What OJ Simpson made kids do as he died with $176m debt

OJ Simpson died owing millions, surrounded by his four children – including two with murdered ex-wife Nicole. And the disgraced star had very specific instructions around his last days.

OJ Simpson has died at the age of 76. Picture: AFP

OJ Simpson died owing more than A$176 million to the family of Ron Goldman, the friend of his ex-wife Nicole Brown the disgraced footballer had been controversially acquitted of murdering in 1994.

Despite avoiding jail for murdering the pair, a separate civil trial jury found Simpson liable in 1997 for the deaths and ordered him to pay A$51 million to Brown and Goldman’s families.

However Simpson died owing much more than that. A lawyer for Ron Goldman’s father Fred Goldman told US media that prior to his death on April 10, Simpson owed the Goldman family more than A$176 million.

“He died without penance,” said lawyer David Cook.

“He did not want to give a dime, a nickel to Fred, never, anything, never.”

Mr Cook said the Goldman family renewed the court judgment in 2022, with legal documents reportedly showing that Simpson had paid the family A$205,000 since the original 1997 judgement.

And over the years, the money owed with interest to the Goldman family has surpassed A$176 million as of this year.

The family had sought to access money from Simpson’s NFL pension and trust accounts without success.

But they did have a victory when Simpson was forced to sell off memorabilia from his famed NFL career, making around A$770,000, which went to the Goldman family.

Fred Goldman and wife Patti sit at grave of their son Ron in Valley Oaks Memorial Park in California, in February 1997.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Simpson’s four children – including his son and daughter with murdered ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson – were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in their father’s final days.

Family, friends and medical staff who surrounded the disgraced American football great as he neared death had to sign the agreement for “privacy” reasons, TMZ reported, citing a source.

OJ Simpson and the infamous gloves during his trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Picture: AFP

The 76-year-old Simpson, who was acquitted in a 1995 in the murder “trial of the century” over the brutal stabbing murders of Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, died Wednesday at his Las Vegas home after suffering from prostate cancer.

According to the New York Post, the outlet’s source revealed that anyone who was around Simpson while he was under hospice care also was required to sign the NDA — including medical professionals.

Around 30 to 50 of the former Hollywood actor’s friends and family members signed an NDA before seeing him, the source told the outlet.

OJ Simpson and the late Nicole Brown Simpson with their two children, Sydney and Justin. Picture: Supplied

Simpson’s children with Brown Simpson — Sydney Brooke Simpson and Justin Simpson — were said to be among those by his side, despite the troubling history of him being accused of their mother’s horrific murder.

His older kids with first wife Marguerite Whitley — Jason Simpson and Arnelle Simpson — were reportedly by his side when he died.

His fifth child, Aaren Lashone Simpson, drowned in 1979 at the age of two.

OJ Simpson returned to court in 1997 in a civil trial where he was found liable for Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman’s deaths. Picture: Supplied

No phones were reportedly allowed in the room with him while they said their goodbyes.

Simpson’s murder trial in 1995 mesmerised the US, as the former football star’s “Dream Team” of high-profile lawyers tried to refute a seemingly damning stack of evidence.

In addition to US legal stars, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran, the team included Robert Kardashian — the father of reality stars Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and Rob Kardashian.

The blockbuster trial became the stuff of legend when Simpson struggled to try on a bloodstained glove, causing defence lawyer Cochran to famously remark, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

Simpson’s acquittal in October 1995, drew a mix of outrage, shock and celebration across the US.

OJ Simpson with his two children with Nicole Brown Simpson, Sydney and Justin. Picture: Supplied

“I don’t think most of America believes I did it,” Simpson told the New York Times in 1995 — a week after the jury delivered the verdict.

“I’ve gotten thousands of letters and telegrams from people supporting me.”

Simpson struggled in the years following his acquittal.

OJ Simpson’s mugshot after his arrest in June, 1994. Picture: Supplied

In addition to auctioning off the spoils of his previous careers, he struggled to pay taxes and defaulted on the mortgage on his longtime home, the New York Post reported.

His attempts to make money off books and TV interviews surrounding the murders were also squashed in court following an outcry from the victims’ families.

Goldman’s family famously won the rights to Simpson’s manuscript about the case, titled, If I Did It where he seemingly admitted to the murders.

“It helped me get out of debt and secure my homestead,” Simpson told the Associated Press at the time of the A$1.3 million advance he got for the book.

“It’s all blood money, and unfortunately I had to join the jackals,” he said.

When the book hit shelves, the Goldmans retitled it If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer and put the “if” in a very small font.

“The only thing I have to say is it’s just further reminder of Ron being gone all these years,” Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, told US media in the wake of Simpson’s death.

“It’s no great loss to the world. It’s a further reminder of Ron’s being gone.”

Originally published as What OJ Simpson made kids do as he died with $176m debt