EXCLUSIVE: MARK FUHRMAN — “THE MURDER BUSINESS”

READ EXCERPTS HERE FIRST

While at FOX News, (THE best job ever!!), I had the pleasure of working closely with Mark Fuhrman. Mark is a FOX News Contributor and I often called him for guidance on the crime stories I was covering for Greta’s show. Mark gave me direction on cases that lead to insight that no other journalist had, and I credit him for much of my success in digging up information.

FOX partnered Fuhrman and I in the field for Greta’s Show, and we spent months together in Bolingbrook, IL (freezing) investigating the Drew Peterson case. It was our work uncovering the documents in the Kathleen Savio case (Kathleen was Drew Peterson’s 3rd wife) that lead to the reclassification of her death from an accident to a homicide. Mark talks about this and other cases we worked on together in detail in his book.

Mark sent me an advanced copy of his new book “The Murder Business” about to hit the stands. On the heels of the article I wrote for yesterday’s blog, the timing of this book is impeccable. When Mark and I worked together, we would whenever we could wrap up or weeks with what we called ‘F*@# em Up Fridays. It was the day we would usually confront people, let the police in on something they didn’t know, or just out and out cause some kind of trouble at the end of the week. So, in Honor of F*@# em up Fridays; here’s an excerpt from “The Murder Business.”

“The unfortunate truth is that today, each murder has many victims, and high-profile murders can hurt innocent people who get burned by the spotlight, whether or not they sought it out themselves. I learned that firsthand as a police witness in the O.J. Simpson trial, a wrenching experience that showed how the criminal justice system can be manipulated by money, power, politics and fame. In twenty years of police work, I thought that the guilt or innocence of the suspect was all-important. Then I started covering high-profile murder cases, where ratings and profits often far outweigh the importance of facts.”

Mark’s book provides explosive insight into cases like Casey Anthony (which Mark and I worked on together), Scott Peterson, Trenton Duckett, Haleigh Cummings and Jon Bonnet Ramsey. The book is an honest look at what is happening in our culture as we try to feed the 24-hour news cycle with our appetite for crime. And now, for the first time ever, Fuhrman recounts in detail, what really happened behind the scenes of the OJ trial.

“In preparation for my court appearance, my lawyer, Darryl Mounger said I’m not advising you to take the fifth.” “If the prosecution would ask me a question where I could clarify my testimony I won’t take the fifth.” I said. But no one in the DA’s office would talk to me. I was completely on my own and left with no choice but to take the Fifth Amendment. I wish they had given me a chance to explain why I had denied using a racial slur. The question F. Lee Bailey had originally asked me was compound and unclear. I took it to mean whether or not I had called anybody the “N” word to their face, where my using it the writing of a fictional screenplay clearly didn’t apply. It was so irrelevant, it didn’t even cross my mind when I was testifying. I had completely forgotten it. But O.J. Simpson’s criminal trial was no place for me to make these arguments. Certainly not with anyone in my corner.The defense lawyer knew that once I had taken the Fifth on one question, I would have to respond similarly to any further questions, or waive my privilege against self–incrimination. So after I pled the Fifth defense attorney Gerald Uelman asked “Detective Fuhrman, did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case?” And I had to take the Fifth on that question too, even though I had not planted or manufactured any evidence. When the question was asked, Marsha didn’t object to it. I had put most of my adult like into being a cop; now in an instant, I saw it all destroyed, perhaps because she was still hoping she could win her big case. But the jury came back with the verdict of “not guilty” and Simpson got away with murder. After the verdict I was famously blamed for Simpson’s acquittal. I can understand why people thought it was my fault, if all they knew about the case was what they saw on television and read in the newspapers.

I have to thank Mark for the kind words about me and my work as a journalist in this book. Mark and I remain friends. I still call him for guidance on every case I’m working on, and I look forward to the day when we can work together again. Mark’s book tour begins Oct 12th. It should be interesting to see what shows he appears on.

While working on the Ceasar Lorean case, (the marine who murdered and burned his pregnant girlfriend then fled to Mexico), we travelled deep into the heart of Mexico. Within days we had located Lorean, and when we took our finding to the local authorities and the American Consulate, they looked at us like we were crazy. It seems the proper paperwork had never been filed and the Mexican police couldn’t make an arrest because he wasn’t actually “wanted” in Mexico. This is just an example of some of the crazy things we went through together. So we celebrated anyways with a couple of margaritas.