Football star and actor acquitted of double murder was 76

OJ Simpson, a college football and NFL legend, Hollywood actor, presenter and pitchman who was acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend in 1994, resulting in the televised trial of the century, died Wednesday of cancer, his family announced. He was 76 years old.

“On April 10, 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 respect their wishes for privacy and grace. -The Simpson family.

On April 10, 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 respect their wishes for privacy and grace.

-The Simpson family

– OJ Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 11, 2024

Simpson was accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman outside his West Los Angeles apartment in June 1994, leading to the infamous low-speed chase that captivated the nation and much of the world.

When police sought to question him about the murders, Simpson vowed to go to LAPD headquarters, but failed to show up and was later announced as a fugitive from justice. His white Ford Bronco, driven by his longtime friend and former teammate AC Cowlings, was spotted on an Orange County highway, and the most famous of all televised chases was broadcast. Crowds lined the viaducts to witness history, many cheering him on.

Cowlings told police by telephone that Simpson had a gun pointed at his head and police allowed him to drive the Bronco back to Simpson's stately home on Rockingham Avenue in Brentwood, where he was eventually taken into custody.

The resulting trial was televised and completely mesmerized the country. The trial which lasted almost a year, from November 1994 to October 3, brought to prominence such people as Johnnie Cochran, Marcia Clark, Kato Kaelin, Robert Shapiro, Mark Fuhrman, Robert Kardashian, Judge Lance Ito, Christopher Darden and many others. It also led to unforgettable moments of Simpson trying to put on the gloves that had been recovered from the scenes of the grisly crimes, which would allow Cochran – who led the “Dream Team” of defense attorneys – to pronounce one of the most famous slogans in the legal world. history: “If it does not suit you, you must acquit. Simpson's statement when pleading to the charges is also infamous: “Absolutely, 100 percent not guilty.” »

The pursuit, arrest and trial became among the biggest stories of the late 20th century, particularly in his adopted city of Los Angeles. People were divided on his guilt or innocence, but almost everyone had an opinion. Media coverage on television and radio fascinated millions and introduced many to the concept of DNA evidence. The jury made up of ten women and two men, sequestered for several months, took less than three hours to render its verdict of not guilty in the two murders.

During the trial, prosecutors played two 911 calls Brown Simpson made three years before her murder — in one she said, “He's back.” When the dispatcher asked for a description, she replied, “That’s OJ Simpson.” I think you know his track record. Could you just send someone here? A male voice was yelling in the background, and she later told the dispatcher, “He kicked in the back door to get in.” »

Earlier, in 1989, Simpson pleaded “no contest” to domestic violence charges. Photos of his bruised face, allegedly from the incident, were made public during the murder trial.

More than a decade later, the 10-episode FX miniseries The People vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story became a ratings and critical sensation, depicting the consequences of crimes through the verdict and its repercussions. The 2016 show won eight Emmy Awards, including Courtney B. Vance as Cochran and Sarah Paulson as Prosecutor Clark. Cuba Gooding Jr. earned an Emmy nomination for playing Simpson, as did John Travolta as defense attorney Shapiro and David Schwimmer as Simpson's confidant and scion of reality giant Kardashian.

Later in 1996, the families of victims Brown Simpson and Goldman again filed a civil wrongful death suit against Simpson. After a seven-week trial, the jury awarded the plaintiffs $33.5 million in damages. The families would not be able to recover most of this judgment.

All the time, Simpson proclaimed that he was searching for and would track down the “real” killer(s).

In 2006, the HarperCollins imprint, ReganBooks, announced that it would publish If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, credited to Simpson and ghostwritten with Pablo Fenjves, who had testified at the double murder trial and was a friend of the publisher Judith Regan. In it, Simpson detailed his relationship with his ex-wife and presented a hypothetical scenario in which he would find his ex-wife's body and confront Goldman, a waiter at a nearby restaurant, when Brown Simpson had dinner that night- there. The book says Simpson then lost consciousness and had no memory of the crimes.

The book's original release was canceled after public outcry, but not before nearly half a million copies had been printed. It was later published by Beaufort Books, in 2007, and a court awarded full rights to the Goldman family to help satisfy the civil judgment.

Then, in September 2007, Simpson led a group of armed men to a Las Vegas hotel-casino to try to recover stolen sports memorabilia, he later said. After his arrest two days later, Simpson admitted taking the loot but denied the break-in and said none of his accomplices were armed. He was charged with several crimes, including kidnapping, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, leading to another high-profile trial that began a year later.

He and co-defendants were convicted on all counts after a three-week trial, and Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in state prison. He was paroled in October 2017, after serving nearly nine years.

Born Orenthal James Simpson on July 9, 1947, in San Francisco, Simpson would become one of the greatest football players of all time, winning a Heisman Trophy and a national championship at USC before joining the NFL's Buffalo Bills in 1968. In 1973, he became the first player to rush for more than 2,000 yards – when the league played only 14 regular season games – winning the MVP award that year. He led the NFL four times, made five Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 after playing 11 seasons from 1969 to 1979, the last two with the San Francisco 49ers.

His amiable personality and good looks made “The Juice” Simpson a natural for show business. He appeared in late 1960s television series including Dragnet, it takes a thief, medical center And Alongside iron and later starred in commercials for Chevrolet and Hertz – running through airports and jumping over benches for the latter – before becoming a broadcaster. He was a commentator for the ABC juggernaut Monday Night Football from 1983 to 1985.

Simpson continued to appear on popular television shows in the 1970s before starring in the 1974 disaster epic. The imposing hell facing such big names as Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden and Faye Dunaway. He then appeared in an episode of Roots and several films in the '70s, culminating with a star turn in the 1979 picture Capricorn One, which represented a fake mission to Mars. He played an astronaut alongside James Brolin and Sam Waterston. Elliott Gould and Hal Holbrook also played.

But Simpson's most famous on-screen role would come nearly a decade later. He was cast alongside Leslie Nielsen in David Zucker's 1988 comedy gem. The naked gun. Based on the short-lived 1982 CBS series Police squad!, the picture featured Simpson as the accident-prone Detective Norberg, and he would reprise the role in two sequels: The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and The naked gun 33⅓: The final insult (1994).

MORE SOON…

Greg Evans contributed to this report.