OJ Simpson explains in own words why the robbery happened

— -- O.J. Simpson said during his parole hearing on Thursday that he committed the 2007 robbery at a Las Vegas hotel and casino for which he is imprisoned because he wanted to retrieve his personal mementos from "some guys" who were trying to "fence" them.

"Of course I would like to get my property," Simpson told the group of Nevada commissioners.

While explaining the chain of events that led to the crime, Simpson said he was already in Las Vegas at the time, for a wedding.

"As a perfect storm, we all ended up in Las Vegas, you know?" he said.

Simpson was told the names of the people who may have been in the hotel room, and realized they were "friends" of his, he said.

"You know? Actually guys who helped me move, helped me move and store some of this stuff," Simpson said.

Once Simpson entered the hotel room that night, he said the "only thing" he saw on display were some baseballs.

"...and I made it clear to everybody, those are not mine," he said. "All I want is my property… I wasn't there to steal from anybody."

Simpson also said he did not pull out a gun during the incident.

"I would never, ever pull a weapon," he said.

He added that he wasn't trying to make any excuses for his actions.

"I haven't made any excuses in the nine years I've been here, and [am] not trying to make any excuses now," Simpson said.

When asked if he believed that the property was his, Simpson replied, "It's been ruled legally by the state of California that it was my property, and they've given it to me."

One of the victims in the incident, Bruce Fromong, spoke favorably of Simpson at the hearing. The hotel room did contain items that belong to Simpson, Fromong said, but added that Simpson was "misguided" on the day of the robbery.

"He was led to believe that on that day, there were going to be thousands of pieces of his personal memorabilia, pictures of his wife from his first marriage, pictures of his kids," Fromong said. "He was told there were going to be possibly his wife's wedding ring, thousands of things. He was misled about what was going to be there that day."

Fromong also told the committee that Simpson "never" held a gun on him.