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TMZ SPENT $165,000 FOR COPY OF O.J. TAPE: Smoking Gun says Thomas Riccio pocketed the money, then gave audio to the cops.
*The Web site Smoking Gun is reporting that gossip site TMZ.com paid $165,000 to a witness in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case for a copy of an audiotape he secretly made during the incident in a Las Vegas hotel room.
TMZ.com reportedly made the transaction last September, within days of the violent encounter between Simpson, his posse and two businessmen Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong.
Smoking Gun reports: Riccio, who orchestrated the Palace Station meeting, used a digital recorder to memorialize the confrontation, and then immediately contacted TMZ to negotiate a sale of the audio evidence. While he initially sought $2 million, Riccio settled for the six-figure payout, which is still likely the largest sum paid by a gossip site for a story.
In its original report about the tape, TMZ stated that it had "obtained" the recordings, avoiding any mention that their procurement was secured by a $165,000 check delivered to Riccio's Los Angeles home.
Riccio signed a TMZ contract containing a confidentiality clause barring him from disclosing details of the financial transaction, presumably so that future "sources" don't use the $165,000 payoff as a template in their negotiations with the site, which is co-owned by Time Warner's AOL and Telepictures units.
TMZ is apparently the only Time Warner entity that is allowed to pay for stories or tips (that corporate roster includes CNN, magazines like Time, People, and Sports Illustrated, and small outfits like The Smoking Gun).
As previously reported, Simpson's trial on charges of robbery and kidnapping has been postponed from April until September.
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