A mafioso/drug dealer/convicted criminal/prison escapee may have helped O.J. Simpson get rid of physical evidence linking him to the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, including the knife, but Harvey Levin says he was NOT an accomplice to the murders.

Harvey, who was the investigative reporter for the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles back in 1994, covered the O.J. saga from start to finish.

He says the New York Times report that Joey Ippolito is the guy who got rid of the evidence may well be true, but any involvement he may have had was after the fact. Harvey explains in detail in the YouTube video above.

Harvey has numerous personal connections to people who were in O.J.'s world at the time, and the stories are pretty fascinating.

BTW ... if Ippolito's story is true ... the murder weapon was thrown in a dumpster 1 block from Harvey's house!