On June 12, 1994, O.J. Simpson’s wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, were murdered outside of Brown Simpson’s home in Brentwood, California.

Police suspected that Simpson was responsible for the two murders, so he agreed with one of his attorneys, Robert Shapiro, that he would turn himself in. But after he failed to do so, the notorious slow-speed chase was televised, where Simpson was in the backseat of a 1993 white Ford Bronco, which was driven by Simpson’s friend and former teammate, Al Cowlings.

The lengthy trial lasted a little over eight months, which resulted in the jury acquitting Simpson of his charges due to reasonable doubt. However, he was later found liable and was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to the families.

One of the most memorable moments from the trial was when Simpson was asked to put on a glove found at the murder scene. The glove didn’t fit, and Simpson’s attorney, Johnnie Cochran, during the closing arguments, famously said, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

During Simpson’s football career, he was a highly decorated athlete. He played running back at the University of Southern California and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. Simpson would go on to be selected first overall in the 1969 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills.

In the 1973 season, Simpson became the first player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season and was rewarded with the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards. Simpson played 11 seasons in the NFL, where he totaled 13,378 yards and 75 touchdowns and was named to six Pro Bowl selections.

In 1983, Simpson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and in 1985, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his illustrious football career.

On April 10, 2024, Simpson passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 76.

O.J. Simpson, the former NFL star who was famously acquitted for the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, died Thursday after suffering complications from cancer. He was 76.

Rising to fame in the late 1960s as a star running back at USC, Simpson won a national championship and the Heisman Trophy with the Trojans before embarking on a successful NFL career with the Buffalo Bills. He also pursued an acting career during and after his football career, earning roles in the Naked Gun trilogy and other smaller films and television shows.

In 1994, SImpson’s legacy was forever altered when he became the central figure of a massive cultural event following the murders of Brown, SImpson’s ex-wife, and her friend Goldman.

A car chase involving the Los Angeles Police Department and Simpson’s white Ford Bronco was one of the most viewed television events of all time, and the ensuing 11-month murder trial is often considered the most highly publicized court proceeding in human history.

Represented by “the Dream Team,” a group of lawyers led by Robert Shapiro and later Johnnie Cochran, Simpson was eventually acquitted of all charges involving the deaths of Brown and Goldman. Despite a significant amount of evidence at the scene implicating Simpson, many have speculated that his lawyers took advantage of racial tensions between the LAPD and local black communities to introduce a different narrative to the jury.

Simpson was not found guilty in the criminal trial, but in 1996, the families of Brown and Goldman filed a civil lawsuit for wrongful death. In a quieter trial, Simpson was found liable for their deaths and was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to the families. He later declared bankruptcy, beginning a tailspin and eventually leading to further legal troubles.

In 2007, Simpson and a group of conspirators were arrested for breaking into a Las Vegas hotel room and robbing sports memorabilia at gunpoint. Facing a list of charges including robbery, assault, weapons possession and kidnapping, Simpson was eventually convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison. He was released on parole in 2017.

Simpson’s family announced his death Thursday morning, naming an unspecified form of cancer as the cause of death. In nearly 30 years since the murder trial, Simpson never took responsibility for the deaths of Brown and Goldman.