F. Lee Bailey, Boston's Most Famous Attorney, Dead At 87

BOSTON — F. Lee Bailey, whose clients included O.J. Simpson, the murderer known as the Boston Strangler and the innocent man who inspired "The Fugitive," died Thursday in Georgia. He was 87.

Superior Court Judge Kenneth J. Fishman, Bailey's former law partner, confirmed his death to the Boston Globe. Bailey's high-profile career made him a local and national celebrity beginning in the 1960s, but in more recent years he was accused of financial fraud, filed for personal bankruptcy, and disbarred.

Bailey grew up in Waltham and graduated from Boston University Law School. By the 1960s he was attracting clients whose alleged crimes were front page news in Boston and across the country. In 1995 he was named to the legal "Dream Team" that got O.J. Simpson acquitted in a double-murder trial. He represented Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to killing 13 women and being the Boston Strangler. And he represented Sam Sheppard, the neurosurgeon accused of killing his wife and the inspiration for "The Fugitive" television series and movie.

Bailey was known for his sharp legal mind and his flair for courtroom theatrics. More than once, one of Bailey's courtroom performance was described as "pugnacious" and he was often described as a "legal pit bull." His style included taking a hard line with witnesses and a willingness to push back on judges and prosecutors. His cross-examination Los Angeles police Detective Mark Fuhrman, where he exposed Fuhrman's past use of racial slurs, is seen by legal scholars as a key turning point in the Simpson trial.

Bailey continued to insist Simpson was innocent, offering a theory that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were the innocent victims in a mistaken-identity drug hit. He said he was often "blamed" for helping Simpson acquitted.

"Among the rednecks of America, which there are many more than people seem to realize, it was terribly damaging," Bailey told the Boston Globe. "I got blamed for O.J.’s acquittal."

Not all of his clients were enamored. Patricia Hearst, who was convicted on bank robbery charges, accused him of drinking while working and signing a deal to write a book about the case before a jury had been seated in the trial. Other clients complained that Bailey's focus on the media spotlight put his own interests ahead of theirs.

In the 1970s he was indicted but acquitted on bank fraud charges after defending a man who was accused of running a pyramid scheme. After his acquittal on drunken driving charges in California is 1981 — where he was represented by fellow future Dream Teamer Robert Shapiro — Bailey wrote "How to Protect Yourself Against Cops in California and Other Strange Places."

More serious legal trouble came in the 1990s, when Bailey got into a fight with the federal government over $6 million in stock Bailey held for a client who pleaded guilty to drug smuggling. When the stock quadrupled, Bailey fought the government's claim that it owned the proceeds. Bailey had already spent most of the $6 million. He was jailed for 44 days and fined $3.5 million.

Florida and Massachusetts disbarred Bailey in 2001. Bailey made one final push to practice law: In 2012 he passed the Maine bar exam, but the state refused to admit him. Bailey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 2017 when he was hit with a $5.2 million tax bill.

Bailey played hockey for Cardigan Mountain and Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire. As an undergraduate, he dropped out of Harvard to enlist in the Navy, and later joined the Marines. As a Marine, he flew jets but eventually became a legal officer in training.

Bailey was divorced three times. His fourth wife, Patricia, died in 1999. After his legal career ended, he lived in Yarmouth, Maine, where he ran a consulting business.

"I get paid for seeing that my clients have every break the law allows," Bailey once said, according to the Globe. "I have knowingly defended a number of guilty men. But the guilty never escape unscathed. My fees are sufficient punishment for anyone."