O.J. Simpson Shocks 'Playboy' Writer

N E W   Y O R K, Aug. 20 -- — O.J. Simpson believes Scott Peterson and Robert Blake are being convicted in the media, just as he says he was, according to Playboy magazine's David Sheff, who conducted an extensive interview to appear in the October issue.

Simpson, the man at the center of the "trial of the century," was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, eight years ago.

"He feels that they [Peterson and Blake] are being tried by the media," Sheff said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America today. "He says that it's something he relates to and he feels it's very unfair."

Peterson has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the death of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Blake has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the May 2001 fatal shooting of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

According to Sheff, a contributing editor for the magazine, Simpson had some advice for Blake and Peterson.

"'No lie detector test,' he [Simpson] was advising them," Sheff said. "He said he understood, related to Robert Blake in particular, how he would like to tell his story to the public. But just as he was advised not to by his lawyers, he would counsel against that."

Yet despite Simpson's words of unsolicited advice for the accused men, Sheff said Simpson didn't seem to believe their stories. While the ex-defendant wouldn't tell him exactly what he thought during their interview, Scheff said his feelings came through.

"He thinks in both cases they're guilty, certainly Peterson," Sheff said.

O.J. a TV Commentator?

Sheff said Simpson has enjoyed watching high-profile legal cases unfold in the wake of his own, the most publicized case in United States history.

Simpson was acquitted of killing his ex-wife and Goldman in a 1994 knife attack, but a civil jury later held him liable and ordered him to pay the victims' survivors $33.5 million.

Simpson doesn't currently work for a salary, since his earnings would go to the Brown and Goldman families. Sheff noted that Simpson lives off his $300,000 a year pension, which he doesn't have to share with the Browns and Goldmans.