Is this the blade that killed Nicole? Buck knife buried at O.J Simpson’s estate and found by construction worker is rediscovered after 'it was stashed away by cop as a PERSONAL TROPHY for 18 years' 

In the latest twist in the O.J Simpson case, Los Angeles police are now examining a knife that was found at the disgraced athlete's estate and handed over to a traffic cop who kept it hidden at his home for up to 18 years - only declaring it in January this year. 

The LAPD has confirmed that it is analyzing the folding Buck knife to determine whether it has any connection to the 1994 double murder of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. 

The knife was reportedly found buried at the property by a construction worker as early as 1998, and handed over to an off-duty traffic cop, who kept the weapon as a trophy and planned to frame it on his wall before it came to the LAPD's attention in January, according to TMZ. 

Police are 'determining whether or not [the knife] is an actual piece of evidence,' an LAPD spokesperson said at a press conference Friday, warning the story could turn out to be 'bogus.'

Captain Andrew Neiman expressed 'shock' and 'surprise' that a police officer would retain evidence and went on to say that the now-retired traffic cop in question kept the knife because he believed the case was closed.

'The Nicole Brown case... remains open and ongoing, and the investigators will continue to look at this,' and search for forensic evidence, Neiman said at the press conference.

However, Neiman said Simpson, 68, would be protected by the double jeopardy clause, which prohibits acquitted suspects from being prosecuted for the same crime twice.

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Crews demolish the former home of O.J. Simpson, July 29, 1998. A knife was reportedly found buried on the property by a construction worker 

O.J. Simpson, center, reacts as he is found not guilty of murder, flanked by his defense lawyers F. Lee Bailey, left, and Johnnie Cochran, right. 

Simpson's former defense attorney F. Lee Bailey commented on the discovery Friday 

The father of one of the 1994 victims called the finding 'insane' Friday. 

'It’s unreal to hear that an officer may have had it and didn't turn it in,' Fred Goldman told the New York Daily News.

'Obviously [the traffic cop] wasn't doing his job. His responsibility was to turn it in and not try to use it as a piece of memorabilia,' said Goldman, whose son was 25 years old when he was found dead alongside Brown-Simpson. 

Marcia Clark, who served as head prosecutor during Simpson's murder trial, said the finding would be a 'remarkable development' if the knife could be connected to the 1994 killings. 

'It would be interesting if there was some evidence on that knife that pointed to who might have helped to bury it, if indeed someone else did,' Clark told Entertainment Tonight. 

'I'm glad the LAPD is taking it seriously and subjecting it to testing so we can find out,' Clark continued. 

F. Lee Bailey, who served as a defense attorney for Simpson during the homicide trial, dismissed the finding in a comment to Fox News Friday.

'All of the matters have been adjudicated. The matter is closed,' Bailey said. 

'A police officer holding it has destroyed any credibility you might prescribe to it... Any police officer with half a brain would realize this knife could be important,' Bailey said. 

Another member of Simpson's legal team in the murder case, Carl Douglas, sounded similarly exasperated at the news of the discovery. 

'It's amazing how the world cannot move on from this case!' Douglas told the Los Angeles Times Friday.

News reporters flock to the address where the knife was found in a scene reminiscent of when Simpson lived there amid the media frenzy of the 1990s

A photographer snaps a shot of the house that was built where Simpson's home stood 

Simpson's former agent, who represented him during his time as an NFL player, reacted with disbelief.

'Absolutely no way this is the knife!' Mike Gilbert told Radar Online, adding the description of the knife did not match the supposed murder weapon.

'Plus there is no way O.J. would have left the knife there. He would have told me to go and get it. He would have drawn me a map and told me where it was. He would have been so afraid while he was in jail that the LAPD would have gotten another search warrant and found it,' Gilbert continued.

'He couldn’t have dealt with the stress of it being there. And he would have gotten rid of it after he got out,' the former agent said. 

Radar Online reported that the traffic cop came into possession of the knife in 1998, citing anonymous sources.  

The traffic cop retired in the late 1990s, according to police.

It is unclear whether the cop, who was working security for a movie shoot on the day he acquired the knife, was in uniform or not. 

Los Angeles police officers are allowed to wear their uniforms even after retirement or when working private security gigs, LAPD officials confirmed to Daily Mail Online. 

It was unclear Friday what charges, if any, the former traffic officer might face for retaining the knife.

'There are just too many avenues for us to go down right now for me to even comment on that,' an LAPD spokesperson told Daily Mail Online. 

Police said they do not know the identity of the construction worker who reportedly found the knife.

The former traffic cop asked a colleague with the Robbery Homicide Division in January to help him dig up the case number for Simpson's murder investigation, which he wanted engraved in the frame.

The colleague told his superiors about the knife, who demanded the traffic cop surrender the weapon. 

According to TMZ, a source familiar with the investigation into the knife's discovery said that although it was rusted and stained, the blade looked like it could have traces of blood residue. 

O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson (left) and her friend Ron Goldman (right) were found dead in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. O.J. was a suspect in their murders but later acquitted  

Captain Andrew Neiman comments on the discovery of the knife at a press conference outside police headquarters Friday

Pictured is a folding knife of the Buck brand, similar to the one described by LAPD officials after the discovery at Simpson's estate

On October 3, 1995, Simpson was cleared of killing Brown-Simpson and Goldman, after a process that became known as 'the trial of the century.'

A 15-inch stiletto knife owned by Simpson was considered by prosecutors in his criminal trial and compared with the victims' stab wounds.

But when the defense presented the knife in the preliminary hearing, in what became known as 'the mystery envelope,' it was discovered that the blade showed no signs of having been used in the slayings, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

O.J. Simpson owned a stiletto knife similar to the one shown in this court exhibit

A trail of blood leading to the body of Nicole Brown Simpson is seen on the walkway of her Bundy Drive, Los Angeles condominium in this LAPD evidence photo

Another hotly contested piece of evidence was a blood-soaked glove that was found at the crime scene. A second glove of the same type was discovered near Simpson's estate.

Simpson famously put on a similar pair of gloves in the court room. Whether or not they fit his hands became the subject of a heated debate. 

Thirteen years to the day after his 1995 acquittal, Simpson was convicted of committing an armed robbery at a Las Vegas hotel-casino.

The Hall of Fame football star is currently serving a 33-year-sentence at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada.

Simpson's 360 North Rockingham Avenue home in Brentwood, Los Angeles was bought by investment banker Kenneth Abdalla for almost $4 million and demolished in 1998. 

At the time, a demolition worker joked about searching for murder weapons on the property in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

'We haven't found the knife yet,' the man said.