The People V. . . . The Autopsies 2

In the autopsies published in the book by Freed and Briggs, KILLING TIME, Dr. Irwin Golden, the coroner, described several of the wounds, bruises, and abrasions as "defensive."  The stab wounds into both victims' scalps were defensive in that the skull is pretty tough and those with martial arts training will lower their heads to receive a stab move if they can't evade them.  Both victims had stab marks into their hands which Golden listed as defensive.

Also considered defensive moves by Golden were the forearm bruises on Ron Goldman which are most likely the attempts to block an arm wielding a knife.

Imagine the force involved when a murderer is trying to stab someone and the victim tries to stop the move by using a forearm.  If the blow causes a bruise on the victim, realize that there would be a comparable bruise on the forearm of the killer.  Ron was not a passive victim.  With both his tennis agility and marital arts training, he was capable of putting up a fight and the bruises on his arms show he was able to do some defensive acts.  And the killer would come away with signs of those impacts.

The autopsy on Ron also indicated that he may have struck some serious blows.  In addition to the bruises reported on his arms, there were bruises and abrasions on the knuckles and the back of his fingers that are characteristic of offensive moves in karate.  Golden indicated they were "defensive" moves" but that can be understood as the actions of someone defending himself.  If there were such blows, they landed on the killer(s).

As strong and agile as OJ might have been at the age of forty six with knees that were arthritic, it is highly unlikely that he could have come out of that bloody attack without himself having been seriously beaten up.  Put Ron and OJ into that small garden area outside the Bundy condo, a space smaller than your smallest bedroom and only slightly larger than your walk-in closet, can you imagine anyone coming out of a "to-the-death" struggle without bruises and abrasions?

When OJ was examined by police physicians the day he got back from Chicago, and a few days later by the physicians brought in by the defense, there was not a bruise on him anywhere.

The autopsy also reveals that Nicole not only used her skull and hands to block attempts to stab her, she may have struck a serious blow on one of the killers.  On the right side of her head is a serious bruise.  It is possible that she used a head butt against someone holding her from behind and broke his nose.  She was five foot five, and weighed 129 pounds so a move by her could pack a wallop, with a corresponding bruise on her own body.  According to Freed and Briggs in their book KILLING TIME, blood was found on her back that did not belong to her, Ron, or OJ.

A careful reading of the autopsies offers clues not only that there were more than one person involved in the attack on Nicole and Ron, but that they fought back with some skill and force, doing damage to their attackers and requiring from 8 to 15 minutes before the two were overcome.  Nicole was not a pansy and Ron, an athletic 171 pounds on a five foot nine body, did not go down without a major fight.

That major fight could not have been with OJ.