O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center. Simpson is serving a nine to 33-year prison term for a 2007 armed robbery and kidnapping conviction.
© Jason Bean / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Las Vegas, NV) – O.J. Simpson, a noted football player, broadcaster, and actor, has died at the age of 76. Despite his accomplishments on the gridiron and on screen, Simpson is best remembered for being acquitted in the 1995 murder trial that accused him in a brutal double homicide. It was back in June of 1994 when Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were murdered in Los Angeles. Simpson quickly emerged as the primary suspect.
An unforgettable and bizarre scene then unfolded when Simpson, riding in the backseat of his friend Al Cowlings’ car, took police on a slow-speed chase through LA. The trial that took place in front of national TV cameras quickly became a sensation and helped fuel the rise of 24-hour news coverage in the US.
Attorney Johnnie Cochran is credited by many with leading the defense that led to Simpson’s acquittal. He infamously argued “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” after Simpson tried on bloody leather gloves during the trial that appeared not to fit the defendant’s hands.
Simpson later wrote a book “If I Did It,” which many saw as an admission. Goldman’s family won a civil suit that found Simpson was liable for the two deaths and a jury awarded them $33.5 million. But Simpson never made a payment. He later spent time in prison after being convicted of burglary in Nevada. In that case, Simpson stole personal memorabilia he had stolen.
After starring at USC during his college days, Simpson became a standout at the NFL level with the Buffalo Bills. Upon retirement he became a well-known pitchman and took on the moniker “Mr. Hertz” — running through airports during commercials for the car rental giant. Simpson also worked for ABC and NBC as a sportscaster. His family announced his passing following a battle with cancer. They used Simpson’s X account to make the announcement — an account the former footballer actively used during his final years.
