Knife linked to OJ Simpson property not connected to murder case, LAPD says

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LOS ANGELES (CNS / FOX 11) - A knife that was purportedly found on property once owned by O.J. Simpson is not connected to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Los Angeles police said Friday.

Police announced in early March they were testing a knife that was allegedly found in the late 1990s at the site of Simpson's former Rockingham Avenue estate in Brentwood by a construction worker who gave it to an LAPD officer working on a movie shoot nearby.

LAPD officials said the officer kept the knife until recently, when it was provided to the department for testing to determine if it might have played a role in the murders, for which Simpson was tried and acquitted.

The murder weapon used to kill Nicole Brown Simpson -- O.J. Simpson's ex-wife -- and Goldman on June 12, 1994, has never been found.

Los Angeles police announced today that the knife has "no nexus'' to the murder investigation, which remains open.

The retired officer who found the knife, identified as George Maycott, contends he contacted the department immediately when the construction worker gave him the knife, but was told the case was over and there was no interest in the weapon. Maycott's attorney, Trent Copeland, said Maycott then took the 5-inch buck knife home and put it in a toolbox, where it sat for roughly 15 years.

Although news of the knife set off a media firestorm last month, there was almost immediate skepticism about whether it played any role in the famed murders.

LAPD officials said, however, that the weapon was being tested for any potential DNA or other forensic evidence. They also noted that even if the knife did turn out to be involved in the case, Simpson could not be re-tried due to double-jeopardy laws.

Simpson's Rockingham estate was demolished in 1998.

The 68-year-old former NFL and USC football standout was convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas in 2008 and sentenced to 33 years in prison.