Heart attack victim files lawsuit against OJ Simpson

A memorabilia dealer who blames his heart attacks on the stress of being robbed at gunpoint by OJ Simpson is suing the former American football star and five other men who were in the room during the heist, seeking unspecified civil damages.

A lawyer for Bruce Fromong said yesterday he intends to show a Nevada jury that his 55-year-old client's four heart attacks were caused by the emotional stress of the September 2007 robbery in a Las Vegas casino hotel room and its aftermath.

"We think we can prove the causal connection," said Mr Fromong's attorney, Elliot Blut.

Simpson claimed he didn't know anyone had guns and that he was only trying to retrieve items that had been stolen after his acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in Los Angeles.

Simpson, 62, is serving nine to 33 years at Lovelock Correctional Centre, north-east of Reno, for his conviction on charges including armed robbery and kidnapping.

Mr Fromong, of North Las Vegas, said he is still seeing doctors, and claims he and his wife, Lynette Fromong, have suffered financially, mentally and physically.

"This has affected our entire life," Mr Fromong said.

Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, called the lawsuit frivolous.

"I'm going to fight this guy tooth and nail," Mr Galanter said. "Initially, (Mr) Fromong said his heart attacks were caused by the news media. Now he's switching his story and saying O.J. caused it."

The lawsuit names Simpson and convicted co-defendant Clarence Stewart as defendants, along with four former co-defendants who were initially charged with Simpson and Stewart but took plea deals and testified for the prosecution. Walter Alexander, Charles Cashmore, Charles Ehrlich and Michael McClinton each pleaded guilty to lesser offences and received probation.

The lawsuit also names Thomas Riccio - the go-between who arranged the ill-fated meeting with Mr Fromong and was never charged with a crime.