence or guilt, but because there was a friendship there," said author Larry Schiller, whose book "American Tragedy" focused on the tensions and strategies of Simpson's legal team.

Mr. Kardashian was a collaborating source for the book, but not its primary source, Schiller said.

Simpson and Mr. Kardashian had a falling out over the book and a television miniseries based on it. Simpson said that Mr. Kardashian betrayed attorney-client privilege by telling details of the case.

Mr. Kardashian said in a 1996 interview on ABC's "20-20" that he questioned Simpson's innocence.

"I have doubts. The blood evidence is the biggest thorn in my side; that causes me the greatest problems. So I -- I struggle with the blood evidence."

Mr. Kardashian, who knew Simpson for 25 years, also described him in the interview as a spoiled athlete and confirmed earlier reports that Simpson badly failed a lie detector test shortly after the slayings.

Simpson was acquitted in the slaying of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, but he was found liable for the killings in a later civil trial and ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Kardashian leaves three daughters, Kourtney, Kimberly, and Khloe; and a son, Robert.