O.J. Simpson died on Wednesday night, his family writing that he “succumbed to his battle with cancer”.
Simpson, although originally finding stardom for playing in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and starring in the film Naked Gun, is more notorious for one of the most famous criminal cases in US history.
In 1994, Simpson was accused of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown, and a waiter from the restaurant she had visited earlier with her family, Ron Goldman. Simpson was considered the prime suspect in the murder, after multiple pieces of evidence tied him to it.
Only days after the murder, Simpson went on the run- and created possibly one of the most recognizable moments of the 1990’s. In a white Ford Bronco, Simpson’s former football teammate Al Cowlings drove the vehicle in a low-speed police chase, where after more than an hour of pursuit, Simpson surrendered.
The trial for the murders began in November of the same year, and is one of the most infamous in American History. The trial lasted 11 months, and despite the multitude of DNA, hair, and fiber evidence against him, Simpson was acquitted of both charges of murder. Many feel that sloppy police work at the crime scene and fear of riots throughout the United States contributed to the acquittal. Although he was never found guilty, it was popular opinion that Simpson did commit the murders.
Although the criminal court found him not guilty in 1995, a civil court found him liable for the murders in 1997, ordering him to pay more than $33 million to the families of Brown and Goldman.
The case was all over the media from 1994-1995, and is considered a huge moment for not only the legal system, but for pop culture, too. The FX original show The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story was aired in 2016, based on the trial. The show received critical acclaim, and included names like American Horror Story’s Sarah Paulson and Friends’ David Schwimmer.
Simpson was a free man until 2007, when he was arrested for robbery. Simpson attempted to burglarize a sports memorabilia dealer at the Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas, who was dealing the memorabilia of Simpson. Claiming it was stolen from him, Simpson and multiple other men entered the dealers room, confronted him with a gun, and stole the memorabilia.
Simpson was convicted of 10 charges and sentenced to 33 years in jail, with a chance of parole after nine years in the Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada. He eventually was released in 2017, ten years later.
O.J. Simpson was a household name in America for many years, and definitely left a lasting legacy; One of athleticism, of fame, and of crime. Whatever your opinion of him, Simpson was a staple of pop culture in America.
