OJ Simpson WAS at Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman's murder scene and watched as the Gambino gangsters he hired slaughtered the couple, claims witness who says he stayed silent for 30 years because he feared for his life

OJ Simpson stood before the world in the 'trial of the century' and convinced a jury that he didn't murder his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her lover Ron Goldman.

But now for the first time ever, MailOnline can reveal a key police witness not only placed OJ Simpson at the scene but claims the NFL star orchestrated the killing by hiring Gambino mafiosos to carry out the hit.

Simpson was put on trial for the brutal murder of his ex-wife Nicole, 35, and her lover Ron Goldman, 25, on June 12, 1994. Nicole was stabbed seven times in the neck and scalp. It was such a violent attack that when was found laying in a pool of blood in the fetal position, she was nearly decapitated.

Yet backed by his 'dream team' of lawyers, the iconic NFL star emerged triumphant when his grueling trial came to a dramatic end on October 3, 1995 — as nearly 150 million people watched the verdict on television.

This week, Simpson died aged 76, surrounded by his family after a battle with cancer. He took his secret to the grave.

Now, in a shocking revelation after 30 years of staying silent and even going to jail for not answering a grand jury's questions, a man who knows who killed Brown and Goldman has finally revealed the truth.

John Dunton, 62, has broken decades of silence to say on tape that OJ Simpson was indeed at the scene of the double murder, along with four gangsters from the Gambino crime family who he hired to kill his ex-wife Nicole Brown, MailOnline can reveal.

OJ Simpson pictured with his ex-wife Nicole and their blended family at the premiere of Naked Gun 33 1/3 in 1994, just three months before her murder

O.J. Simpson sits at his arraignment in Superior Court in Los Angeles on July 22, 1994

OJ Simpson was found liable in civil court for $33.5million for the murders of Ron Goldman and ex-wife Nicole Simpson in 1997 

Hollywood private investigator Paul Barresi, 75, (pictured) spoke to John Dunton, 62, who claimed OJ Simpson was at the scene of the double-murder

Dunton first met Barresi when the private detective was hired to find out what he told the police about Anthony Pellicano (pictured in 2021)

Michael Jackson's private investigator Pellicano (pictured in 2003) ended up spending 16 years in jail for wiretapping and racketeering

Although Dunton initially spoke to LA police after the brutal double murder, he went quiet after mobsters pushed him to his knees, stuck a gun in his mouth and threatened to murder him and his family if he spoke about the murder again.

Dunton has bravely waited 30 years for many of the deaths of the mob gangsters and the man at the centre of it all, OJ Simpson, so he can tell the world what really happened.

Speaking to Hollywood private detective Paul Barresi, 75, the PI for a slew of celebrities including Sharon Stone and Amber Heard, Dunton said Simpson was absolutely responsible for the murders.

Asked if Simpson paid the mob to kill his ex-wife, Dunton said: '100 per cent. The four guys that came, they were members of the Gambino family.

'They were involved in all kinds of stuff. You know what the mob does.

'The bottom line is everything was done with OJ's direction. That's what happened.'

He added: 'He was there. I don't know what he did, but he was there. He knew these guys were going over to Nicole's house to kill her.

'He wanted to be there. I don't know why.

'I'm glad he's dead to be honest. What he did was a really horrible thing and I went through hell because of that.'

Simpson with his arm around wife Nicole at the opening of the Harley Davidson Café

Simpson holding hands with his children Justin and Sydney at the funeral of their mother, and his ex-wife on June 16, 1994

His trial — and shocking acquittal — by a majority black jury captivated America, drawing one of the biggest audiences in TV history

Simpson (number 32) in action against the New York Jets in the snow at Shea Stadium, New York, on December 16th, 1973

Simpson (R) whispers to Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey (L) during testimony of FBI special agent William Bodziak 19 June during the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles

Members of the news media watch live television coverage of the O.J. Simpson slow speed chase

Simpson reacts as he is found not guilty in October 1995

Dunton first met Barresi when the private detective was hired to find out what he told the police about Anthony Pellicano, Michael Jackson's private investigator who would end up spending 16 years in jail for wiretapping and racketeering. 

He had supposedly alleged that Pellicano had put Brown's house under surveillance.

Dunton was also threatened by the Gambino crime family - one of the notorious 'Five Families' that ran the New York underworld.

He said: 'The guy that put the gun in my mouth, he f***ing whacked several people and if he whacked me it wouldn't be any different. He also said they'd whack my family too.

'When they threw me down on my knees and made me cross my ankles over and put a gun all the way down my mouth, it was scary.'

Although Dunton knows the name of the mobster who threatened him, he chose not to say his name as while the gangster is 'old,' he's 'still alive'.

After he and his family were threatened, Dunton stopped talking to law enforcement.

He added: 'I didn't say anything. When OJ got out of jail he called me two or three times. I didn't talk to him. I didn't want to meet. I just hung up.'

Dunton was terrified that he too would be killed. He was so scared that even when hauled before a grand jury investigating OJ Simpson's best friend Al Cowlings, he refused to answer their questions and was jailed for 23 days as a result.

Al Cowlings, with O.J. Simpson hiding, drives a white Ford Bronco as they lead police on a two-county chase along the northbound 405 Freeway towards Simpson's home

Ron Goldman's father Fred (centre) and his daughter Kim and wife Patty are pictured in court during trial

Former NFL football star OJ Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada, on July 20, 2017

Hollywood private investigator Paul Barresi told MailOnline: 'For more than three decades, I've been at the centre of every high-profile Hollywood celebrity scandal. 

'When the star behind the scandal dies, the secrets that smolder beneath the red carpet tend to surface.

'Following Nicole's and Ron's murder, Anthony Pellicano tasked me to unearth anything I could find about the relationship between OJ and Nicole during their marriage, after their marriage and beyond the grave. 

'Pellicano was also interested in knowing about some secret witness named John Dunton, a 34-year-old LA resident alleging that he was at the scene of the crime.

'''Don't use any strongarm intimidation,'' Pellicano instructed — ''Be a gentleman. Just see what you can find out about the man.''

'I doorstepped Mr Dunton at his LA residence, and the first thing he said to me was, ''If you're a reporter, I have nothing to say, and if you're not a reporter I still have nothing to say.''

'I did not talk to Mr Dunton again until today, almost thirty years later to the day.'