OJ Simpson, the former NFL star turned actor who was controversially cleared of double murder, has died aged 76.
San Francisco-born Orenthal James Simpson rose to fame in college before playing in the NFL.
In 1995, he was acquitted of the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend in a trial that gripped America.
In 2008, OJ Simpson was sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment on unrelated charges of armed robbery. He was released in 2017.
He died of cancer on April 10 “surrounded by his children and grandchildren”, a family statement read.
In 1994, OJ Simpson was arrested as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. The pair were found stabbed to death outside Nicole Brown’s home in Los Angeles. OJ Simpson became an immediate person of interest in the case.
On the day he was due to turn himself in, he fled in a white Ford Bronco with a former teammate, and led the police on a slow-speed chase through the Los Angeles area.
That chase engrossed audiences in the US and abroad as it was broadcast live on “rolling” 24-hour news channels still in their relative infancy.
In the ensuing court case, dubbed the “trial of the century” by media, prosecutors argued OJ Simpson had killed Nicole Brown in a jealous fury. Evidence included blood, hair and fibre tests linking OJ Simpson to the murders.
The defense argued OJ Simpson was framed by police who were motivated by racism.
In one of the trial’s most memorable moments, prosecutors asked OJ Simpson to put on a pair of blood-stained gloves allegedly found at the scene of the murder, but Simpson struggled to fit his hands into them. It led to one of Simpson’s lawyers, Johnnie Cochran, telling the jury in his closing arguments: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
The jury ultimately sided with OJ Simpson, who had declared he was “absolutely 100% not guilty”. The acquittal proved hugely controversial.
The families of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman did not give up – they pursued a civil case against OJ Simpson in 1997 and a jury found Simpson liable for the two deaths. He was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to their families.
In 2006, OJ Simpson sold a book manuscript, titled “If I Did It”, and a prospective TV interview, giving a “hypothetical” account of the murders he had always strenuously denied.
Public objections ended both projects, but Ron Goldman’s family secured the book rights, added material imputing guilt to OJ Simpson and had it published.
OJ Simpson’s final disgrace came in 2008, when he was convicted of armed robbery for breaking into a Las Vegas hotel room with four accomplices, holding two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint and stealing items related to his NFL career.
He was sentenced to 33 years in jail, but was granted parole after serving the minimum of nine years.
Gloria Allred, an attorney who represented Nicole Brown’s family during the murder trial, said that OJ Simpson’s death served as a reminder that the justice system failed abused women and allows “celebrity men to avoid true justice”, according to a statement obtained by CNN.
Caitlyn Jenner, once part of OJ Simpson’s social circle, echoed Goldman, posting two words on Twitter/X: “Good riddance.”
