TENSE FINAL ARGUMENT HEARD IN SIMPSON SUIT.

Byline: Anne Burke and Fred Shuster Daily News Staff Writers

In a dramatic flourish to the plaintiffs' case, lawyer Daniel Petrocelli angrily thrust a finger at O.J. Simpson on Tuesday and exclaimed: ``There's a killer in this courtroom.''

The lawyer's vitriolic attack came as closing arguments began in Simpson's wrongful death trial. Petrocelli, theatrical and dripping with sarcasm, laid out his analysis of 41 days of testimony as jurors furiously took notes and watched rapt, their eyes darting to Simpson and back to the lawyer pacing in front of them.

``These pieces of evidence are the voices of Ron and Nicole speaking to us from their graves, telling us, telling all of you, that there is a killer in this courtroom,'' Petrocelli said, spinning around to face Simpson.

``That's the man who attacked them, confronted them, and who killed them that Sunday evening in June,'' he said.

Simpson, wearing a dark suit, looked up from the notes he was scribbling on a legal pad and squarely - but impassively - met his adversary's gaze.

Simpson's chief lawyer, Robert Baker, may begin his closing argument as early as today. He is expected to assert that evidence in the case is so tainted by police misconduct and bungling that the plaintiffs did not prove their case by a ``preponderance of the evidence.''

The case could go to the jury as early as this week.

Petrocelli resurrected much of the evidence against Simpson - the DNA, bloody gloves, Bruno Magli shoes, blood in the Ford Bronco, clothing fibers and finger cuts.

``It all points to him, nobody else, just him. Because he did it,'' Petrocelli said.

Petrocelli said Simpson killed his wife in ``state of total rage, armed with a 6-inch knife.'' But he is so convinced of his own superiority that he refuses to take responsibility for his actions, the lawyer said.

The photos of Simpson wearing the same shoes that left bloody prints at the crime scene are enough alone to prove guilt, the lawyer said.

``If that photo is real, O.J. Simpson is the killer . . . That's it, the end of the ballgame. There's nothing more to talk about.''

Of Simpson's detailed account of his movements the night of the killings, Petrocelli said the Heisman Trophy winner was ``lying, lying, lying,'' and he got caught in his web of deceit.

``You see, murderers always make mistakes,'' the lawyer said.

The families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman cried quietly as photographs of the victims' crumpled bodies appeared on the television monitor. Goldman's sister, Kim, stared narrow-eyed at Simpson.

The families are seeking monetary damages from Simpson, who was acquitted of murder in October 1995.

In a pre-emptive strike, Petrocelli mocked Simpson's defense as one of ``crazy claims of frame-ups and conspiracies.''

How could the blood outside Nicole Simpson's condominium be planted, when Simpson didn't give a sample of his own blood until 3:30 p.m. that afternoon, Petrocelli asked.

If the photos showing Simpson wearing Bruno Magli shoes were faked, why didn't the defendant talk about the footwear he actually was wearing that day?

Before the killings, Simpson had a cozy relationship with Los Angeles police, the lawyer said. ``Now he wants you to believe they framed him.''

Petrocelli said Simpson wants jurors to know him as the ``handsome man with the charming smile, the expensive suits . . . who claims to be dedicated to his family, flawless in character, incapable of telling a lie . . .''

The reality is vastly different, Petrocelli said.

What kind of man, the lawyer asked, confronted with photos of his battered wife, would take responsibility, but claim he was just defending himself.

What kind of man takes a baseball bat to his wife's car, then dismisses it as no big deal, or kicks in her door, but calls it a ``reflex,'' Petrocelli asked.

``What kind of man, when shown 30 photographs of him wearing Bruno Magli shoes says, `That's me . . . that's my head . . . that's my pants . . . no, not my shoes. What kind of man says that with a straight face?

``Let me tell you what kind of man. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. A guilty man. A man with no conscience,'' Petrocelli said.

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Photo: O.J. Simpson talks with lawyer Robert Baker on Tuesday.

Associated Press