OJ Simpson, fallen US football star acquitted of double murder, dead

OJ Simpson, the former US football great who was acquitted over the brutal murders of his ex-wife and her friend in a case that divided America has died – but not everyone is sorry.

OJ Simpson, the former American football star, whose 1995 acquittal for the brutal murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, gripped the world has died at the age of 76.

The once beloved NFL superstar and Hollywood actor had been battling prostate cancer.

His family revealed he passed away at his Las Vegas home on Wednesday.

“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” the Simpson family said in a statement posted to social media site X.

“He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace,” the brief statement added.

OJ Simpson has died at the age of 76 after succumbing to cancer. Picture: AFP

Simpson appeared to have it made after rewriting the record books as an American football star.

But it all came crashing down in 1994 when Simpson, who had parlayed his sports fame into a career as an actor and advertising pitchman, was charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Brown Simpson, and Goldman.

His sensational racially charged 1995 double murder trial transfixed America and was dubbed “The Trial of the Century.”

OJ Simpson and his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson in 1993. He was acquitted of her murder in 1995 in a case that divided America. Picture: Paul/Hurschmann

Simpson was famously acquitted of those charges in 1995, but was sent to prison years later for a bungled armed robbery.

Goldman worked as a waiter at the restaurant Mezzaluna, and is believed to have stopped by Brown’s home after his shift to return her mother’s reading glasses, the Los Angeles Times reported.

OJ Simpson trying on the infamous, ill-fitting leather gloves linked to the murders during his trial. Picture: Supplied

The pair was found stabbed to death shortly after midnight local time.

Simpson – who was divorced from Brown two years earlier – was acquitted of the brutal killings in October 1995.

‘NO GREAT LOSS’, ‘GOOD RIDDANCE’

The victims’ family members, including Fred Goldman, always insisted on his guilt.

Goldman’s father, Fred, said Simpson’s death was “no great loss”.

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

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

Ron Goldman died alongside Nicole Brown Simpson. Picture: Supplied

Caitlyn Jenner, whose ex-wife Kris Jenner was best friends with Brown and was previously married to Simpson’s defence lawyer Robert Kardashian, had harsh words following news of Simpson’s death.

“Good Riddance #OJSimpson,” Jenner posted on X/Twitter.

OJ Simpson with then girlfriend Paula Barbieri and Kris and Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner)

Defendant O.J. Simpson (C) cheers while standing with his attorneys F. Lee Bailey (L) and Johnnie Cochan Jr (R), after hearing the not guilty verdict in his criminal murder trial. Picture: Agence France Presse/Getty Images

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered condolences — but made no mention of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.

“Our thoughts are with his families [sic] during this difficult time — obviously with his family and loved ones,” Jean-Pierre said at her regular briefing.

“And I’ll say this, I know that they have asked for some privacy. And so we’re going to respect that. And I’ll just leave it there.”

OJ’S FINAL VIDEO

Simpson told fans he was in “good health” despite his prostate cancer diagnosis in his final social media video posted two months before his death.

“Thank you to all the people who reached out to me. My health is good,” Simpson said in the February post while seated in front of a pool.

He added: “Obviously I’m dealing with some issues, but I think I’m just about over it, and I’ll be back on that golf course hopefully in a couple of weeks”.

The video was posted two days after it was revealed he was battling prostate cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.

PRIME SUSPECT

In 1977, he met Nicole Brown, then an 18-year-old waitress in a disco on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

Simpson was married at the time to his first wife, Marguerite. The couple divorced and he married Nicole in 1985.

Simpson and Nicole had two children and divorced in 1992 after a tempestuous marriage that included allegations of domestic violence. They attempted to reconcile in 1993 but that did not last.

OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson on their wedding day in 1985. Picture: Supplied

On June 13, 1994, Simpson’s ex-wife and Goldman were found murdered outside her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood.

Brown Simpson had been stabbed in the throat so savagely she had almost been decapitated.

Simpson immediately became the prime suspect.

OJ Simpson (C) arrives during the second day of jury selection for his trial at the Clark County Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, 09/09/2008.

Goldman, who worked at a restaurant Brown Simpson had been in, was said to have gone to her home to return glasses her mother had left behind.

Five days after the murders, Simpson, driving a white Ford Bronco, led police on a wild car chase on the Los Angeles freeways that was broadcast live and watched by millions.

OJ Simpson talks to his lawyer during his 1995 trial for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Picture: AFP

He eventually surrendered and went on trial in January 1995. His nine-month trial — which has been the subject of several television shows, books and documentaries — riveted the nation and much of the world.

OJ’s mugshot. Picture: Kypros/REX/Shutterstock

OJ Simpson as he appears in court for a preliminary hearing at the Clark County Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2007. Picture: AFP

It featured Simpson at one point struggling to try on a pair of gloves found at the crime scene which apparently didn’t fit.

The trial ended with a not-guilty verdict that split the country, largely along racial lines.

But the law caught up with Simpson again.

OJ Simpson was jailed in 2008 for armed robbery, assault and kidnapping after a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers. Picture: Getty Images

He was arrested in Las Vegas in 2007 and charged with armed robbery, assault and kidnapping after a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers.

Simpson claimed he was just trying to get back mementos from his sports career which the dealers had allegedly taken from him.

This time, the jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to serve between nine and 33 years behind bars.

Lawyer for OJ Simpson Robert Shapiro in court 07/11/94 during a preliminary hearing in which the Superior Court Judge decided to allow remote TV camera coverage of the double murder trial.

He left prison in October 2017 and remained largely out of sight, though he engaged with fans on social media.

His story was turned into The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, starring Cuba Gooding Jr, Sarah Paulson, John Travolta and Sterling K Brown, which won multiple Emmy Awards including outstanding limited series.

Motorists wave as police cars pursue the Ford Bronco (white, R) driven by Al Cowlings, carrying fugitive murder suspect O.J. Simpson, on a 90-minute slow-speed car chase June 17, 1994 on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Jean-Marc Giboux/Liaison

FROM RAGS TO RICHES

Born Orenthal James Simpson on July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, he was left in his mother’s care at age five when his father left, growing up poor and suffering from rickets, a calcium and vitamin deficiency that warped his legs.

Unable to afford an operation, his mother created crude braces by putting the wrong shoe on each foot and his legs grew stronger, so strong that eventually he was able to dash 100 yards in 9.9 seconds.

Simpson won the prestigious Heisman Trophy — for the best player in American collegiate football — at the University of Southern California in 1968 and was picked number one overall in the NFL draft the next year by the Buffalo Bills.

In 1973, he won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award after becoming the first rusher to gain more than 2,000 yards in a single season.

OJ Simpson was a star for the Buffalo Bills in the 1970s. Picture: Supplied

Simpson retired from football in 1979 and was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

He had a short-lived career as sports broadcaster before setting his sights on Hollywood.

Simpson has said he was lucky that he went into the movies at a time when Americans were looking for more Black faces on the big screen.

He appeared in several successful films including The Towering Inferno, The Naked Gun series and Capricorn One but never really achieved A-list stardom.

He did, however, strike it big with corporate America and he proceeded to cash in with advertisements for Royal Crown Cola, Schick, Foster Grant, TreeSweet orange juice and Wilson Sporting Goods.

He became best known, however, for iconic Hertz rental car ads in which “The Juice” — his football nickname — sprinted through a crowded airport in a three-piece suit.

– with AFP

Originally published as OJ Simpson, fallen US football star acquitted of double murder, dead