Curious turn out for the free show

Fred Conrad and John Miller traveled to Las Vegas to play some cards and take in a few shows. They saw "Defending the Caveman" one night, Rich Little the next.

Then on Thursday morning, they decided to check out the biggest production in town: the preliminary hearing for O.J. Simpson.

"I've never experienced anything like this before. I thought it would be interesting," Conrad said.

"This is the big show," Miller added. "And it's free."

The neighbors from suburban Chicago were among a handful of everyday citizens who turned out to watch the hearing in person.

The first few spectators began lining up about 7 a.m. in hopes of landing one of the few seats in the courtroom not already taken by attorneys, reporters, and relatives of the witnesses and defendants.

Joe Cirilo was among the first to arrive. He had a few days off from his job with a local security company so he wandered down to the courthouse to check out the scene.

"I'm nosy and curious, just like everybody else," the 74-year-old said. "If he's proven guilty, I hope justice will be served."

Beate Falk, 71, also showed up early hoping to get a seat in the gallery.

"I'm retired. I have all this time, so I try to do lots of exciting things," she explained.

The native of Austria spent 40 years in Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas about five years ago. She said she regrets not witnessing Simpson's murder trial. She wasn't about to miss another chance to see him in person.

"I want to see his face. I want to see if he has the same smug face like he usually does," she said. "He should have been convicted the first time. I'm glad they got him (during the civil trial) in Santa Monica, and I hope they get him here. He's got to pay somewhere down the line."

Tara Waters joined the group about 7:15 a.m. dressed in a T-shirt that read, "Exercise your faith, walk with God."

As she waited for the hearing, she paged through a pocket-sized Bible filled with passages she had highlighted in bright yellow, pink and blue.

Waters said she was there to spread God's message and encourage people to "turn their lives around for the Lord." With all the cameras around, she figured she could reach a lot of folks at once. Maybe she would even get the chance to talk with Simpson.

"If I had that opportunity, I would, just to see where his head is at," she said.

Conrad and Miller were relatively late to Thursday's party.

They showed up at about 9 a.m. not expecting to be able to get anywhere close to the courtroom. Instead they found only five other people in line ahead of them.

Asked what they thought about the case against Simpson, Miller and Conrad started to riff.

"We kind of think he should be guilty just out of sheer stupidity," Miller said.

"But that's an insult to stupid," Conrad replied.

Seth Willing walked over to the Regional Justice Center from his room at a weekly motel with no expectation that he would get to sit in on Thursday's hearing.

He decided to hang around once he saw he was one of the only members of the public waiting to get in. He chomped sunflower seeds and spit the shells in an empty water bottle to pass the time.

Willing said he moved to Las Vegas from Seattle last week in search of work as something called a "brand ambassador." The job basically entails going to public events and plugging products by handing out samples and promotional materials. Sometimes costumes and stunts are involved.

Willing insisted he did not come to the courthouse to promote anything. He just considers Simpson an interesting individual.

During his freshman year of high school in Texas, Willing was let out of biology class early so he and his classmates could watch the verdict in Simpson's 1995 murder trial. He has been following Simpson's exploits ever since.

"I want to see him face to face. I just want to look into his eyes, see what kind of person he is," he said.

For a while, it looked like there would be plenty of seats to go around, but a surge of interested spectators showed up just before the hearing was set to begin. A court staff member had to draw raffle tickets out of a box to determine who would get the 15 seats available.

Willing's ticket was one of the first to be drawn, but he had stepped away and didn't hear his number being called.

When his ticket was tossed back in the box and drawn again a few minutes later, Conrad shook his head and said, "That guy ought to buy a lottery ticket."

By the time the drawing was over, though, Cirilo, Falk, Waters, Conrad and Miller had all been picked to go inside.

Not everyone was so lucky. One man who had his number called ended up being escorted out of the justice center when a bailiff found a pair of two-inch sewing scissors in his pocket. Another man was turned away because of a courtroom dress code that prohibits shorts.

Though they were happy to be picked, Miller and Conrad said they only planned to watch the O.J. show for an hour or two.

"He's not that fascinating to keep us away from the tables," Miller explained. "We've got to go lose some more money."

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0350.