LAPD Denies Report that OJ Simpson Knife Had No DNA

LOS ANGELES, CA The Los Angeles Police Department denied a report this morning that the knife found at OJ Simpson’s Brentwood home came back negative for the presence of DNA.

“They are still doing their DNA testing. The results aren’t back yet,” said LAPD spokesman Officer Tony Im.

The denial comes in response to a TMZ.com report that "microbes in the soil degraded any DNA to the point it was impossible to get a meaningful result."

TMZ cited unnamed sources within the LAPD.

"We're also told there was no hair or other sample that produced a lead," TMZ reported.

TMZ originally broke the story March 4 that police are investigating a buck knife found buried outside the former home of O.J. Simpson, whose trial for the killings of his wife and an acquaintance more than two decades ago became one of the highest-profile murder cases in U.S. history.

The knife was found at Simpson's mansion at 360 N. Rockingham Ave in Brentwood, California, which was demolished in 1998. A retired LAPD officer claims that a construction worker at the site handed the knife over to him in 2003 and that he tried to turn it over as evidence but department officials didn’t believe it was necessary, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles Police confirmed that they are investigating a knife. The department is testing the knife for fingerprints and DNA traces, which could still linger even years later.

“It is being treated as we would all evidence. it has been submitted to our lab," LAPD Capt. Andrew Neiman said at the time.

Following the announcement, Simpson’s former manager told People magazine Simpson "isn't losing any sleep. Everybody I've spoken with says he's just ignoring it. He's not talking about it. When he heard the news on TV, all he did was shake his head, as if to say, 'Will this ever end?' He's definitely shrugging it off and pretty much saying, I'm not going to worry about it.'"

Having been acquitted in the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1995, OJ Simpson can not be charged again with their murders regardless of any new evidence in the case.

Related:

• Knife Found at OJ Simpson's Had No DNA, Reportedly
• O.J. Simpson Not 'Losing Any Sleep' Over the Knife

Patch Staffer Marc Torrence contributed to this report.