Nicole Brown Simpson’s former lover, Joseph Perrulli, is speaking out about their romance, and he says that the Nicole he knew was much different than the one portrayed to the rest of the world.
In a new book entitled The Forgotten Briefcase, Perrulli is sharing an inside look into the events leading up to Nicole’s tragic murder. He wrote the book after finding an old briefcase in which he stored letters and mementos from their relationship for more three decades.
“She was far different than what had been portrayed — more spiritual and more down-to-earth — and I felt it was incumbent upon me to tell her story,” he said of his motivation for writing the book.
Perrulli met Nicole in 1989 through her close, longtime friend, Kris Jenner. Jenner was formerly married to Robert Kardashian, who would later join O.J. Simpson’s defense team after Nicole’s murder.
Perrulli, who is now 65 years old, was able to recall the day he first met Nicole vividly.
“I’m right outside, kiddo. I’m taking you to lunch,” he recalls Jenner telling him over the phone. “You’re meeting one of my best friends, Nicole Simpson. She’s married to O.J. Simpson,” Jenner later told him.
After Nicole and the former NFL star separated, Perrulli and Nicole began dating and eventually fell in love. Nevertheless, Perrulli still had concerns about Nicole’s ex-husband, particularly after O.J. had supposedly been spotted hiding in the bushes outside of Nicole’s home by a neighbor.
“He said he just happened to be driving by and wanted to make sure everything was okay,” says Perrulli. “He also said he really didn’t have a problem with me. He felt I was a gentleman.”
Perrulli questioned whether a future was truly possible for him and Nicole.
“I was a man divided in two. One side of me was falling in love, and the other side was wondering if love was even possible with someone in a situation like hers,” he recalled.
When Perrulli ultimately found out the horrific news of Nicole’s death, he had no question about who was responsible.
“I thought, ‘Oh, he did it. He killed her,'” he said.
