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O.J. Simpson heaped so much abuse on his ex-wife Nicole during the final months of her life, she plunged into zombie-like states of depression and had to be snapped back to reality. That's just one of the chilling revelations from her trusted housekeeper who watched O.J. destroy the woman he claimed to love. In a world exclusive ENQUIRER interview first published on Oct. 11, 1994, Elvia Alonzo — who lived with Nicole and her two children right up until the young beauty's death — spoke out for the first time and disclosed Intimate new details of Nicole's last weekend alive.
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“As the weeks went by, I watched helplessly as Nicole's agonizing ordeal drained the strength from her body," said Elvia, who sobbed openly at times during the interview. "Nicole was trapped in a nightmare. It was heartbreaking when she showed me bruises on her body — one time on her eye, another time on her arm. On another occasion she told me about a bruise on her leg. She wouldn't talk about the bruises, but I could see the pain in her face."
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Nicole hired Guatemala-born Elvia, 40, Dec. 15, 1993, on the recommendation of a friend. "I've never met a sweeter, more beautiful lady than Nicole," said Elvia. "We hit it off almost immediately and became very close. She felt she could trust me and confided in me." The housekeeper first got to meet O.J. three days before Christmas last year when she went along with Nicole and the children to visit him. Elvia said the gridiron hero seemed completely normal. She never suspected it would be Nicole's last Christmas alive. "The tree was up and lighted and the children were all excited," she recalled. "I'll never forget the faces of the kids, O.J. and Nicole in a picture taken next to the tree. That was one occasion when O.J. was delightful." But Elvia soon learned there was a dark side to the former football star when she started to see his terrifying split personality firsthand — and what it did to Nicole.
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"He'd come over to the house to play with the kids and he was happy and smiling and really enjoying himself," said the housekeeper. "The next visit, sometimes just days later, he would arrive, kiss Nicole on the cheek and within minutes they'd be arguing. He'd be a raging maniac — totally out of control. He was like a madman. "I thought to myself, 'Here's a guy who is really sick. He needs help.' "It was all taking its toll on Nicole. Up one day, down the next and Nicole would be in periods of deep depression. I would pass her and see a tear running down her face as though she were thinking of something awful." At times, the depression got so bad, Nicole seemed to become a zombie. “She'd sit, her head resting in her hands, staring into space. I'd be talking to her and she wouldn't hear me," recalled Elvia. "I'd have to touch her shoulder and she'd snap out of a trance and say, 'I'm sorry Elvia, I was someplace else.'"
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One night in April, the housekeeper stumbled into the middle of O.J.'s rage. She'd gone into Nicole's kitchen and he was yelling at the top of his lungs at his ex-wife. "I'll never forget that terrible night," Elvia recalled. "He was full of anger and hate. Nicole was trembling with fear and tears were pouring down her face as he screamed at her. I was terrified myself, so frightened I couldn't understand what he was saying. I crossed my arms over my chest to protect myself because didn't know what was going to happen. He wouldn't stop screaming. He pounded his fist into the kitchen table. Suddenly he realized I was in the room and he turned toward me, flailing his arms wildly. I saw his eyes, as big a saucers. He walked toward me and put his finger right up to my face, almost poking me in the eye, as he shouted, 'Elvia, get out now! Go to your room.' I just turned, ran to my room and closed the door. I could still hear his screaming for some time after. Then I heard the front door slam shut. I came out of my room to check on Nicole. She was running up to her room. I could hear her sobbing and I left her alone.
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"It was the following morning that she told me those awful words I can never forget. Her voice was shaking. 'Elvia, he said to me, "Someday, bitch, I'm going to kill you."' I can never get those words out of my mind. I can't believe he could have thrown such a fit while his kids were upstairs in their bedrooms. It wasn't the first time they had heard the violent fights." Throughout it all, Elvia said: "I never saw or heard Nicole tell her family about the abuse that O.J. put her through. She tried to keep it a secret."
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Incredibly, O.J. always showered Nicole with flowers after an outburst, trying to recapture the love he'd destroyed. "O.J. would send Nicole dozens of red roses and assorted houseplants. They were all over the house," said Elvia. "I remember saying to Nicole after one delivery: ‘See, O.J. loves you.' But Nicole looked at me, shook her head and her eyes filled with tears as she confided to me: 'Oh, no, O.J. doesn't love me. I think he's going to kill me!'" There was always a little note with the flowers but Nicole would rip them up, except for one that the housekeeper saved. O.J. tried to be romantic but the note is cold and unemotional: "There are so many positives and negatives in life today. Let's you and I focus on just the positive. Love, O.J."
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Elvia's eyes grew misty as she recalled the last weekend of Nicole's life. "It was June 11, the day before Sydney's big school dance recital on Sunday. Nicole had been out to buy her a special dress and Sydney looked so beautiful in it," said Elvia. "Early Saturday evening, Nicole took Sydney for a dress rehearsal. They were home by 8 o'clock. When I got up very early Sunday morning, June 12, Justin came to my room and asked me to play Nintendo with him. Sunday is my day off and I told him I had to leave for a friend's house. When I was ready to leave at about 7:30 a.m., Justin opened the door to Nicole's room and was going to get her up but she told him, 'Please dear, just let me sleep a bit longer.' The last thing I remember of Nicole is seeing her pretty face lying on the pillow. I kissed Sydney and Justin goodbye, wished Sydney good luck at her recital, told her how proud I was of her and said I'd see them Tuesday. They hugged me and I left."
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Just hours later, Nicole lay dead in a widening pool of blood near the body of her friend Ron Goldman. Elvia didn't learn of the tragedy until the morning of Monday, June 13. All I could think of was little Justin and Sydney. I immediately phoned the house but the line was busy," she said. "I sat feeling totally numb for hours and I couldn't stop crying." After the murders, Elvia realized how a killer may have easily gotten through Nicole's locked front gate … information she could have given to police if they'd questioned her. "Six days before the murder, Nicole discovered that a spare set of keys to her condo were missing, keys that opened all the doors including the security gate from the street," said Elvia. "Nicole was mystified and we spent hours searching the house and around the grounds in a futile attempt to find the keys. I never thought about the keys until after Nicole's death. Then I wondered if they had played a part."
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On the morning of Tuesday, June 14, Elvia returned to Nicole's town house to pick up her things — and was confronted by a scene out of a nightmare. "As I walked to the gate I looked up the path and was horrified at the sight of all the blood. I stood there feeling sick to my stomach. And I remembered those awful words: '"Someday, bitch, I'm going to kill you.”’”