Nicole Brown Simpson's Ex Was 'Immediately' Suspicious of 'Volatile' O.J. Simpson After Learning She Was Murdered

Nicole Brown Simpson’s ex-lover revealed he suspected that O.J. Simpson had killed her "immediately" after learning about her death.

Joseph Perrulli made the earth-shattering confession after writing a memoir entitled The Forgotten Briefcase, based on his relationship with Nicole.

The pair was introduced by Kris Jenner and began dating after Nicole split from O.J. in 1992.

“I sensed a certain sadness about her — that she was harboring something dark,” Joseph said.

While they only dated for a few months, Nicole’s death had a major impact on Joseph. A friend called him to share the news in June 1994.

“He was talking so fast, I couldn't really understand," he revealed. "And then I heard, 'Nicole' and 'murdered,' and it just hit me.”

“I thought, ‘Oh he did it. He murdered her,” Joseph said. “He was someone with an extremely volatile temper that was uncontrollable and the way she had described him, that’s what I imagined — where somebody just snapped.”

Nicole was stabbed alongside waiter and aspiring actor Ron Goldman outside of her Los Angeles home. Despite not knowing him, Joseph felt a kinship with Ron.

“He was an innocent young man and his story was overshadowed by the spectacle of the trial,” he said. “Ron Goldman could have been me, absolutely.”

O.J. famously pleaded “absolutely, one hundred percent, not guilty” in the trial over Nicole’s death. He was acquitted in October 1995.

Joseph claims that O.J. had a violent history.

Earlier in their relationship, Nicole had confided that O.J. used to physically abuse her. She told Joseph that the football player had beaten her “really badly” during their 17-year relationship.

"She was shaking. It happened so quickly, is how she said it. She blacked out. When she came to, she felt she couldn’t talk about it because it would hurt the children," Joseph revealed. "She thought she was going to die."

"She said, ‘I just prayed something like that would never happen again. But it did,'" he added. "Through tears, she said, ‘I’d rather die than go back to that man.’"

Joseph remembers feeling like O.J. was always lurking in his relationship with Nicole.

In one instance, neighbors reported spotting O.J. in the bushes of Nicole’s home while she and Joseph were inside together.

“He said he just happened to be driving by and wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Joseph said.

The night before Nicole and Joseph broke up, O.J. had shown up at a family barbecue he and Nicole were attending out of town.

“I didn’t think I could live my life like this, feeling like this man’s lurking everywhere I go," Joseph said. "As hard as it was, I left the next day and decided to end the relationship."

He didn’t realize it at the time, but Joseph said he ended their romance out of fear for himself and Nicole.

“I didn’t admit to being afraid for not only her life but my own,” he said. “Those things were in the back of my mind but I didn’t admit to it.”

He packed all of his letters and mementos of their relationship, which he did not reopen until 2024, inspiring his memoir. It was then that Joseph decided he wanted to tell the story of the Nicole he knew.

“She was far different than how she was portrayed," he said. "She was much more spiritual and more down to earth and when I met her, she was in the process of reclaiming her life.”