Letter: OJ doubt, but justice done

Kevin Cullen states twice in his account of "My Dinner With OJ" (Review, 5 January) that he cannot see a motive for the alleged murder by OJ Simpson of his wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.

In fact, there was a strong motive. It is alleged that OJ Simpson beat his wife and was an irrationally jealous husband. Such men are deeply insecure. Above all they fear abandonment and their violence is a means of exerting power and control over their wives. If eventually their wives summon the courage to flee them, these men classically become obsessed with getting them back. Unfortunately, the ultimate power is to take the woman's life and it is not uncommon for a man to kill a woman from whom he has been separated for some time.

But the existence of a good motive does not mean that OJ committed these murders. The criticism that his trial was a travesty of justice is ill- founded. However many people may think that he probably is guilty, no one could be sure on the evidence. Probability is not enough for a criminal conviction: the jury did its public duty in acquitting him.

While it is disturbing to think that he may have got away with it, it is even more appalling to consider, if he is innocent, the burden that he will have to live with for the rest of his life.

Beverley Golden

Marchwood, Hampshire