Brian "Kato" Kaelin - testifying in O.J. Simpson's double-murder trial - sidestepped suggestions that Simpson was an angry, jilted ex-husband but said the defendant was out of his sight for well over an hour the night his former wife was killed.
Indeed, Simpson's former house guest testified Wednesday that at one time the defendant mistakenly thought Kaelin could support his alibi."He said, `Kato, you know I was in the house,' " Kaelin said, recounting a conversation with Simpson after police had taken him in for questioning.
Your response? asked prosecutor Marcia Clark.
"That I didn't see him go into the house because I went to my guest room," Kaelin said.
Kaelin testified that he and Simpson returned from McDonald's about 9:40 p.m. on June 12, that they parked in the driveway of Simpson's Rockingham Avenue estate and Kaelin walked around the main house to his guest room in the back.
Kaelin said he next saw Simpson moments after he spotted a limousine in the driveway about 10:50 p.m.
Kaelin's testimony, along with a record of his phone bill, slightly widens the window of opportunity Simpson could have had to kill his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Simpson has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in the deaths.
Kaelin testified that he called a friend in San Diego as soon as he and Simpson returned from McDonald's. Phone records show that call was placed at 9:37 p.m., not 9:40 as Kaelin once had estimated.
Some legal observers say prosecutors drew important testimony from Kaelin - time line information and corroboration of police accounts - especially considering that his loyalties may lie with Simpson.
"This clearly is a witness who is extremely reluctant to endorse any prosecution characterizations of Mr. Simpson that are damaging," said Peter Arenella at law school professor at University of California, Los Angeles.
Prosecutors said in their opening statements that Simpson realized his relationship with Nicole Simpson was over and that he was in an ugly mood June 12, the night of their daughter's recital and the night of his former wife's death.
But Kaelin testified that Simpson only matter-of-factly referred to his breakup with Nicole Simpson that day. Further, Kaelin said, he gave it little thought because the two always were breaking up and reuniting.
He also played down Simpson's remark that his former wife and a friend wore tight dresses to the recital.
Kaelin said Simpson told him that "they were wearing tight outfits and he wondered if they could be grandmas and wear those outfits."