Simpson was a celebrated football player in the 1970s. In 1985 he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. After his career as a running back, he used his status as a sports star to pursue a career as a sports presenter, advertising testimonial and Hollywood actor. In German-speaking countries he was best known for his role as Detective Nordberg in the “Naked Cannon” series. In the mid-1990s, however, the ideal world collapsed.
In June 1994, his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside their Los Angeles home. Police quickly identified Simpson as a suspect. He was ordered to surrender to the police, but fled from the officers in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate. After a chase through Los Angeles – broadcast live on television – Simpson was finally caught in his villa and charged with murder.
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.
-The Simpson Family
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) 11. April 2024
The process went down in history
The following trial would go down as one of the most sensational in US history. Simpson had declared himself “100 percent innocent” from the start. Accompanied by a huge media circus, he had a “dream team” of selected lawyers defend him. Although there was a lot of evidence against Simpson, the twelve-member jury acquitted him on October 3, 1995. It was widely discussed in the media that the majority of the committee, which consisted of ten women and two men, was made up of African-Americans. How accusations of racism hovered over the entire process.
AP Throughout the 1970s, Simpson was a celebrated NFL player
Prosecutors argued that Simpson killed Nicole out of jealousy and presented extensive blood, hair and fiber tests that linked Simpson to the murders. The defense countered that the prominent defendant was framed by racist white police. Many African Americans celebrated the acquittal because they saw Simpson as a victim of the bigoted police. Many white Americans were shocked by his acquittal.
Glove as a turning point
An attempt by the public prosecutor to link a piece of evidence to Simpson provided impressive recordings that still have an impact today. They instructed the defendant to try on a blood-stained glove that had been found at the crime scene. The prosecution was convinced that the play should fit Simpson perfectly and thus provide evidence of his guilt. Simpson then almost theatrically struggled to put the glove on, demonstrating to the jury that it didn’t fit him.
AP/Sam Mircovich Many observers saw the glove scene as the key turning point in the trial
One of Simpson’s prominent criminal defense lawyers, Johnnie Cochran, revisited the scene in his closing argument and urged the jury to acquit in a rhyme: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” fits, you have to acquit). In any case, the process concerned America across all social classes. Even then-US President Bill Clinton left the Oval Office during the verdict and watched the acquittal on his secretary’s television.
Judgment for damages by civil court
After his acquittal, Simpson said he would do everything in his power to find the murderer or murderers. “I wouldn’t, couldn’t and haven’t killed anyone,” Simpson said. However, the families of the two murder victims were not satisfied with the verdict. They filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Simpson. In 1997, a predominantly white jury in Santa Monica, California, found Simpson liable for the two deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.
Excitement about book
However, Simpson refused to pay the sum to the survivors for years and, not quite ten years later, made sure that the crime and he were in the media. In the book “If I Did It” he described how he would have acted as a possible murderer and how he would have felt about it.
The publication of the book provoked outrage, not least among those left behind. They tried to prevent publication, but in the end they at least benefited financially from it. A judge granted the Goldman family rights to the book, which was eventually printed with detailed commentary. 90 percent of the proceeds went to Goldman’s survivors and ten percent to Brown Simpson’s family.
Nine years in prison for assault
In order to pay the damages, some of Simpson’s possessions, including memorabilia from his football days, had already been confiscated and auctioned off. Apparently much to Simpson’s dismay. Together with several accomplices, he broke into a Las Vegas hotel room armed in 2007 and forced two fan merchandise collectors to give him personal memorabilia. The following year he was sentenced to 33 years in prison for armed robbery and assault. In 2017, a pardon board granted Simpson’s request for early release – also because one of the two victims of the attack exonerated him on the charge of using a weapon.
AP/The Reno Gazette-Journal/Jason Bean After serving nine years in prison, Simpson was paroled in 2017
In an emotional plea, Arnelle Simpson, Simpson’s eldest daughter, also asked the parole board for her father’s release. “People cannot imagine what we have been through in the last nine years,” said the 48-year-old. “We just want him to come home to his family.” Simpson was eventually released on probation, and his probation conditions were released in 2021. Simpson was married twice and had five children. After his release, he lived in seclusion in Las Vegas, far from the public eye.