Christine Prody OJ Simpson NEWS

They sat in their lawn chairs, waiting.

All day. Since first thing in the morning, some said.

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Not a glimpse of The Juice, who arrived at his Kendall home after midnight Thursday following a four-hour flight from Las Vegas.

Sure, there were the rumors. O.J. had checked into the Seminole Hard Rock. He was playing a round of golf. He had slipped out of his house and was having lunch at a Kendall restaurant.

But no O.J. sightings at Simpson’s $1 million Kendall spread — to the chagrin of waiting reporters.

There was, however, the long-time girlfriend. As Christie Prody drove down the driveway — leaving, returning, leaving, returning — she always smiled into the cameras and the lights to let them know O.J. was just fine.

”People need to know that he hasn’t done anything wrong,” Prody added, before someone in the house yelled for the writers and photographers to leave her alone.

Outside O.J.’s home were journalists from Entertainment Tonight, Fox News, Associated Press, local television stations, paparazzi photographers and one high school TV station.

Some said they’d been entrenched since 8 a.m.; all said they didn’t know how long they would stay.

They are there, of course, to cover Simpson, the former football star charged with kidnapping, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, coercion with use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime. He has not entered a plea.

The media crush was not fun for neighbors.

On the two-lane road past his house, traffic slowed to a crawl. A pickup truck and a minivan had a fender bender just at rush hour.

Someone posted ”No Trespassing” signs at the driveway’s entrance.

No one left.

O.J. Simpson had just been found not guilty of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her acquaintance, Ron Goldman, when a 20-year-old tourist from Minnesota stopped to see his home in Brentwood, Calif.

Christie Prody got more than she bargained for that day. She met the former star NFL running back turned actor, and has been with him ever since.

She’s the tall blonde whom many believe looks a lot like Nicole Brown Simpson, NBC’s Kerry Sanders reported for TODAY on Thursday.

Although she now shies away from the cameras and microphones that follow Simpson everywhere, she remains loyal to him. She even showed up in Las Vegas this week to attend a court hearing related to the new kidnapping and conspiracy charges Simpson faces in connection with a confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers in a casino hotel room.

But who is Prody?

“I consider her shy, soft-spoken and kind,” her friend, Linda Townsend, who recently spent time with Prody in Miami, said.

Her uncle, Steve Bellmore, told NBC she was a shy girl from St. Anthony, a small town in Minnesota, who went to the University of Minnesota but dropped out before her senior year and became a cocktail waitress.

“She’s probably got a bad rap because of the situation and the relationship she’s in,” he told NBC.

She’s 32 now — Simpson is 60 — and although there have been ups and downs, police reports and a breakup, she’s still with Simpson. When he was arrested in Las Vegas on multiple counts including armed robbery and kidnapping in connection with a memorabilia deal gone bad, she visited him in jail and told people she was O.J.’s girlfriend.

For the past seven years, Sanders reported, she’s been living with him in a $1.1-million four-bedroom home with an outdoor basketball court and a big in-ground pool in the Kendall section of Miami. Though they’ve never been engaged, they live together as if they were married.

She cooks, does the housework, runs the home and has cared for Simpson’s two children by Nicole, Sydney, 21, and Justin, 19.

Early on in their relationship, Prody seemed to feed off the excitement and attention that came with being Simpson’s girlfriend. But the relationship has been rocky at times.

Four years after they became a couple, she split up with him and sold a story about their life together to “The National Enquirer.” In it, she said that Simpson confessed to her that he did murder Goldman and his ex-wife.

Despite that, they were soon together again, a trail of police reports documenting some of the bumps in the road. Among them is a 1999 call Simpson made to 911 in which he said, “She’s been doing drugs for two days … I’m trying to get her to leave her house to go into rehab right now.”

A year later, police responded to a call about a disturbance at a Miami hotel involving the couple. Simpson said that Prody slapped and kicked him, but he did not press charges. A year later, she accused him of breaking into her home, but she didn’t press charges. And in 2001, a neighbor who had gone to the Simpson residence to help Prody jump-start her car called police to say she attacked him. No charges were filed in that case, either.

Her friends and family say that’s all in the past, and Prody now is a homebody.

Why Simpson?
As to why anyone would want to get involved with a notorious person like Simpson, Dr. Drew Pinsky, a relationship expert and host of the “Loveline” radio show, told TODAY co-host Meredith Vieira that it usually goes back to childhood and mirrors a problematic relationship with a parent.

“The reality is these things get wired into us early,” he said. The more difficult the relationship becomes, the more attached the person becomes, he added.

Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI profiler and hostage negotiator, said women can be attracted to “bad boys” because such people are exciting.

“They’re high-energy, they’re self-confident, they demand respect and they get it,” he said of such men. “When she first started dating him at 20 years old, this was exciting, this was Superman.”

As the years have gone by and Simpson has aged, the relationship has changed, Van Zandt told Vieira. “This is someone now who is almost like a caretaker of O.J.,” he observed.

Whatever people think of Simpson, they shouldn’t judge Prody harshly, said Bellmore, her uncle.

“Christie’s a good kid,” he said. “I mean, what does she have to gain from this? She doesn’t look for the fame, she isn’t in the spotlight and obviously there isn’t a lot of money there, I would assume.

“She’s not married to the guy, so I mean what is the motive?” Bellmore said. “You tell me.”

As O.J. Simpson dealt with the fallout from his arrest on multiple charges as he traveled back to his Miami home Wednesday, his longtime girlfriend remained committed to him and by his side.

An ABC producer on the flight with Simpson says girlfriend Christie Prody sat alongside him as he flew back to Florida, reading the book “You’ve Been Warned,” a murder mystery by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. Simpson smiled as passengers took pictures; he slept during most of the flight.

Prody’s profile has risen in light of Simpson’s arrest. She was an emotional presence in the Las Vegas courtroom Wednesday, where Simpson was arraigned, alternately smiling and appearing to fight back tears.

The Couple’s Beginnings

Prody is an integral part of Simpson’s inner circle.

“Christie is an extremely important part of O.J.’s life,” said Simpson’s defense attorney Yale Galanter.

The two met in 1995, after his acquittal on murder charges. At the time Prody was a 19-year-old cocktail waitress; the former beautician is said by many to bear a striking resemblance to Simpson’s slain ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

In the past, Prody often has defended Simpson’s reputation.

“Marcia Clark is completely wrong about her two sides of this man because there [are] no two O.J. Simpsons,” Prody said during an “Inside Edition” interview in 2000. “The people that know him, know that there is one guy, one good guy.”

Roller-Coaster Relationship

Despite Prody’s support of Simpson, their relationship has not always been smooth during their more than decade-long relationship.

In October 1999, a 911 phone call documented one of their well-publicized blows, when Simpson called from Prody’s Miami apartment saying a girl needed help.

“We have a problem here. I’m trying to get a girl to go to rehab,” Simpson told a 911 operator. “She’s been doing drugs for two days … ”

Though Simpson later denied the girl he was talking about was his girlfriend, many suspected differently.

Another rift reportedly emerged when Prody sold an interview to the National Enquirer purportedly for $50,000. In the interview, she said that Simpson had confessed to the murders of his ex-wife and her friend Ron Goldman.

Despite the fact that they never lived together, the couple have had several domestic disturbances.

One incident included a violent argument at a Miami hotel. Police reports said Prody allegedly slapped and kicked Simpson.

“The security person came with police,” Simpson said during a TV interview. “They asked me, ‘Mr. Simpson were you attacked or something?’ [I said,] ‘No, the girl was frustrated, but look I’m not making any report. I’m not making any complaint.’”

In another incident, Prody accused Simpson of breaking into her home and erasing a message on her answering machine. In total, police were called four times, but no charges were filed.

Average Couple

Despite the couple’s well-documented ups and downs, Prody’s uncle said the two are a good couple.

“[They are] just like any other couple, except for the fame that he draws to the situation,” said Steve Bellmore.

September 20, 2007 — ABOARD US AIRWAYS FLIGHT TO FORT LAUDERDALE - The passenger in Seat 4D was the biggest deal on Flight 888 - but he didn’t act the part. US Airways had emptied the plane — which had originated in Los Angeles — when it landed in Las Vegas so O.J. Simpson could board alone with his lawyer, Yale Galanter, and girlfriend, Christine Prody.

The graying, paunchy, 60-year-old took the aisle seat in the first row of economy class.

Nearly every one of us who boarded behind him stole a glance as we passed by his seat.

A few of my bolder fellow travelers whipped out their cellphones and cameras to snap a shot.

The Juice favored some of us with a smile, others with a nod. But that was it — there was no autograph hunting, no shouted insults or shouted words of praise.

He bought a $3 snack pack for himself and a $5 sandwich for Prody, and paid for the meal with a $50 bill, according to ET. He then watched some of “Ocean’s 13.” Prody carried a small, black miniature Pomeranian on board in a dog carrier.

O.J. pulled his white tennis visor over his eyes and catnapped for the flight to Fort Lauderdale, which landed just after midnight.

When he was awake, he was watching “Ocean’s 13.”

Prody curled up next to him and laid her blond curls against his chest.

When we landed, he stood and gave Galanter, who had been sitting across the aisle, a big hug before getting into a car and driving off without a word.

Before takeoff, Galanter had said, “There is nowhere in the world where O.J. is not known.”

In other words, if O.J. skipped to another country, he would be made in a New York minute.

But tonight? He’s hardly a blip on the screen.

O.J. Simpson’s buddies may be cutting deals and running, but his Nicole Brown look-alike girlfriend shows no sign of abandoning him.

“Oh, no, no, no, I’m with O.J.,” Christie Prody told a would-be suitor shortly before Simpson was hauled off to jail in handcuffs.

Spilling out of a floral print dress, the buxom blond said Simpson’s arrest for armed robbery, kidnapping and other charges put a “total damper on our vacation in Vegas.”

“O.J. doesn’t own a gun,” said Prody, 32. “Ridiculous. … It’s been a very stressful week.”

Prody, who said she’s been with Simpson for more than a decade, didn’t split after the former NFL star went to the slammer.

She was expected to attend Simpson’s bail hearing today - and was killing time with his daughter Arnelle.

“O.J.’s fine and that’s all I can say,” Arnelle Simpson said.

Simpson and Prody hooked up after he was acquitted in 1995 of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman a year earlier.

A North Dakota native and would-be beautician who has worked as a cocktail waitress, Prody lived in Los Angeles less than a mile from the grisly murder scene from 1996 to 1999, records show. It wasn’t clear whether Prody met Simpson in L.A. or in Miami, where they both now live at separate addresses.

Her mother says Prody firmly believes Simpson is no killer.

“He has convinced her that he didn’t do it,” Kathy Bellmore, 54, told People magazine. “I told her ‘DNA doesn’t lie.’ She says, ‘They planted the blood.’”

Bellmore, who lives in Port Richey, Fla., declined to elaborate when a Daily News reporter called yesterday.

For all her apparent loyalty, Prody and Simpson have had a rocky relationship. From 1999 to 2001, police responded four times to reported domestic disturbances between them.

Prody also has some minor brushes with the law, including arrests for misdemeanor pot and drug paraphernalia possession, and for parking in a handicapped spot, Dade County records show.

Christine Prody and O.J. Simpson have been together the last 10 years. It’s been a rocky relationship.O.J. Simpson called the police from Prody’s home in October 1999 after Prody was on a two day cocaine binge and was trying to get Prody to go to rehab.

In September 2000, Prody accused Simpson of breaking into her home and erasing a message on her answering machine and taking a letter. No charges were filed.

Prody was accused of kicking and slapping Simpson in October 2000 at the Wyndham hotel in Miami, Florida, and again, no charges were filed.

In January 2001, the police were called to Simpson’s home after a neighbor reported an argument between Simpson and Prody. Prody told police that Simpson was upset that she came home late.

After four years with Simpson, they broke up and she sold her story to the National Enquirer, revealing that Simpson had confessed to her that he killed Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. Prody ended up getting back together with O.J.

THE on-off girlfriend of OJ Simpson has disappeared without trace from her Florida home, it emerged yesterday.

Authorities forced their way into Christine Prody’s apartment after reports claimed she had not been seen by friends for about a month. A neighbour called detectives to say a foul smell was emanating from her apartment. Police eventually retrieved a dead cat from the property and said the flat had been burgled.

“The apartment appeared to be ransacked,” said Miami-Dade Detective Joey Giordano. Clothes and partially-packed suitcases were on the floor.

A Florida police spokeswoman said: “Investigations are under way and we are searching for Miss Prody.”

No further details were immediately made available.

Simpson, a former American football hero and film star, has had a stormy relationship with Miss Prody, a 27-year-old restaurant worker - who slightly resembles his murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were slashed to death on the driveway of her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles.

Simpson was acquitted of the double murder in a criminal trial, but was later found responsible for their deaths by a civil jury and ordered to pay £21 million compensation.

Two years ago Ms Prody was publicly urged by her mother to break up with OJ because, she claimed, he seemed to treat her as he had treated Nicole.

The relationship between Simpson and his lover has been plagued with problems and mystery for over a year.

The pair were first seen together on the doorstep of Simpson’s mansion in Brentwood, California, in 1996.

Four years later, Ms Prody accused the disgraced sports legend of breaking into her property in September 2000. Ms Prody filed a police report claiming Simpson broke into her home with a set of keys that he was not entitled to have, erased a message on her answering machine and made off with a letter.

The report says Ms Prody told officers she confronted Simpson over the phone and that he admitted he broke in because he wanted to erase a message he had left for her.

Then in October 2000, Ms Prody gave an interview to the National Enquirer and claimed her former lover had confessed to his ex-wife’s murder. She also claimed to have been stalked by Simpson since splitting up with him.

Ms Prody said: “For years I could never admit that the man I loved could have killed his ex-wife in cold blood.

“But I no longer believe in his innocence. He has treated me the same way he treated Nicole during their break up. He is totally capable of killing.

“I won’t go back to him. That’s why I’m finally revealing what happened. I want it to be over forever. It sounds incredibly stupid and insensitive, but OJ talked to me for years, hour after hour, about Nicole, blaming her for getting killed and sticking him with raising his children Sydney and Justin alone. It’s not what he wanted. It interfered with his golf games and social calendar.”

Nicole also accused him of stealing the keys to her house, according to her best friend Faye Resnick’s book Nicole Brown Simpson, The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted.

“Nicole rummaged around in a drawer looking for the set of spare keys,” writes Resnick. “After a moment she said ‘The keys are gone. OJ’s got them. He must have taken them last week when he was here seeing the kids’.”

Despite Ms Prody’s onslaughts, she is believed to have stayed in touch with Simpson until recently. In May 2000, Simpson claimed he was just another single father trying to live a quiet, normal life, while never escaping a cloud of suspicion. He denied his affair with Ms Prody was serious, claiming he had no time for serious relationships.

“I am the last guy on earth that some beautiful young girl should be wanting to date,” he said in an interview. “Not because what you think but because I don’t have the time to get to a beautiful, young … I’m a single parent with two kids.

A sexy blonde model who had three-in-a-bed sex with O.J. SIMPSON and his girlfriend, is now pregnant with the star’s baby.

ANGELIQUE FITZGERALD, 29, has told pals she’s not yet dared to tell Simpson that he’s going to be a dad, and is now locked in a battle with her own family as to whether or not she should have an abortion.

According to American tabloid the GLOBE, she has told friends, “I’m having OJ’s baby. I guess some people will hate me for that and some will wish me well. I just don’t know what to do.” Angelique has been a Simpson supporter since she watched the entire TV coverage of his trial, when he was accused of killing his wife NICOLE and her friend RON GOLDMAN. She believed he was innocent and celebrated when he was found not guilty. According to a pal, she wrote regularly to him, sending him birthday and holiday cards saying, “Keep the faith. There’s somebody on your side.”

Then last October (00), she drove to Florida to see him and became involved in a steamy three-way sex session with Simpson and his girlfriend CHRISTINE PRODY. Angelique claims the baby was conceived months later when the pair had sex alone and now wants to abort the baby.

A pal adds, “Angelique had been leaning toward terminating the pregnancy because she was terrified of what Simpson might say. “But her mother wants her to have the baby no matter what, on moral grounds.”

Did O.J. Simpson agree to star in a three-way porn flick in exchange for more than a million bucks? That’s the claim being made in next week’s Globe tabloid, according to both the New York Post and the New York Daily News, but O.J. says it ain’t so. And the Juice’s lawyer, Yale Galanter, tells both papers that his client is being set up a la Frank Gifford — and is threatening to take the magazine to court.

According to the Globe, Simpson took part in a three-way romp with his sometime girlfriend Christine Prody and Playboy and Penthouse model Patty Kuprys in Miami’s fancy Mutiny Hotel (in room 310, to be precise).

In the film, reportedly directed by Peter “Prescription for Lust” Davy, Simpson pleasures each woman four times and then watches them frolic, the Globe maintains. (At a certain point, according to the Globe, Simpson can be heard to sing, “If I Only Had a Brain.”) Cameras were reportedly hidden in plants and light fixtures so it would look like Simpson had no idea what was going on.

But Galanter tells both the Post and the Daily News that he suspects Kuprys was paid by the Globe to set his client up and that, while the Simpson was in the hotel room alone with the two women, they were only drinking a nightcap. The sex part never happened, he says.

“Everybody was completely, 100 percent clothed,” he tells the Post.

What’s more, he tells the Daily News, “there is no videotape of him doing anything explicit.”

At a certain point, Galanter says, O.J. spotted a camera in “the wall or in one of the plants” and took off in a hurry.

The Globe contends that Simpson knew precisely what was going on, and claims to have its hands on a signed contract in which Simpson agrees to collaborate with Davy on “an adult movie.” But Galanter insists that the former football star’s signature was forged.

If the signature don’t fit …

O.J. Simpson insists that his ex-girlfriend Christine Prody was fibbing when she told the National Enquirer that she’d heard him confess to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman; she did it for the tabloid’s $50,000 payoff, he says. And he’s also denying Prody’s contention that he’s been harassing her. In fact, he says, she’s stalking him.

“This girl has a substance abuse problem and that’s why I ended our relationship,” O.J. tells Hollywood Gossip. “But now she is following me and harassing me to the point where a police officer has told me it amounts to stalking. This is a typical ‘Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned’ and it’s making my life very difficult just now.”

The two split, he says, after his attempts to get her help failed. “The next thing I know is that she’s been offered thousands of dollars from a supermarket tabloid to spill the beans on me,” he says. “She had been evicted from her apartment, her phone was shut off, her friends were abandoning her. She became easy prey when the tabloids moved in.”

Memo to O.J.: Your handlers don’t like it when you call a woman “easy prey.”