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OJ Simpso former football star acquitted of murder dies at 76
Apr
J Simpso former football star acquitted of murder dies at 76
O.J. Simpson, the former football great who was accused of and ultimately acquitted of the brutal 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, has died, according to his family. He was 76.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. 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,” a statement from his family said.
Five days after the killings, 95 million Americans watched as Simpson’s white Ford Bronco – with longtime friend Al Cowlings at the wheel and Simpson in the back seat with a handgun, threatening to kill himself – led police on a 60-mile, low-speed televised chase through Los Angeles that lasted some two hours.
Simpson ultimately surrendered to police and stood trial for the murders. In October 1995, after 11 months from jury selection to verdict. Simpson was acquitted in a trial that was televised daily and became an international sensation.
Kato Kaelin, a houseguest of Simpson’s at the time of the murder who became a key witness during the trial, expressed his condolences Thursday to Simpson’s children and his “love and compassion” to the families of Brown Simpson and Goldman.
“Nicole was a beacon of light that burned bright. May we never forget her,” he said in a video statement posted on X.
A football hero
Simpson was born on July 9, 1947, and raised in Potrero Hill, a low-income neighborhood near San Francisco. His mother, Eunice, worked as an orderly at a psychiatric ward, and his father, Jimmy Lee, worked as a cook and custodian in a private club. When Simpson was just a toddler, his father left the family, leaving Simpson’s mother to raise and support their four children on her own.
Playing for USC as a running back, Simpson soon became college football’s leading rusher. By the time he left the school, he had set 13 college football records and had won the 1968 Heisman Trophy.
The charismatic young star athlete’s television career took off like a rocket. On the night he won the Heisman, Simpson signed a television contract with ABC Sports. The following year, Simpson was the first pick in the 1969 draft, signing with the Buffalo Bills for a then-record $650.000 five-year contract. By 1973, Simpson had scored an NFL-record 23 touchdowns in a season. He also set the most rushing yards in a single game, with 250. And broke the record for the most rushing yards in a season, with 2003.
Simpson’s football prowess made him a star off the field as well. In 1975, Hertz signed Simpson as the first Black man hired for a major national corporate advertising campaign.The success of the ad campaign led other corporations to sign endorsement contracts with Simpson. Increasing both his wealth and name recognition.
The life and trials of O.J. Simpson
Simpson had acted during his pro football years, notably appearing in the TV miniseries “Roots”. As well as the films “The Towering Inferno,” “Capricorn One” and others. Around the same time he retired from the NFL, he created his own production company. And dove into the entertainment business full time. He continued acting, including as a regular in the “Naked Gun” film comedy series, and also served as a TV football commentator.
Meeting Nicole Brown
While still married to Marguerite, Simpson met Nicole Brown, then 18. While she worked as a nightclub waitress in Beverly Hills in 1977. It was the same year Simpson and Marguerite celebrated the arrival of their daughter. Aaren and moved into a Tudor-style mansion in the Brentwood neighborhood of LA. Two years later, tragedy struck when Aaren died in the swimming pool at the family home. Around that same time, Simpson and Marguerite finalized their divorce, and Nicole Brown moved in.
‘Trial of the Century’
On the night of June 12, 1994, after Brown Simpson and her family dined at one of their favorite Los Angeles restaurants, Mezzaluna. She returned to her condominium on Bundy Drive in LA’s Brentwood neighborhood, according to court records. Later that night, Ron Goldman 25 a waiter at Mezzaluna, drove from the restaurant to Brown Simpson’s home. Return eyeglasses her mother had left at the restaurant that night.
Simpson was in Los Angeles that evening, according to court records, but took a late flight that night to Chicago. When he returned to Los Angeles the next day, he was interviewed by police but was not immediately arrested.
Five days after the murders, on June 17, 1994, prosecutors ordered Simpson to surrender to be charged with Brown Simpson and Goldman’s deaths. He instead fled in the Ford Bronco with Cowlings, leading police on a slow-speed chase lasting some two hours.
News helicopters hovered overhead, documenting the chase, and Angelinos raced from their homes. And gathered along area highways and on overpasses to watch the extraordinary drama unfold in real time. Simpson eventually surrendered and was taken into custody. During his arraignment, he pleaded “Absolutely, positively, 100 percent not guilty” to all charges.
Simpson’s 1995 televised trial, dubbed the “trial of the century,” was an international sensation, with the private lives of the participants. Including witnesses, attorneys and the presiding judge – as much news as the trial itself. Which sparked controversy and racial tensions from the time the jury was empaneled. In November 1994 to the October 1995 reading of the verdict.
