Publisher says O.J. Simpson book 'his confession'

In a bizarre move his publisher says amounts to a confession, O.J. Simpson has written a book that speculates how, hypothetically, he could have killed his ex-wife and her friend.

The news was announced Tuesday night by Fox, which plans to televisean interview with the former football star acquitted in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Simpson Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.

It was one of the most publicized and controversial trials in recent history.

"O.J. Simpson, in his own words, tells for the first time how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crimes," said Fox in a statement for If I Did It, Here's How It Happened, the name for the television interview to be broadcast in two partsonNov. 27 and Nov. 29.

The book, If I Did It, will be released in two weeks and will be published by ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

"This is an historic case, and I consider this his confession," said publisher Judith Regan.

Denise Brown, sister of Simpson's slain ex-wife, said the publisher was "promoting the wrongdoing of criminals."

For the 12 years since his trial, Simpson has maintained his innocence and even suggested to much ridicule that he would track downthe real killers himself.

Though acquitted of murder, Simpson was found liable for the deaths in a lawsuit filed by the Goldman family. He has yet to pay the $33.5 million US judgment in the case and continues to fight legal battles over the settlement.

Simpson's lawyer Yale Galanter said he did not learn about the book or interview until this week.

"The book was not done through our office," Galanter said. "I did not have anything to do with the negotiations of the book. This was strictly done between O.J. and others."

Others in the publishing community were critical of ReganBooks for agreeing to publish the book.

"This is not about being heard. This is about trying to cash in, in a pathetic way, on some notoriety," said Sara Nelson, editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly. "That a person keeps wanting to bring this up seems almost nutty to me."

At least one other network, NBC, turned down the interview. But Fox executive Mike Darnel told the New York Post the show, set to air at the end of sweeps week, will be a historic moment.

"This is an interview that no one thought would ever happen," said Darnel.