Ex-OJ Simpson pal Walter Alexander, who testified against him in 2008 robbery trial, says he wanted him to embrace Christianity

OJ Simpson’s former friend, whose testimony sidelined him during his 2008 robbery and kidnapping trial, told The Post on Thursday that he was just following God’s orders.

Walter Alexander became one of Simpson’s closest friends after his infamous acquittal for the double murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in 1995, but he said he later embraced Christianity and tried to interest football greats in joining him.

“That’s not where he was thinking,” Alexander said.

“He just wanted to party.”

Known as “Goldie,” Alexander told a Nevada jury in 2008 how Simpson — who died Wednesday of cancer — told him and another friend to bring guns in a Las Vegas hotel room while he tried to recover memorabilia he believed had been stolen from him. .

Simpson, Alexander said, tried to blame the entire episode on him.

“He was just trying to save his ass,” he said.

“He was just doing what I think a lot of people would do. He wanted to avoid prison. »

But Alexander said he was unwilling to take responsibility and decided to cooperate with prosecutors in the case.

His turn on the stand sank his former pal and Simpson was found guilty.

“I’m not crying today,” Alexander said of Simpson’s passing.

“But I am in mourning. At one point we were very close friends. In my mind, he was a really good person who made a terrible decision one day.

Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison, the maximum sentence, for the memorabilia theft.

The sentence was handed down exactly 13 years to the day of his acquittal for double murder.

He served nine years in prison and was released in 2017.

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Alexander said he first met Simpson on a golf course just days after a jury found him not guilty of the brutal murders of Nicole and Ron.

The former football golden boy, Alexander said, was discouraged after being abandoned by his former circle of famous friends.

“He was very disappointed to find himself in a situation where he once had all these sponsorship deals and money and fame and now it was all gone,” he said.

“He was getting his check from the NFL, but it was nothing compared to what he was used to getting. He was in the dumps.

Alexander said he owned a successful beauty salon at the time and was a player in the Los Angeles urban party scene at the time.

“Before all this, he didn’t have much to do with black people,” he said.

“But after the affair, I took him to the black clubs, where he still had support. We celebrated a lot.

But the 2008 robbery case ended their friendship, as Alexander said God told him he needed to testify against his friend.

“I saw him come out of the bathroom the day of the hearing,” Alexander recalled.

“I said, ‘Juice, I love you but I’m not going to jail for you.’ And he said ‘I love you too. Do what you have to do.’”

Alexander, who never spoke directly to Simpson after that day, said he had mixed feelings after learning of her death.

“He made a terrible mistake,” he repeated, referring to the deaths of Nicole and Ron.

“And he got away with it.”