EXCLUSIVE: How Mark Fuhrman Freed O.J. Simpson — Lies, Errors and Racist Rants From Late Cop Gave Lawyers Keys to Acquittal for NFL Killer
Mark Fuhrman's lies and racist remarks helped O.J. Simpson secure his acquittal.
June 3 2026, Published 6:15 a.m. ET
Disgraced cop Mark Fuhrman went to his grave eaten up with shame – after his lies handed accused murderer O.J. Simpson a get out of jail free card, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Fuhrman – who died May 12 at age 74 of throat cancer – was one of the first LAPD detectives on the scene to investigate the June 1994 killings of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
Investigators believed the former NFL star was the killer and collected a bloody glove found at the murder scene.
Trial Testimony Backfired Spectacularly
Johnnie Cochran used Mark Fuhrman's recorded racial slurs to challenge his credibility during O.J. Simpson's murder trial.
During O.J.'s infamous Trial of the Century, prosecutors put Fuhrman on the stand – and O.J's Dream Team of defense attorneys ripped him to shreds. They accused Fuhrman of being a racist, an accusation he flatly denied.
But in tapes the veteran cop made with a screenwriter in the 1980s, Fuhrman repeatedly used the N-word, and O.J.'s attorneys played the tapes in court. O.J.'s lead lawyer, the late Johnnie Cochran, likened Fuhrman to [Adolf] Hitler, calling him a "lying, perjuring, genocidal racist."
With the Dream Team arguing racial bias along with claims the cops planted the glove, a jury found Simpson not guilty in October 1995.
O.J. was later found liable for the deaths in a civil suit, while Fuhrman pleaded no contest to perjury. He retired from the LAPD in 1995.
Fuhrman Insisted He Wasn't Racist
Fuhrman later apologized for using a racial slur but continued to deny planting evidence against O.J. Simpson.
Over the years, Fuhrman apologized for using the slur, saying in one interview it was "the worst piece of judgment that I've probably used," adding, "I am not a racist."
He also insisted he hadn't planted evidence against O.J. and claimed the "jury was set up to acquit," while also admitting some of the police work in the case had been "sloppy."
But Fuhrman said it was unlikely that he'd ever convince people that he was not motivated by racism, noting, "I don't think I'm going to ever change that completely."
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Alan Dershowitz said Fuhrman's conduct helped O.J. Simpson's defense secure a not-guilty verdict.
Lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a member of O.J.'s Dream Team, said Fuhrman's "actions helped us win the O.J. case" because of his use of the N-word.
O.J. died in April 2024 at age 76. His longtime attorney Malcolm LaVergne said: "O.J. was very thankful for Mark Fuhrman because Mark Fuhrman blew up the case for prosecutors," adding O.J. regarded Fuhrman as his "get out of jail free card."
