Current location:Stellar Saga news portal > style
O.J. Simpson, football star turned celebrity murder defendant, dies at 76
Stellar Saga news portal2024-06-03 18:10:47【style】2People have gathered around
IntroductionWashington —O.J. Simpson, the American football star and actor who was acquitted in a sensational 19
O.J. Simpson, the American football star and actor who was acquitted in a sensational 1995 trial of murdering his former wife but was found responsible for her death in a civil lawsuit and was later imprisoned for armed robbery and kidnapping, has died at the age of 76.
Simpson, cleared by a Los Angeles jury in what the U.S. media called "the trial of the century," had died on Wednesday after a battle with cancer, his family posted on social media on Thursday.
Simpson avoided prison when he was found not guilty in the 1994 stabbing deaths of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles. Simpson later served nine years in a Nevada prison after being convicted in 2008 on 12 counts of armed robbery and kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel.
Nicknamed "The Juice," Simpson was one of the best and most popular athletes of the late 1960s and 1970s. He overcame childhood infirmity to become an electrifying running back at the University of Southern California and won the Heisman Trophy as college football's top player. After a record-setting career in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Simpson parlayed his football stardom into a career as a sportscaster, advertising pitchman and Hollywood actor in films including the "Naked Gun" series.
All that changed after Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman were found fatally slashed in a bloody scene outside her Los Angeles home on June 12, 1994.
Simpson quickly emerged as a suspect. He was ordered to surrender to police but five days after the killings, he fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate - carrying his passport and a disguise. A slow-speed chase through the Los Angeles area ended at Simpson's mansion and he was later charged in the murders.
What ensued was one of the most notorious trials in 20th century America and a media circus. It had everything: a rich celebrity defendant; a Black man accused of killing his white former wife out of jealousy; a woman slain after divorcing a man who had beaten her; a "dream team" of pricy and charismatic defense lawyers; and a huge gaffe by prosecutors.
Simpson, who at the outset of the case declared himself "absolutely 100 percent not guilty," waved at the jurors and mouthed the words "thank you" after the predominately Black panel of 10 women and two men acquitted him on Oct. 3, 1995.
Prosecutors argued that Simpson killed Nicole in a jealous fury, and they presented extensive blood, hair and fiber tests linking Simpson to the murders. The defense countered that the celebrity defendant was framed by racist white police.
The trial transfixed America. In the White House, President Bill Clinton left the Oval Office and watched the verdict on his secretary's TV. Many Black Americans celebrated his acquittal, seeing Simpson as the victim of bigoted police. Many white Americans were appalled by his exoneration.
Related articles
- Border mayors heading to DC for Tuesday's immigration announcement
- Miami Heat fans are SLAMMED by Kendrick Perkins for leaving 'too many' empty seats for crucial play
- Invest In China: Multinationals embrace new opportunities created by China's green transition
- Experts at Boao forum express optimism about AI but urge oversight
- West Indies wins toss, elects to field against PNG in T20 World Cup
- Pasquantino, Melendez homer as Royals win 9
- Hush money trial: Trump forced to listen silently to people insulting him
- Maine gun store owner adopts calf that was rejected by its mother and left alone in the woods
- German police officer dies of wounds suffered in knife attack
- Braves' Travis d'Arnaud hits first 3 HRs of season, including go
Popular articles
Recommended
Oregon officials close entire coast to mussel harvesting due to shellfish poisoning
How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 4/19/2024
Eiza Gonzales is radiant in behind
US says a UN agency has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route
Disruptions at University of Chicago graduation as school withholds 4 diplomas over protests
Enough of the Swift scourge! MAUREEN CALLAHAN slams Taylor as a money
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation: Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola and ex
Jake Gyllenhaal's Apple TV+ miniseries Presumed Innocent tops high
Links
- WWE respond to Hollywood report trashing The Rock's on
- Universities take steps to prevent pro
- For decades, Moscow has sought to silence its critics abroad
- The Latest
- A North Dakota man is sentenced to 15 years in connection with shooting at officers
- White Sox outright reliever Deivi García to Triple
- King Charles and Queen Camilla receive their Coronation Roll
- Chinese industrial robots earn global acclaim
- A bus plunges into a rocky ravine in northern Pakistan, killing 15 people and injuring more than 20
- WWE respond to Hollywood report trashing The Rock's on