Former NFL Star Acquitted Of Murder Was 76

O.J. Simpson, the previous champion soccer working back-turned-actor who was acquitted in a sensational trial of prices that he murdered his ex-wife and her good friend, has died of most cancers, his household confirmed. He was 76 and died Wednesday at his residence in Las Vegas.

His household took to his official X account to write, “On April tenth, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with most cancers. He was surrounded by his youngsters and grandchildren. Throughout this time of transition, his household asks that you just please respect their needs for privateness and style.”

Although Simpson was not discovered responsible of the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, three years after his felony trial he was discovered liable in a civil go well with introduced by the victims’ households.

Born Orenthal James Simpson in San Francisco, he received the Heisman Trophy whereas at USC, then set information whereas enjoying skilled soccer for the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Payments.

He began performing whereas nonetheless at USC, and appeared on “Medical Middle” earlier than going professional as a soccer participant. He appeared in movies akin to “The Klansman,” “The Cassandra Crossing” and “The Towering Inferno,” in addition to the miniseries “Roots,” whereas nonetheless within the NFL.

After retiring from soccer, he starred in three “Bare Gun” motion pictures and the comedy “Again to the Seashore.” He had accomplished a two-hour lengthy pilot for the journey sequence “Frogmen” when his arrest introduced the venture for NBC to an abrupt halt.

On June 12, 1994, his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her good friend Ronald Goldman have been discovered murdered exterior her Brentwood rental. Simpson, who had pleaded no contest to a home violence cost in opposition to Nicole Brown Simpson after they have been married, was thought-about an individual of curiosity within the killings and prices have been filed in opposition to him. As a substitute of turning himself in, a media spectacle erupted when he tried to flee in his white Ford Bronco and the police adopted in a slow-speed chase. The televised chase on June 17 drew an viewers of some 95 million folks.

The following trial turned a media circus and Simpson was discovered not responsible for the 2 murders. However in 1997, Goldman’s household introduced a civil go well with in opposition to Simpson, and he was discovered accountable for wrongful dying and battery in opposition to Goldman and battery in opposition to Nicole Brown Simpson. He was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.

He later served nearly 9 years in jail for theft, kidnapping and different counts in a Las Vegas sports activities memorabilia scheme, and was launched in 2017.

Hollywood movies and docuseries, like Fox’s “The O.J. Simpson Story” (1995), CBS’ “American Tragedy” (2000), Investigation Discovery’s “OJ: Trial of the Century” (2014), the Oscar-winning “O.J.: Made in America” (2016) and FX’s “The Folks v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (2016) starring Cuba Gooding Jr., have chronicled the notorious trial. Sacha Baron Cohen, whereas disguised in-character for his 2018 Showtime sequence “Who Is America?”, tried to get a confession out of Simpson in a clumsy, but memorable, interview. In 2021, Simpson was launched early from parole for good habits.