Fuhrman Moved Out After Media Moved In

Mark Fuhrman was back in Los Angeles on Tuesday, far from his new north Idaho home, on the day his racially explosive tape recordings were played at the O.J. Simpson trial.

A friend whisked Fuhrman, his wife and two kids away from their home Aug. 13, and he hasn’t been back. His home on the west end of Sandpoint remains locked tight with the shades drawn.

Furhman left after a pack of reporters and cameramen staked out his house waiting for him to comment about his interviews with a screenwriting professor.

Late Tuesday, Officer Manny Valladares, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, confirmed that Fuhrman was in Los Angeles and had been met by a representative of the district attorney’s office at Los Angeles International Airport.

Fuhrman’s taped comments containing racial slurs angered many people, but Sandpoint Mayor Ron Chaney, whose wife sold Fuhrman his Sandpoint home, stands by the ex-cop.

Chaney believes the remarks were part of a fictional story Fuhrman was working on.

“I haven’t talked to Mark since the tapes became an issue. However, I am completely confident, knowing Mark as well as I do, that he was telling a story, and he is a great storyteller.”

Chaney said Fuhrman wanted to settle down here, set up a computer in the back bedroom of his new home and pursue a writing career.

“On several occasions Mark and I have discussed his desire to become a writer,” Chaney said. “When I asked him if the subject matter would be his life as a detective he stated, ‘Not necessarily, but I would sure have a lot of material.”’

Some of Fuhrman’s new Sandpoint neighbors are also defending the former detective. One woman bristled when asked about Fuhrman’s taped comments.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said. “They (the Fuhrmans) are the best neighbors I’ve ever had and for God’s sake leave them alone and leave me alone.”

, DataTimes