{"id":19993,"date":"2026-06-23T01:03:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/?p=19993"},"modified":"2026-06-23T01:03:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:03:06","slug":"how-a-near-death-experience-inspired-nicole-brown-simpsons-ex-to-share-their-untold-story-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/?p=19993","title":{"rendered":"How a Near-Death Experience Inspired Nicole Brown Simpson\u2019s Ex to Share Their Untold Story (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joseph Perrulli never planned to write a book about their love, but a 2024 event changed everything for him<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/author\/liz-mcneil\/\">Liz McNeil<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/mFtnhIDWJvwB6YgG_n1l0jmYjLk=\/200x200\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)\/liz-mcneil-e13d0e06f70c4c0fa747256716ea6c2c.jpg\" alt=\"liz mcneil\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/author\/liz-mcneil\/\">Liz McNeil<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Liz McNeil is an Editor at Large at PEOPLE, where she\u2019s worked for over 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nicole Brown Simpson\u2019s ex, Joseph Perrulli, explains how a near death experience in 2024 led him to share their love story in a new book.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When he first met Nicole in 1989, he sensed \u201ca certain sadness about her.\u201d Three years later after she\u2019d separated from O.J., she was a different person.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cShe was far different than how she was portrayed,\u201d he says, \u201cmuch more spiritual and down to earth.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/nicole-brown-simpson-former-lover-joseph-perrulli-interview-exclusive-11998304\">Joseph Perrulli&nbsp;<\/a>never planned to write a book about his love affair with<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tag\/nicole-brown-simpson\/\">&nbsp;Nicole Brown Simpson<\/a>&nbsp;but an unusual series of events \u2014 and a near death experience in 2024 \u2014 ultimately led to his intimate new memoir,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1732101582?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Forgotten Briefcase<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That briefcase was a time capsule back to 1989 when&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tag\/kris-jenner\/\">Kris Jenner<\/a>&nbsp;first introduced him to Nicole, while she was still married to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tag\/o-j-simpson\/\">O.J. Simpson.<\/a>&nbsp;\u201cI sensed a certain sadness about her \u2014 that she was harboring something dark,\u201d Perrulli recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three years later, Jenner called to say Nicole, newly separated, had asked about him and they all had dinner together. \u201cI became enchanted,\u201d says Perrulli. \u201cAnybody like that who\u2019s been in a bird cage for so many years, all of a sudden their wings are spreading \u2014 and she was captivating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a romantic trip to Mexico with a group of friends, he and Nicole confessed their love for one another. Once back home, Nicole said, \u201cI told O.J. I\u2019ve fallen in love with you.\u201d When he asked why, she said, \u201cLook, I\u2019m living my life openly and honestly and I\u2019m going to tell him how I feel. And I don\u2019t want him coming between what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ultimately that\u2019s exactly what happened. From&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/nicole-brown-simpson-confronted-o-j-simpson-exclusive-12000127\">hiding in the bushes outside her home&nbsp;<\/a>while Perrulli was there, to showing up unannounced while they were jogging, O.J. Simpson became such a threatening presence that Perrulli ultimately ended the relationship: \u201cI didn\u2019t think I could live my life like this, feeling like this man is lurking everywhere I go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"mntl-sc-block_16-0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/w4bjVvtisCyn8WyurOrNFj9ZnWA=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(742x303:744x305):format(webp)\/joseph-perrulli-nicole-brown-simpson-mag-rollout-61526-6701f3d542de426fa208684dd9fc9722.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Perrulli and Nicole Brown Simpson. Cabo San Lucas, May 1992\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joseph Perrulli and Nicole Brown Simpson in Cabo San Lucas, May 1992.Courtesy of Joseph Perrulli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;One night, he had a premonition about the danger they were in. \u201cWe were flying off this cliff in her car and we died,\u201d he recalls. \u201cWhen I woke up, I collected all the things we\u2019d shared \u2014 the books, journals, cards and letters \u2014 and I put it away in a briefcase which I purposely tried to forget for the better part of 33 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perrulli, 65, regrets that he never fully explained to Nicole why he\u2019d broken it off. \u201cI didn\u2019t admit to being afraid for not only her life but my own,\u201d he says. \u201cThose things were in the back of my mind but I didn\u2019t admit to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One night, he heard her car drive up to his Brentwood rental home at midnight, and she dropped off a photo album (featuring pictures they\u2019d taken) with a note on the back of a grocery bill: \u201cThanks for the memories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That summer, she told him about an audition for an actor who could rollerblade (Perrulli was doing small acting gigs on the side by then). She gave him a check made out to the local sporting goods store. She said, \u201cGet me a pair. Here\u2019s my size. We could learn together.\u201d He still has the uncashed check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"mntl-sc-block_33-0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/FQwijp-2CjumHOeYP5he-NhyfXg=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/joseph-perrulli-nicole-brown-simpson-mag-rollout3-61526-5f05d18d2abb4a3b91035161106e2940.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Perrulli and Nicole Brown. Cabo San Lucas, May 1992. Aysha, who was also a guest of the Jenners on my right.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joseph Perrulli and Nicole Brown Simpson in Cabo San Lucas, May 1992.Courtesy of Joseph Perrulli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later that day, he drove to his former home in Brentwood to look for the briefcase with all the mementos. \u201cThey were already dissecting her life, picking everything they could find on this poor girl,\u201d he says, \u201cand I thought I\u2019d find a piece of her that they couldn\u2019t take away.\u201c But, he says, \u201cThe briefcase was gone and I never really grieved her death.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He eventually moved to New York, entered the wine business and began building prototypes for what would become Govino, the shatterproof wine glass he later invented. One day in the late nineties, he got a call from the Brentwood homeowner who had found his briefcase. \u201cIt was too raw at first,\u201d says Perrulli who stored it in a closet. He told his wife that he\u2019d never really looked at it, \u201cnever really dealt with it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several house moves later, he found it in a desk drawer. In 2024, he opened it up. \u201cI sat on the stairs for probably four hours and read her notes, and re-read the copy of&nbsp;<em>Siddhartha<\/em>&nbsp;that I\u2019d given her, and it felt like it\u2019d traveled back in time \u2014 and I began to truly grieve her death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He started to transcribe her letters and his own journal entries with no real plan in mind. But a near-death experience in 2024 when he had a severe ischemic stroke changed that. \u201cOut of nowhere, my left side of my body completely shut down. I couldn\u2019t feel anything,\u201d he says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t move. I was close to dying in the ambulance and then I heard my wife\u2019s voice and became aware again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"mntl-sc-block_44-0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/mr123i9vlDmpcmuMkw_mcghQ3dU=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(599x0:601x2):format(webp)\/the-forgotten-briefcase-nicole-brown-simpson-mag-rollout5-61526-87dec15a12c5439b80acbc4efb4fec3f.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover for The Forgotten Briefcase by Joseph Perrulli\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u2018The Forgotten Briefcase\u2019 by Joseph Perrulli.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When he woke up, \u201cI realized my laptop bag had the journals and&nbsp;<em>Siddhartha<\/em>&nbsp;and I thought of Nicole and I realized I had to see this through. That there was a bigger purpose to share her story, her favorite book. And I remember thinking, if I have to type this with one hand, because I couldn\u2019t move my left arm at all, I would see it through no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now recovered, Perrulli hopes the book will remind people who she really was. \u201cShe was far different than how she was portrayed,\u201d he says. \u201cShe was much more spiritual and more down to earth and when I met her, she was in the process of reclaiming her life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to&nbsp;<\/em><a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/thehotline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>thehotline.org<\/em><\/a><em>. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24\/7 in more than 170 languages.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joseph Perrulli never planned to write a book about their love, but a 2024 event changed everything for him By Liz McNeil Liz McNeil Liz McNeil is an Editor at Large at PEOPLE, where she\u2019s worked for over 30 years. NEED TO KNOW Nicole Brown Simpson\u2019s ex, Joseph Perrulli, explains how a near death experience &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19995,"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19993\/revisions\/19995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnews55.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}