OJ Simpson trial: What was he accused of?

(NewsNation) — Former NFL star O.J. Simpson died Wednesday from cancer, according to a statement from his family.

The 76-year-old was reportedly diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to TMZ.

Orenthal James Simpson, also known as “The Juice” on the field, was an award-winning football player who played 11 seasons in the NFL. However, his athletic success was overshadowed by accusations that he killed his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.

His legacy was forever changed by the June 1994 knife slayings in Brentwood, a suburb of Los Angeles.

Live TV coverage of his arrest after a famous slow-speed chase marked a stunning fall from grace for the sports hero.

Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman killings

Brown was a waitress at the trendy Beverly Hills restaurant known as The Daisy. They met when he dined there and quickly became inseparable. They married in 1985, had two children, Sydney and Justin, and divorced in 1992 after seven years of marriage.

While still married, Brown called the police in 1989 saying she feared Simpson was going to kill her. She had been punched, slapped and kicked by Simpson, who pleaded no contest in the case, authorities said.

Two years after their divorce, on June 12, 1994, Brown and Goldman’s bodies were found in a pool of blood outside Brown’s condominium by a passerby.

Some reports suggested the two were attempting to reconcile at the time of the slayings. They had recently been seen together, but a family friend said those attempts failed, and Simpson had turned vengeful.

Simpson instantly became the prime suspect in their deaths.

The former NFL player flew to Chicago the night of the killings and was summoned home by police the next morning.

OJ Simpson’s car chase arrest

In filing the charges, authorities painted a grim picture in stark contrast to Simpson’s graceful moves on the football field. Simpson was accused of using a knife to kill Brown and Goldman. The knife used in the killings was never found.

Through his attorneys, Simpson maintained his innocence, claiming he was at home at the time of the slayings, waiting for a limousine to take him to the airport for a flight to Chicago.

Simpson was scheduled to surrender at 11 a.m. but failed to honor the agreement.

His failure to show up influenced his infamous Bronco chase.

Nearly every network was broadcasting the slow police chase as it headed toward the cemetery where his ex-wife was buried, then wound back to Simpson’s house. Cameras in helicopters showed Simpson holding a gun to his head as his friend Al Cowlings drove.

The freeway was like a parade — with the police, media and fans following Simpson. Crowds gathered on the overpasses, with signs, cheers and fists punching the air as the pursuit unfolded.

Simpson was arrested upon arrival at his home.

OJ Simpson and The “Trial of the Century” 

The public was mesmerized by his “trial of the century” on live TV, which lasted for nearly a year. His case sparked debates on race, gender, domestic abuse, celebrity justice and police misconduct.

He would later be found not guilty after the televised court case gripped the country. The proceedings have since been covered in books, television and film.

OJ Simpson’s Criminal Trial

On July 22, 1994, Simpson pleaded not guilty at his formal arraignment. His criminal trial for the killings of Brown and Goldman was scheduled to begin the following January.

The former star hired a “dream team” of defense lawyers to represent him throughout the trial.

Simpson’s trial for the murders of Brown and Goldman came during a period of significant racial tension in the Los Angeles area, just two years after the beating of Rodney King sparked riots. Due to Simpson’s fame, the trial attracted major media attention, with witnesses and other participants being offered large amounts of money to share their stories.

During the trial, prosecutors honed in on Simpson’s previous domestic abuse allegations that happened before his divorce from Brown. They used his divorce as a potential motive, according to Britannica.

In court, the prosecution submitted evidence of a history of domestic violence by Simpson, including a 911 call and several letters Brown wrote and put in a safety deposit box for safekeeping. They put forth the theory that Simpson went to her condo to try to convince her to reconcile and became enraged and killed her. Goldman was then later killed after arriving at the home to return a pair of glasses.

Simpson’s defense team, which included Johnnie Cochran, Robert Kardashian and Alan Dershowitz, argued that the case was corrupt and evidence was compromised by police, claiming that the Los Angeles Police Department was racist. Specifically, the defense team alleged that the detective, Mark Fuhrman, who reportedly found a bloody leather glove at Simpson’s house was racist.

His defense team also argued that because the glove didn’t fit Simpson’s hand, he couldn’t have been the one to have committed the murders. They even went as far as to have the defendant try on the glove in the courtroom.

After deliberations, jurors acquitted Simpson. The verdict sparked a massive public response, with reactions split along racial lines. A significant percentage of the Black community polled said the verdict was just, while white and Hispanic Americans believed Simpson was guilty.

OJ Simpson’s Civil Trial

Family members of Goldman and Brown brought a civil suit against Simpson for wrongful death in 1996. A jury found him liable in 1997 and awarded $33.5 million in damages to the families.

Simpson declared bankruptcy after the civil trial, and many of his belongings, including his Heisman Trophy, were auctioned off to get money for the families.

In 2007, he wrote a book called “If I Did It,” which some interpreted as a confession of guilt. The proceeds of that book were awarded to Goldman’s family.

OJ Simpson’s Vegas arrest and conviction

Simpson faced additional legal troubles, including a tax lien for millions in unpaid taxes in California and various charges in Florida, battery for a traffic dispute, using illegal electronics to pirate TV signals and speeding through a protected manatee zone in a boat.

A decade later, still shadowed by the California wrongful death judgment, Simpson led five men he barely knew into a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a cramped Las Vegas hotel room. Two men with Simpson had guns.

In 2008, he was tried in Las Vegas for kidnapping and armed burglary after the group of men stole sports memorabilia at gunpoint. Simpson claimed the items had been stolen from him.

A jury convicted Simpson of armed robbery and other felonies, sentencing him to 33 years in prison.

Imprisoned at age 61, he served nine years in a remote northern Nevada prison, including a stint as a gym janitor.

Simpson was first granted parole in 2013 but was not released because his sentences were set to run consecutively, according to ABC News. He was granted parole again in July 2017, the report said, and he was released on parole in October 2017.

The parole board heard him insist yet again that he was only trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and family heirlooms stolen from him after his criminal trial in Los Angeles.

In 2021, Simpson was granted early release from parole.

What was OJ doing before he died?

Public fascination with Simpson never faded. Many debated if he had been punished in Las Vegas for his acquittal in Los Angeles. In 2016, he was the subject of both an FX miniseries and a five-part ESPN documentary.

“I don’t think most of America believes I did it,” Simpson told The New York Times in 1995, a week after a jury determined he did not kill Brown and Goldman. “I’ve gotten thousands of letters and telegrams from people supporting me.”

Following his release, the former NFL star lived in Las Vegas and became an active social media presence.

He was reportedly being treated for prostate cancer, which ultimately took his life.

The Associated Press and Nexstar Media Wire contributed to this report.