Witness Backs Concept Of Wildly Rushed Killer

A dog-walker who testified for the defense at O.J. Simpson’s murder trial took the stand against him Friday, setting a timeline for the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend by describing a wildly barking dog, a shouting man and a white speeding vehicle.

Robert Heidstra put the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman at around 10:35 p.m., and the vehicle sighting between 10:40 and 10:45 p.m.

The account in Simpson’s civil trial contradicts prosecutors Marcia Clark and Chris Darden, who had said the murders happened at 10:15 p.m., leaving ample time for Simpson to rush home and meet a limo waiting for an 11 p.m. pickup.

But for the plaintiffs, it puts the killings within a period of time for which Simpson has no alibi, and plays into the picture they painted in opening statements of a wildly rushed killer who left a wealth of incriminating evidence at the scene.

According to Heidstra’s timeline, Simpson would have had very little time to drive home, ditch bloody clothes and a murder weapon and meet a limo. But the testimony places the white vehicle near the murder scene - Ms. Simpson’s condominium - and Heidstra was vague enough about the time to allow the plaintiffs to argue that Simpson did have time to kill and return home.

Simpson was acquitted of murder a year ago, but the Goldman and Simpson families are suing him for wrongful death, trying to prove he killed them.

In a brief cross-examination, defense attorney Robert Baker tried to get Heidstra to move back the time of the vehicle sighting closer to 10:45 p.m., but Heidstra insisted his times were only estimates and he couldn’t be sure.