Christine Prody OJ Simpson NEWS

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.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — In a scene of legal deja vu, a grayer, heavier O.J. Simpson stood handcuffed in court Wednesday to face charges that could put him behind bars for life. The prosecutor who failed to get him a dozen years ago was there to watch, and news cameras tracked his every move as if they were covering a slow-speed chase.

But as Simpson made his $125,000 bail on charges including kidnapping and armed robbery, legal experts were questioning: Could a former football star who beat a double-murder rap really do hard time for a crime that sounds like a bad movie?

Police have laid out a case that makes Simpson the leader in an armed holdup of sports memorabilia collectors, and they arrested a fifth suspect in the case Wednesday. Some of the facts — including a curious recording of the confrontation — don’t seem so clear-cut.

Legal experts say that issues such as who had rightful ownership of the goods and the reputation of witnesses in the sometimes less-than-reputable world of memorabilia trading could cloud the prosecution’s case.

Simpson has insisted he was merely retrieving items that were stolen from him earlier.

Alfred Beardsley, one of the collectors who says he was robbed at gunpoint by Simpson and several other men, told NBC’s “Today” show before Simpson’s hearing that he didn’t think an audiotape made at the scene was accurate. Beardsley was arrested on a parole violation Wednesday.

The other victim, Bruce Fromong, was recovering from a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital. The man who arranged the meeting between Simpson and the two collectors, Tom Riccio, has a criminal record.

“The credibility of the cohorts in the enterprise would be a key issue at trial,” said University of Southern California law professor Jody Armour.

Agreed, said Dennis Turner, a professor at the University of Dayton School of Law. “This is a pretty shady world and pretty shady characters dealing with each other in a pretty shady way.”

A key difference with the 1995 murder trial is that there are plenty of witnesses this time who place Simpson at the scene, including hotel video surveillance. Simpson has made no secret he went to the hotel room intending to take the memorabilia and told The Associated Press that a man who came with him brought a truck to cart away the goods.

“It’s not like the murder case involving his ex-wife and Ron Goldman, where Simpson had a completely different story in which he said, ‘I wasn’t there,’” said Doug Godfrey, a professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. “A prosecutor only has to show intent. And the intent is, ‘Were you acting in concert with someone with a gun to take property from someone?’ If you were, you’re guilty of armed robbery.”

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said: “You can’t rob something that is yours.”

Simpson furrowed his brow as the judge read the list of charges against him. Gone was the slight smirk he flashed when he was arrested.

He answered quietly in a hoarse voice and nodded as the judge laid out restrictions for his release, including surrendering his passport to his attorney and having no contact with co-defendants or potential witnesses.

Simpson did not enter a plea.

Galanter said after the hearing that the $125,000 bond was reasonable.

The oddity of the case has attracted a swarm of reporters, including Marcia Clark, who unsuccessfully prosecuted Simpson for the 1994 murders and was reporting for “Entertainment Tonight.” A helicopter television crew followed Simpson’s vehicle leaving the court, strangely reminiscent of the slow-speed chase in which he once fled police in a white Ford Bronco.

Simpson, 60, flew home to Miami later Wednesday in a spectacle just as surreal. US Airways emptied a plane so he could board first with Galanter and his girlfriend, Christine Prody.

Simpson sat in seat 4D, an aisle seat in economy class. Passengers who boarded behind him took pictures with cell phones and cameras. He nodded and smiled as they passed.

He pulled a white visor over his eyes shortly after takeoff and slept almost the entire flight. Upon landing, he stood and gave Galanter, who had been sitting across the aisle, a big hug.

Simpson was arrested Sunday after a collector reported a group of armed men charged into a hotel room at the Palace Station casino and took several items.

The Heisman Trophy winner spent three nights in jail after being 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.

Four other men have been arrested on many of the same charges, and police were still looking for another suspect.

Charles Howard Cashmore, 40, surrendered to police Wednesday and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning. Cashmore brought in items that are believed to have been taken, police said without elaborating.

Authorities allege that the men went to the room Sept. 13 on the pretext of brokering a deal with two longtime collectors, Beardsley and Fromong. According to police reports, the collectors were ordered at gunpoint to hand over several items valued at as much as $100,000, including football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider and framed awards and plaques.

Beardsley told police he expected that night that the collection would earn $35,000 from the “client” he had never met.

Beardsley told police that one of the men with Simpson brandished a pistol, frisked him and impersonated a police officer, and that another man pointed a gun at Fromong.

Authorities said Beardsley, of Burbank, Calif., was paroled in March 2006 after serving 11 months of a two-year sentence for stalking a woman in Riverside County.

He was arrested at his room at the Luxor hotel Wednesday for violating parole. A California corrections spokesman said Beardsley was required to get written approval before traveling more than 50 miles from home or leaving home for more than 24 hours.

Beardsley was held without bail pending an extradition hearing Thursday.

Court records show Riccio also has a criminal history, including grand larceny in Florida in 1984, when he received three years of probation; and felony arson in 1995, in California, for which he was sentenced to two years.

Riccio has said he was not concerned with how his past might affect his credibility “because everything’s on tape. That’s why it’s on tape.”

He also said he had been promised some form of immunity by prosecutors.

Two other defendants, Walter Alexander, 46, and Clarence Stewart, 53, were arrested and released pending court appearances. Stewart turned in some of the missing goods and Alexander agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, authorities said. Suspect Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, surrendered to police Tuesday. Jailers were unable to say whether Cashmore or McClinton had retained a lawyer.

Police have not identified the remaining suspect they are seeking.

Armour said if the other suspects who have been arrested turn on Simpson in exchange for lighter sentences, it could help the prosecution, but also damage their credibility. Allegations of a setup could also cast doubt on the testimony of the memorabilia dealers, he said.

“But at the end of the day, that may not matter as much as whether they think he (Simpson) deserves some punishmentfor something,” Armour said.

A judge set bond at $125,000 for O.J. Simpson in an alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors. Simpson stood before the judge, hands cuffed, wearing a blue jail jumpsuit as the charges were read.

He answered quietly in a hoarse voice and nodded as Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure Jr. detailed charges of kidnapping and robbery, among others, and laid out restrictions for his release.

Simpson did not enter a plea.

Unlike his arraignment in the killings of his ex-wife and a friend in 1994, when he declared he was “absolutely 100 percent not guilty,” Simpson was subdued throughout the proceeding.

“Mr. Simpson do you understand the charges against you?” the judge asked.

“Yes, sir,” Simpson said.

The judge said the conditions of release included surrender of his passport to his attorney and no contact with co-defendants or potential witnesses.

“If you see them walking down the street, you’re to cross the street,” the judge said. “You do not use any means to contact these individuals. Don’t use e-mail, telephone, mail, passenger pigeon, no, whatsoever, contact.”

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.

OJ Simpson faces multiple charges including armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the alleged theft of items of sports memorabilia from a Las Vegas casino hotel room, police said.

The former American football star, who was sensationally acquitted in one of the biggest murder trials in US history, was arrested on at least six counts in relation to the reported robbery on Thursday.

They include two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon, Las Vegas police announced at a news conference.

All the counts are felonies and carry potentially lengthy sentences.

Capt. James Dillon, of Las Vegas police, said the 60-year-old ex-sports star could still face additional charges.

Simpson was arrested yesterday at the Palms Hotel around 11am and was being held at Las Vegas police offices pending the arrival of his lawyer, Capt Dillon said. “He was very cooperative, there were no issues.”

Bail had not yet been set, he added.

The charges stem from an incident at the Palace Station casino on Thursday in which a group of armed men said to include Simpson allegedly stormed into a hotel room and snatched sporting memorabilia from two dealers.

Simpson was questioned by police about the incident late that night before being released.

The alleged stolen items included “sports-related products” according to authorities.

Alfred Beardsley, a collector of sports memorabilia, told the website TMZ that he called police after the men entered pretending to be customers, Simpson demanded the items, claiming they were his, and the men left with the items.

Mr Beardsley told the website two of the men pulled guns during the alleged robbery. Police recovered the weapons yesterday.

Neither were said to belong to Simpson, who had told police no guns were involved.

The former sports star, who lives in Florida, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed he was conducting his own ’sting’ operation to recover items that belonged to him.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said he and some “golfing buddies” had gone to the hotel to reclaim personal possessions, including sports souvenirs and photographs allegedly taken by Nicole Brown-Simpson, his ex-wife who he is accused of murdering in 1994.

“I’m not walking around feeling sad or anything. I’ve done nothing wrong,” said the ex-footballer, who was best man at a wedding in Las Vegas on Saturday. “I’m having a great time.”

Another man was arrested in connection with the robbery and police are seeking as many as four more suspects.

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.

OJ Simpson gets a bunch of prank calls while he was being interviewed for MN1.com.

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.