Philip Vannatter | Simpson investigator, 70

Philip Vannatter, 70, a Los Angeles police detective who served as a lead investigator in the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, died Jan. 20 at a Santa Clarita, Calif., hospital of complications from cancer, his brother Joe Vannatter said.

He was among the first detectives on the scene at former football star O.J. Simpson's mansion in June 1994, after the stabbing deaths of Simpson's wife and her friend. Mr. Vannatter testified at the murder trial, at which Simpson was acquitted.

In 1977, Mr. Vannatter conducted the investigation that led to the arrest of the film director Roman Polanski on charges of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

A 28-year veteran with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he spent most of his career as a homicide detective, Mr. Vannatter retired from the force in 1995 but continued as a consultant for cold-case murders.

Mr. Vannatter had planned to retire in late 1994 but instead spent more than a year in the middle of the Simpson trial. Defense lawyers took aim at Mr. Vannatter's truthfulness, suggesting police set out to get Simpson as soon as his ex-wife was found slain. On the witness stand, Mr. Vannatter sharply defended the actions of detectives at the crime scene. Two judges upheld the search on the basis of Mr. Vannatter's and other detectives' testimony.

- AP