O.J. Murder Trial: The Knife That Killed Nicole!

In a bombshell world exclusive, sources revealed to The National ENQUIRER that O.J. Simpson never got rid of the knife he used to kill ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman!

The ENQUIRER caught the disgraced football star trying to sell the murder weapon to a wealthy collector! Nearly two decades after the grisly crime that riveted the nation, the disgraced former football star — currently locked up in a Nevada prison for kidnapping and armed robbery — was trying to work out a $5 million deal with an agent who trades in memorabilia, said an insider.

It’s long been speculated that shortly after the June 12, 1994, murders, O.J. dumped the knife in a trash bin at LAX before boarding a flight to Chicago, and that the weapon wound up buried in a Los Angeles landfill.

Other reports suggested that O.J. disposed of the knife in a park near the Howard Johnson O’Hare Plaza Hotel, where he checked in while police were still investigating the brutal crime scene. But "that isn't the truth," the insider maintained. "Those claims were just red herrings."

Based on forensic evidence, prosecutors at his trial said the murder weapon was likely a German stiletto with a bronze heel and a blade that measured more than 6 inches long, with two sharp edges that tapered to a point. Salesmen at Ross Cutlery in Los Angeles testified in court that O.J. Simpson had bought a knife identical to this stiletto just six weeks before the murder.

But despite intense searches in L.A. and Chicago, police failed to locate the knife — and O.J. was acquitted of both murders in October 1995. O.J., now 68, refused to tell the possible sellers where the knife was then being held. But he did reveal that he initially kept the weapon hidden very close to his Rockingham estate, and then moved it to Pacific Palisades, Calif., where he rented a house after his murder trial.

O.J. also said he took it with him when he moved to Florida in 2000 — and many people in O.J.'s inner circle now believe he may have later hidden the knife in the Bahamas, where he'd frequently visited.

"They think it's hidden someplace where it is safe and still under his control," explained the insider. "O.J. said he'd reveal the location once a firm deal — for a minimum of $5 million — was reached."

Although O.J. has no use for the cash until at least 2017 (when he's eligible for parole), the insider says "it's not just about the money. O.J. will get a sick satisfaction from putting one over on the cops and Ron's family. He'd love to think he's outsmarted them."

O.J. was found liable for the deaths of Nicole and Ron in a 1997 civil suit brought by Ron's family. The Goldmans were awarded $33.5 million, but O.J. has gone to great lengths to keep them from collecting. At the time of the proposed deal, said the source, O.J. would be "amused" at being "able to make millions from his prison cell for selling the murder weapon, knowing that the Goldmans won't ever get a single penny!"