O.J. Simpson, the exonerated California murder defendant, and former football star, died, the family said on Thursday, April 11, 2024. He was 76.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.”
O.J. Simpson assured fans that everything was fine in a video he released on (Twitter) X, two months before he passed away at 76.
‘Thank you to all the people who reached out to me. My health is good,’ Simpson said. “My health is good,” he continued. “Obviously, I’m dealing with issues, but hey, I’m just about over it.”
“I’ll be back on that golf course, hopefully in a couple of weeks,” he said in the video. “God bless and take care.”
I’m from the Bay and I’m going with Bay!!! Lets go @49ers pic.twitter.com/MoO9TELc8B
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) February 11, 2024
Simpson was taken into custody in 1994 on suspicion of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. The two were discovered dead from knife wounds outside of Ms. Brown’s Los Angeles residence. Simpson emerged as a figure of interest in the case right away.
Simpson took off in a white Ford Bronco on the day he was supposed to turn himself in, leading the police on a slow-motion pursuit across Los Angeles.
Prosecutors had Simpson put on a pair of bloodstained gloves they claimed to have recovered at the murder scene, but Simpson had trouble getting his hands into them in one of the most iconic moments of the trial. Because of this, Johnnie Cochran, one of Simpson’s attorneys, told the jury in his closing arguments, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
Simpson was found not guilty on October 3, 1995.
As a sports icon, movie star, and millionaire, he embodied the American dream, which all came to an end as a result of the trial for murdering Nicole and her friend Ron.
Fred Goldman, Ron’s father characterized Simpson’s death as no great loss.
“The only thing I have to say is it’s just further reminder of Ron being gone all these years,” he told NBC News. “It’s no great loss to the world. It’s a further reminder of Ron’s being gone.”
Gloria Allred spoke on the behalf of the Brown Simpson family.
“I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” Allred said. “In the civil case which followed, he was found liable, responsible for her wrongful death. So, it’s fair to call him a killer. In any event, I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family. They should be remembered. The system failed.”