‘He was like a brother to me’: One of OJ Simpson’s closest friends recalls good times and bad

BUFFALO, New York — Michael R. Militello was getting ready for a morning workout at an Amherst gym on Thursday when he learned about the death of his longtime friend, O.J. Simpson.

“Some kid in the locker room looked at his cellphone and said, ‘Hey, O.J. just died. One of the most famous people in America,’” Militello told The Buffalo News. “I thought that was strange, because for some reason, I was thinking about O.J. all morning. I thought about him at the very moment I woke up, and I thought about him again while driving to the gym.

“I spoke to him around Christmas, and I knew he was sick, so I wasn’t shocked. This is a sad day. I’m thinking about O.J.’s kids. He may not have been a great husband, but he was always close to all his kids. They all loved him.”

Nobody in Buffalo — and very few people in America — were as close to Simpson as Militello.

The two men became close friends in the 1970s when Simpson was a superstar running back with the Buffalo Bills and one of the world’s most famous athletes. Militello was then running Mulligan’s Cafe & Nightclub on Hertel Avenue, which was then Buffalo’s No. 1 celebrity hangout.

Their friendship endured long after Simpson’s football career ended. Militello was with Simpson in 1977 when he met Nicole Brown, a young waitress at a Beverly Hills, California, restaurant.

“They fell in love almost immediately, right before my eyes,” Militello said.

Over the years, Militello and his wife, Marilyn, stayed close to both O.J. and Nicole. “Nicole essentially planned our entire wedding, and she and O.J. stood up in our wedding party,” Militello recalled. “Over the years, our kids played together, we stayed at each other’s homes.”

The friendship became much more “complicated” in 1994, when Simpson was arrested by Los Angeles police, accused of the murders of Nicole — who was then estranged from Simpson — and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Photos: O.J. Simpson's Buffalo years

Militello visited Simpson in jail after his arrest. When The News interviewed Militello in July 1994, he said he was certain that his friend O.J. was innocent. He later rejoiced when a jury acquitted Simpson of the slayings.

When the same reporter interviewed Militello on Thursday, Militello didn’t seem so sure about what happened.

“This has always been difficult for me, because it’s a situation where one of my best friends, like a brother to me, was accused of murdering someone who also was a best friend to me and my wife,” Militello said.

Did Militello ever ask Simpson, point-blank, whether he killed Nicole?

“I never did ask him, because I knew he would have had to lie to me,” Militello said Thursday. “Many times, when we got together after the murders, I would look into his eyes. He looked into my eyes. I believe he knew what I was thinking, but we never discussed whether he did it or not.”

Does Militello now think that his friend committed the murders?

“I won’t answer that. I’m just going to say that my feelings go toward Nicole and her family,” Militello said. “She was such a wonderful person.”

“As for O.J.,” Militello added, “friendship is friendship. He was like a brother to me, and you don’t throw your brother into the garbage because he did something wrong.”

Militello, 77, said he tries to remember happier times, when he and Simpson took delight in each other’s company.

Although Simpson was a star known all over the world, he was impressed with the fact that Militello was a war veteran who survived being shot three times in Vietnam, Militello said.

Militello’s restaurant hosted celebrities like Bob Hope, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Liza Minnelli, Van Morrison and astronaut Alan Shephard, but Militello said he never saw a celebrity who attracted attention like Simpson.

Even Frank Sinatra seemed to be in awe of Simpson, Militello said.

“Frank Sinatra’s friend Jilly Rizzo called me in 1974 and asked if I could get O.J. to visit Frank in his dressing room before his concert at the old (Memorial) Auditorium,” Militello recalled. “O.J. agreed to go. The police led us back there. Frank Sinatra got to meet O.J. and Frank Sinatra seemed to be as excited as a 12-year-old kid meeting one of his heroes.”

Over the past decade, Militello said, Simpson would come to Buffalo at least once a year to visit. “He’d come with some friends and I’d put them up at a hotel near the airport,” he said.

Simpson loved going to sports bars and restaurants in Buffalo. Some people were thrilled to see him in Buffalo and some stayed away from him, Militello said.

The Buffalo businessman said he realizes that some people will always think of Simpson as a criminal who viciously killed his wife and a friend.

Timeline: O.J. Simpson through the years

He said Simpson told him on the telephone around last Christmas that he was concerned about his health issues, including a heart problem that caused doctors to fit him with a pacemaker.

“O.J. was definitely concerned, but still he was upbeat and happy,” Militello said. “He was almost always that way. Upbeat and happy. That’s the way I prefer to remember him.”