OJ Simpson, a former United States soccer star acquitted of homicide in a extensively watched trial within the Nineteen Nineties, has died at age 76.
In an announcement shared on social media on Thursday morning, Simpson’s household mentioned he died on Wednesday after a battle with most cancers.
“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 assertion mentioned.
US media shops reported in February that Simpson was present process remedy for prostate most cancers.
On April tenth, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with most cancers.
He was surrounded by his youngsters and grandchildren.
Throughout this time of transition, his household asks that you simply please respect their needs for privateness and style.
-The Simpson Household
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 11, 2024
Recognized by the nickname “The Juice”, Simpson was a star operating again on the College of Southern California.
He gained the Heisman Trophy — the highest honour in American faculty soccer — in 1968 earlier than making the soar to the Nationwide Soccer League (NFL) a 12 months later because the Buffalo Payments’ number-one draft decide.
He performed 11 seasons {of professional} American soccer and racked up quite a few accolades.
However Simpson turned a controversial determine after he was charged with the stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her good friend, Ronald Goldman, in 1994.
He was ordered to give up to police, however 5 days after the killings, he fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate and led police in a low-speed chase by Los Angeles.
Simpson’s months-long trial — dubbed the “trial of the century” — was televised and drew widespread media consideration within the US and world wide.
His acquittal in 1995 additionally divided the nation: Some Individuals seen it as a miscarriage of justice, whereas others believed he was unfairly focused by a racist police pressure.
“I don’t think most of America believes I did it,” Simpson instructed The New York Occasions in 1995, every week after a jury decided he didn’t kill Brown and Goldman. “I’ve gotten thousands of letters and telegrams from people supporting me.”
Even years later, the case continued to mesmerise the general public, prompting debates on race, gender, home abuse, movie star justice and police misconduct.
Figures like defence lawyer Johnnie Cochran would additionally develop into nationwide celebrities.
When the prosecution requested Simpson to strive on the blood-stained gloves discovered on the homicide scene, Simpson struggled to slide them on over the latex gloves he was sporting to deal with the proof.
Simpson’s obvious issue with the gloves turned a central a part of Cochran’s defence arguments. “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” he famously mentioned in closing arguments.
Whereas a prison court docket jury discovered him not responsible of homicide in 1995, a jury in a separate civil trial in 1997 discovered him chargeable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5m to the members of the family of Brown and Goldman.
“We finally have justice for Ron and Nicole,” Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman’s father, mentioned after the civil verdict.
A decade later, nonetheless shadowed by the California wrongful demise judgement, Simpson was concerned within the theft of two sports activities memorabilia sellers.
In response to prosecutors, Simpson led 5 males right into a cramped Las Vegas resort room the place the sellers had their merchandise on show. Two of the boys with Simpson had firearms, and the prosecution alleged Simpson took the gadgets whereas the memorabilia sellers had been held at gunpoint.
Simpson, nonetheless, alleged that the memorabilia had first been stolen from him and that he was merely retrieving it. A jury in the end convicted him of armed theft and different felonies.
Imprisoned at age 61, he served 9 years in a distant northern Nevada jail.
“I didn’t want to hurt anybody,” Simpson, donning a blue jail jumpsuit with shackles on his legs and wrists, mentioned at his sentencing. “I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong.”
Public fascination with Simpson by no means pale, and plenty of debated if he had been punished in Las Vegas for his acquittal in Los Angeles.
His life saga was recounted within the Oscar-winning 2016 documentary O.J.: Made in America, in addition to numerous TV dramatisations.
Simpson additionally briefly had a ebook deal, introduced in 2006, for a manuscript referred to as If I Did It. Public outrage, nonetheless, scuttled its publication, and the household of homicide sufferer Ron Goldman in the end acquired the rights.
Within the wake of Simpson’s demise, the Goldman household instructed NBC Information that they’d not mourn his passing.
“The only thing I have to say is it’s just further reminder of Ron being gone all these years,” Fred Goldman mentioned. “It’s no great loss to the world. It’s a further reminder of Ron’s being gone.”