Co-defendant says O.J. wanted men with guns at meeting with collectors

LAS VEGAS -- O.J. Simpson wanted armed men with him when he confronted two sports memorabilia dealers, according to a co-defendant who has agreed to plead guilty and testify against the former football star.

"O.J. said 'Hey, just bring some firearms,'" Walter Alexander told police, according to a transcript of his tape-recorded statement obtained by The Associated Press.

Alexander told police after his arrest Sept. 15 that he and another man showed up with guns at Simpson's request, then headed with him into a casino hotel room to retrieve collectibles that Simpson said belonged to him.

Simpson told Alexander the guns were just for show, "so that these people know that, you know, we're here for business," Alexander quoted Simpson as saying.

Simpson's attorney, Yale Galanter, said Wednesday that Simpson's position remains that there were no guns brought to the room and he did not tell anyone to bring guns.

"There was no reason for Mr. Simpson to tell anyone to bring guns. He was going to see people he knew," Galanter said, adding that Alexander's statement was untrustworthy because "he was negotiating for a get-out-jail-free card."

Alexander, 46, told police he carried a .22-caliber handgun in his waistband and Michael McClinton, who gave him that gun, pulled a larger pistol from a holster and displayed it in the room.

Police have alleged that McClinton impersonated a law enforcement officer during the alleged robbery.

McClinton went into the room "being Mr. Tough Guy," Alexander said, adding that McClinton's behavior "made things a lot worse than they probably would've been."

Alexander characterized Simpson as talkative during the confrontation and apparently surprised by McClinton's aggressive actions and saying, "Calm down, put them guns down." McClinton responded that he needed to make sure memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley weren't armed.

"I mean, Juice had told him just to carry the gun, not to, you know, take it out, just to show it," Alexander said, using Simpson's nickname from his NFL days. "But now he brought the gun out and he was like, you know, 'Up against the walls, up against the walls."'

But in a tape recording made in the room by Thomas Riccio, the man who arranged the meeting, "Nobody reacts to a gun. Nobody says, 'Put that gun away,"' Galanter said.

Alexander's 45-page account, which is provided in court documents turned over by prosecutors to defense attorneys, raises the legal stakes for Simpson.

"If it's true, it hurts O.J. tremendously," said Edward Miley, lawyer for co-defendant Charles Cashmore, who also has agreed to a plea deal.

"It puts him at the scene where he knew there were firearms," Miley said of Simpson. "Under conspiracy law in Nevada, he's on the hook, if they can prove it."

Lawyers for McClinton and co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles Ehrlich did not immediately respond to messages left Wednesday. McClinton's lawyer, Bill Terry, has said McClinton, 49, works in the security industry and had a valid concealed weapon permit.

Simpson, McClinton, Stewart and Ehrlich are scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 8 on nine felonies and one gross misdemeanor charge, including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy. A kidnapping conviction carries the possibility of life in prison with parole.

Simpson, 60, of Miami, faces one additional felony charge of coercion stemming from allegations that he took Fromong's cell phone.

Alexander's lawyer, Robert Dennis Rentzer of Tarzana, Calif., said he believed Alexander "was truthful with police in everything he told them." He declined additional comment.

In his statement, Alexander said he thought Simpson and Riccio waited until Alexander and McClinton, whom he calls "Spencer," arrived with the guns at the Palace Station hotel-casino before Simpson went into the room to confront Beardsley and Fromong.

"It's like they didn't wanna go to the meeting until me and Spence showed up with the heat," he said.

Riccio has not been charged.

Galanter said Simpson spent the afternoon before the hotel room confrontation at the pool at the Palms hotel-casino, and introduced Riccio to numerous people as a friend who was there to help him get his memorabilia.

"This was no secret operation," Galanter said. "He was telling everyone about it. He was thinking he was going to retrieve his property."

At a restaurant afterward, Simpson told McClinton and Alexander that he knew the case would draw widespread attention and told them to say no guns were involved, according to the transcript of Alexander's statement.

Alexander, a real estate salesman from Mesa, Ariz., and Simpson's golfing buddy, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, a felony that could result in a sentence of one to six years in prison.

However, Clark County District Attorney David Roger said Alexander could receive a suspended sentence and be eligible for probation.