Former O.J. Simpson confidant ordered to court

SANTA MONICA, Calif. " A man who says he spent years helping O.J. Simpson hide his assets from the families of slaying victims Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson was ordered Monday to appear in court to respond to a lawsuit demanding he hand over any Simpson memorabilia he has.

Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg scheduled a June 15 default hearing for Michael Gilbert, who is being sued by Goldman's father, Fred Goldman.

The lawsuit was filed after Gilbert published the book, "How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret and Remorse."

"We have filed suit to retrieve from Mr. Gilbert all of the vast catalog of Simpson's personal property that was highlighted in Mr. Gilbert's book," Goldman attorney David Cook said after the hearing.

Gilbert, 54, who was once Simpson's agent, could not immediately be reached for comment. A call to his home was answered by a recording that said his voice mail was not working.

In his book, he said he helped Simpson hide numerous personal possessions, including the suit the former football star was wearing when he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Goldman.

Simpson was later found liable for their deaths following a civil court trial and ordered to pay their families $33.5 million.

Attending Monday's hearing were Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley, two memorabilia dealers Simpson was convicted of robbing at gunpoint at a Las Vegas hotel in 2007. Simpson, who is serving a sentence of nine to 33 years in prison, said he was trying to retrieve property stolen from him.

Those items are still being held by authorities. Beardsley said after the hearing that he reluctantly agreed with Gilbert and Fromong that the memorabilia should go to Goldman.

"I'm in favor of returning it to Simpson's children, that's where I think it should go, but I'm outvoted on this, 2-1," he said.

Fromong said he and Gilbert have agreed to give the Goldmans only "the items that had belonged to O.J. from the robbery " the personal items that once belonged to him " not the photos, not the sports memorabilia.

"We've been fighting this for 15 years and we're trying to work with the Goldmans to turn this stuff over and put this behind us," he said. "It's the right thing to do legally, morally and ethically."

Simpson, who is in a state prison at Lovelock, Nev., was notified Monday of his sister's death, according to Department of Corrections spokeswoman Suzanne Pardee.

Carmelita Durio, who collapsed in the courtroom when her brother was convicted of robbery and kidnapping, died Monday in a Sacramento hospital. Tom Scotto, a family friend, said he did not know the cause of death, but said that her kidneys had failed in recent days. He said he believed she was in her early 60s.

It was not known whether Simpson, serving a sentence of nine to 33 years in prison, would be allowed to attend the funeral.