Media swarm buzzes around jail scene

Is O.J. Simpson the biggest story out of Nevada in nearly 30 years?

Not yet.

But the former football player has the potential to become the biggest story out of the state since a fire tore through the MGM Grand in 1980, killing more than 80 people, state archivist Guy Rocha said.

"If O.J. Simpson gets convicted and goes to prison, this story's going to be big," he said. "Big, big, big. People don't forget O.J. Simpson."

At the moment, Rocha said, Simpson's arrest hasn't assumed the epic proportions of Nevada's biggest stories: the MGM fire; the 1910 "fight of the century" between boxers Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries in Reno; the 1942 plane crash and death of actress Carole Lombard outside Las Vegas; and the 1960 arrest in Las Vegas of ex-convicts Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, made infamous by Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood."

At the moment, it's only a story that temporarily has captivated the nation. But for Las Vegans, even those accustomed to the frequent Sin City stories that make national headlines, the media frenzy is unprecedented.

"Oh, my God, in my 171/2 years (as a judge) I've never seen anything like this," Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle said.

"This makes the (Ted) Binion case look like small potatoes."

Simpson's arrest and the ensuing attention from national media has drawn many comparisons to the murder of the late casino mogul Binion and the ensuing trials. But that story doesn't stack up, according to the person tasked with coordinating the circus, court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer.

Nor do any of the other stories to come out of Las Vegas since he took the job in 2001.

When the Review-Journal caught up to him about noon Monday at a cafe near the courthouse, Sommermeyer was twitching his leg nervously as he wolfed down a sandwich.

His day started at 6:30 a.m. Monday. An hour later, his phone started ringing and didn't stop for an hour and a half, he said.

By noon, he had amassed more than 100 e-mails from national media. The answering machines for his cell phone and office phone had filled up. Another official at the courthouse even lent Sommermeyer his personal secretary to help handle the load.

By early afternoon, his fax machine had more than 15 media requests to cover Simpson's first appearance in court tomorrow. Reuters, The Associated Press, "Entertainment Tonight," CNN and "People Magazine" were just a few of them.

"This is the biggest case I've ever worked," he said.

Sommermeyer also is coordinating the appearances of Oesterle, who has been dubbed the media's official contact for a possible Simpson trial, and Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo on the television news shows.

A swarm of media vans, reporters and cameramen have descended upon downtown Las Vegas, taking up sidewalk space, parking illegally and racking up numerous parking citations.

"Every O.J. story has a bizarre twist to it," said Van Susteren, who taped "On the Record" last night in front of the Clark County Detention Center. "Why better for it to happen in the city that never sleeps?"

Van Susteren was perhaps the biggest name hovering around the detention center Monday, aside from the outcast former football star inside.

News crews have claimed prime public real estate along the streets and sidewalks surrounding the county jail and the Regional Justice Center.

"I saw it build up," said a baggy-eyed Mike Kellogg, a freelance MSNBC cameraman from Phoenix who drove up Sunday night.

He had staked out a great spot by 2 a.m. Monday, one with a clear, shady view of the detention center, from where he watched the throng of television reporters from around the country jostle for sidewalk space around him.

Several vans were from local news affiliates from Los Angeles, where residents are still captivated by Simpson and the 1994 trial that made him infamous, according to NBC News Channel reporter Jinah Kim, who arrived with a camera crew on Friday.

"Most of us covered O.J." and his trial, she said. "When we heard O.J.'s in trouble again, it had a bit more significance."

Nevada has had its share of big national stories, said Rocha, who has been witness to many of them and has researched a lot of the others.

Hoover Dam. Howard Hughes. The death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Polygamists. Mobsters. Murderers.

Depending on what happens in the next few weeks, the state could also lay claim to another immortal story: the conviction of O.J. Simpson.

"This one's big," he said. "This one's big and could get bigger."

Review-Journal writer Beth Walton contributed to this report.