`Crazy' Simpson Described In 911 Call By Ex-Wife -- Nicole Simpson Pleaded For Help In 1993 Incident

LOS ANGELES - On 911 tapes released by the Los Angeles Police Department, O.J. Simpson's former wife is heard crying and pleading for help as a man identified as Simpson furiously screams obscenities in the background after breaking down her door.

"Can you get someone over here now? . . . He's back. Please. He's O.J. Simpson. I think you know his record . . . he broke the back door down to get in . . . He's going to beat the (expletive) out of me," Nicole Brown Simpson says on the tape of her call - made Oct. 25, 1993, eight months before she was murdered.

On the tape, she describes Simpson as "ranting and raving" and "crazy."

The tapes provide new details of the tumultuous relationship between the former high-school homecoming queen and the Heisman trophy winner - a relationship that prosecutors contend ended when he allegedly killed Nicole, 35, and her friend Ronald Goldman, 25, 11 days ago.

According to Nicole Simpson's account on the tape, the incident began after O.J. Simpson became upset over a picture of a former boyfriend in her photo album. At the time the two had been divorced for more than a year, but Nicole Simpson told police they had been dating for the past six months.

On the tape, she expresses worry to the dispatcher for her children, who she said were sleeping in her upstairs bedroom. The dispatcher asks her if O.J. Simpson has been drinking, is on drugs or is armed. Nicole Simpson answers "no." The dispatcher also asks if the fight is over something Nicole Simpson did.

"Oh, a long time ago. It always comes back," Nicole Simpson says.

At one point, O.J. Simpson is heard shouting: "I've been reading this (expletive) all week in the National Enquirer," and adds something that is inaudible on the tape.

The dispatcher later asks Nicole Simpson: "Has this happened before?"

"Many times," she says.

In the police report of the incident, an officer wrote that O.J. Simpson "was still at large when we arrived. He admitted breaking the door and took full responsibility for its replacement."

In response to news media requests, police also released a tape of a previously reported 1989 incident which led to Simpson's no-contest plea to misdemeanor wife-beating.

After that incident, Nicole Simpson also refused to press charges, as she did after the October 1993 emergency call.

However, sometime later in October, she contacted the unit of the city attorney's office that prosecuted her 1989 battery case against Simpson, saying she was terrified and in fear for her life.

Deputy City Attorney Alana Bowman, head of the city's domestic-violence unit, said Nicole Simpson was treated like other victims of spousal battery. Although unable to provide specifics, she said Nicole Simpson "talked to one of our victim advocates over the years but . . . never brought forth any criminal violations that we could proceed on."

Meanwhile, the judge who did not send O.J. Simpson to jail in the 1989 beating defended himself yesterday, saying he gave the football star "almost exactly" what prosecutors asked for and was not "star struck."

Municipal Court Judge Ronald Schoenberg - who has become a lightning rod for criticism of the judicial system's handling of domestic violence - said a review of court transcripts shows that prosecutors did not ask for jail time.

And contrary to the angry assertions of prosecutors, Schoenberg said he never ordered Simpson to undergo counseling by telephone. But the judge said he did allow Simpson to continue his sessions by telephone because he moved to New York to work as a broadcaster.

Partial transcripts of the case, made public after Schoenberg's announcement, appeared to support the judge. But Deputy City Attorney Robert Pingel, who prosecuted the case, said that in discussions before the open-court proceedings, he argued repeatedly that Simpson should be jailed and receive domestic-violence counseling. The judge was unreceptive, Pingel said.

Information from The Washington Post is included in this report. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Reports on evidence: some disproved, some disputed

The news media have reported numerous accounts of evidence and witness statements in the O.J. Simpson murder case based on anonymous sources. Here's the status of some of those reports:

-- Bloody ski mask found at Simpson's home, reported by KCOP-TV. Prosecutors say evidence does not include a ski mask.

-- Bloodstained spade found and believed to be the weapon, reported by the Daily News of Los Angeles. Simpson is charged with using a knife; police have said the murder weapon wasn't a spade or sword.

-- Bloody gloves found at the crime scene and at Simpson's home, reported by the Los Angeles Times and Daily News. Authorities won't comment.

-- Blood found at the crime scene that matches Simpson's type, reported by the Los Angeles Times and Daily News. Defense attorney Robert Shapiro said evidence wasn't conclusive.

-- Preliminary DNA testing of crime scene blood and blood samples from Simpson's driveway, clothes, shoes and other belongings linking Simpson to the killings, reported by the Los Angeles Times. Prosecutors won't comment.

-- Simpson had body scratches when interviewed by police June 13, reported by the Los Angeles Times. Shapiro said Simpson had no body scratches, just "paper cuts" and a larger cut from a broken glass.

-- A jogger spotted a vehicle resembling Simpson's parked on Nicole Simpson's street the night of the killings, reported by the Los Angeles Times. Authorities won't comment.

-- The limousine driver who took Simpson to the airport that night said Simpson wasn't home at 10:45 p.m. but showed up 15 minutes later looking sweaty and agitated, reported by the "Hard Copy" TV program. Shapiro said Simpson was home waiting for the limousine.

-- Brian "Kato" Kaelin, a Simpson family friend staying at Simpson's estate, confirmed Simpson wasn't home waiting for the limousine, and he saw Simpson driving his white Ford Bronco the night of the killings, reported by NBC News. Kaelin's attorney said such accounts are inaccurate and that his client knowledge doesn't implicate or exonerate Simpson.

Associated Press