O.J. Simpson’s “prison bff” is speaking out in a new tell-all book.
The former NFL star has recently been back in the spotlight through the hit series “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” where he is played by actor Cuba Gooding Jr., and by the recent recovery of a knife alleged to have been found buried at his former estate.
In 1995, Simpson, also known as “The Juice,” was not charged for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Although he did not go to prison for the murders, he received a 33-year sentence at Nevada’s Lovelock Correctional Center, for kidnapping and robbery in 2008.
In an interview with ABC News, Jeffrey Felix, who was a guard at the prison Simpson is currently in, said although the former football player is shown as a locked-up inmate who is battling weight gain and arthritis, he’s still living a good life for a prisoner.
“O.J. Simpson is not suffering in prison,” said Felix to ABC News.
“He’s eating well. He’s exercising well. He’s got a flat screen TV,” he added.
Felix said he was Simpson’s close friend at the prison for seven years. He wrote the book “Guarding the Juice: How O.J. Simpson became my Prison BFF,” where he details his friendship with the former athlete.
The former guard, who believes Simpson is guilty of killing his ex-wife and her friend, said Simpson told him that only two people alive know who committed the murders: him and Al Cowlings.
Cowlings was the individual who drove the white Bronco during Simpson’s infamous escape.
“When O.J. was washing his hands and looked in the mirror, I said, ‘Juice, you just solved the Brentwood murders. You’re looking at the murderer right in, in the mirror,’” said Felix.
“He gave me kind of a dirty look and then he kind of smiled afterwards,” he recalled.
“He kind of shrugged it off a little bit,” Felix added.
The former guard said that he has not seen Simpson since he retired in November.
However, he did hear from a contact inside the facility about how Simpson reacted when he heard the recent news of a knife found at his former California home that officials are now investigating.
“O.J. thinks the knife thing is a complete joke and he wants to know why it was held on to for 18 years before it was turned in,” Felix told ABC.
“He jokingly says, ‘If the knife is rusted, I can’t be busted.’”
However, Simpson’s lawyer told ABC that according to the former star, the friendly relationship Felix claimed to have with him is “wildly exaggerated,” and at most times blatantly false.
“The Juice” also denied that Felix worked in his unit. The correctional facility said the retired guard did work there during Simpson’s term, but they did not indicate where.
Simpson, 68, is up for parole next year
