Simpson offers advice to Blake in murder investigation

MIAMI (CNN) -- O.J. Simpson has simple advice for Robert Blake, the actor whose wife was found dead in Los Angeles earlier this month: Don't watch TV and don't take a lie detector test.

In an interview with the television program "Extra," Simpson spoke of his experience after the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Simpson was acquitted in criminal court for the murders, but was found liable in a 1997 civil proceeding and was ordered to pay $33.7 million in damages. Simpson said he was "pretty fascinated" when he first heard of the death of Blake's wife.

TRANSCRIPT CNN's Larry King interviews Robert Blake's son, Noah    VIDEO CNN's Charles Feldman reports on audio recordings made by Bonny Lee Bakley (May 12) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    RESOURCES Robert Blake profile  • A life in pictures  • Biographical timeline    MESSAGE BOARD Murder in Hollywood     ALSO Blake cancels wife's funeral service LAPD chief calls Bakley killing a 'whodunit' PEOPLE.com: In cold blood

"My first reaction was immediate feeling, compassion for him because I knew what he was about to go through," Simpson told the syndicated program. "And I was just saying, man, this poor guy -- I hope they find who did it right away because ... this next week or two is going to be horrible for him, being under that veil of suspicion."

Simpson was asked what advice he would give Blake, the star of the 1970s television drama "Baretta."

"Not to watch TV," Simpson said. "Robert, whatever you do, all it's going to do is frustrate you and ... he'll really want to go out and hit somebody. But you can't win doing it," Simpson said.

He also advised against taking lie-detector tests, citing the case of Louise Woodward, the British au pair convicted of manslaughter in 1998 for the death of an infant in her care.

"Lie detector tests at this stage of an investigation can only hurt him," Simpson said of Blake. "It can't help him. Because if he passed, much like the English nanny who passed two or three of them before her trial up in New England -- you don't hear about them. They mean nothing."

Simpson also urged Blake to put pressure on the Los Angeles Police Department to make sure that "if they're going to charge someone, they charge the right person."

"As far as I'm concerned," Simpson said, "this man is innocent until a jury comes back and calls him guilty. And that's the way everybody should look at this guy. That's the American way."