OJ Simpson: Greatest rise and fall in US history

O.J. Simpson, popularly known as ‘The Juice’ died on April 10, 2024. The 76 year old NFL mega star died of Prostate Cancer, said a statement released by his family.

However, his legacy is tarnished by numerous events and allegations that rocked America and world in in the 1990s and 2000s.

Simpson, a national hero and a gargantuan NFL (national Football League) star also made fortunes as an all-American in movies, television and advertising.

His fame turned into great infamy on the night of June 12, 1994, when he was accused of the twin murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The pair were stabbed to death outside Brown’s condominium in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles. The trial spanned eleven months, from November 9, 1994 to October 3, 1995.

Simpson was represented by a high-profile defence team, referred to as the ‘Dream Team. Robert Kardashian, a prominent defence attorney was also a part of this ‘Dream team’, Robert was at that time married to Kris Jenner. The couple had four children together: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Robert Kardashian Jr.

The jury in the murder trial cleared him, but the case, which had held up a cracked mirror to Black and white America, changed the trajectory of his life.

The trial was considered historically significant for the wide division in reaction to the verdict by the public. Observers’ opinions of the verdict were largely related to their ethnicity; the media dubbed this the “racial gap”.

After the trial, Goldman’s father filed a civil suit against Simpson. On February 4, 1997, the jury unanimously found Simpson responsible for the deaths of both Goldman and Brown and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages. He paid little of the debt, moved to Florida.

In 2006, he sold a book manuscript, titled “If I Did It,” and a prospective TV interview, giving a “hypothetical” account of murders he had always denied committing.

A public outcry ended both projects, but Mr. Goldman’s family secured the book rights, added material imputing guilt to Mr. Simpson and had it published.

In 2007, he was arrested after he and other men invaded a Las Vegas hotel room of some sports memorabilia dealers and took a trove of collectibles.

He claimed that the items had been stolen from him, but a jury in 2008 found him guilty of 12 charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping. He was sentenced to nine to 33 years in a Nevada state prison. He served the minimum term and was released in 2017.

OJ is survived by four children Sydney, Jason, Justin and Arnelle Simpson.

One of his boys, Aaren, drowned as a toddler in a swimming pool accident in 1979.