SWITZERLAND COUNTY, Ind. -- Phil Vannatter doesn’t cruise the streets of Los Angeles looking for killers anymore. On a typical day, he can be found relaxing in his front-porch rocking chair, overlooking the lush green lawn of his 80-acre farm.

But recent headlines bring back a lot of memories for Vannatter, who, 12 years ago, was one of the lead detectives in OJ Simpson’s murder trial.

As he’s being bombarded with phone calls from around the world, Vannatter minces no words about his feelings for Simpson.

“God, I hope they send him to prison,” Vannatter said. “He's a double murderer that's walking the streets.”

He said he’s not surprised to learn of Simpson’s latest problems. He was arrested Sunday and booked on charges connected with what police called a robbery at a Las Vegas hotel.

“(Simpson) doesn’t see himself doing anything wrong,” Vannatter said. “When I interviewed him after the murder, he was trying to tell me she was a husband beater, instead of him being a wife beater -- 'she’s a husband beater.'”

Vannatter and his partner co-authored the book about the Simpson murder trial and their investigation “Evidence Dismissed.”

He said he doesn’t think about the case every day anymore, but the events of the past weekend stir up memories both good and bad.

“You know, I had cases before I lost,” Vannatter said. “I had murder cases I lost, that I knew the suspect did it, but they were not on national television. This hurt because I had irrefutable evidence that it was him.

“It was a jury with stars in their eyes and cotton in their ears. God, I hope they convict him.”