OJ SIMPSON 25 YEARS
There’s no denying it – the world is truecrime obsessed. Whether it be a podcast, a television series or novel, the retelling of horrendous real-life crimes are now wildly popular. Twentyfive years ago, embattled NFL star OJ Simpson – originally nicknamed ‘The Juice’ – was known for his athletic prowess on the football field. That is, until, one night in 1994.
THE MURDERS JUNE 12, 1994
OJ Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Simpson Brown, 35, was found murdered on June 12 outside her LA home, alongside her 25-yearold friend Ron Goldman. The blonde actress had been stabbed 12 times and Ron tragically suffered a similar fate. Ron, a waiter, had visited Nicole’s condo earlier that night to return a pair of glasses her mother had left at the restaurant where he worked. That simple act of kindness turned out to be a fatal decision.
OJ: NUMBER-ONE SUSPECT JUNE 13
On the night of Nicole and Ron’s deaths, police visited OJ’S Rockingham mansion to inform him of his ex-wife’s horrific slaying. Instead, they saw no sign of OJ and discovered his blood-stained Bronco and a bloody glove that matched one found near Ron. The following day, June 13, OJ Simpson returned to his LA home, where he was cuffed by LA police and questioned for hours.
THE BRONCO CHASE JUNE 17
While he was cooperative with police at first, OJ fled his home after being served arrest warrants on June 17 for the murders of Nicole and Ron.
In an elaborate and sensational attempt to elude capture, OJ took off in his white Bronco – with teammate and friend Al Cowlings in the driver’s seat – sparking one of the most famous car chases in history. OJ held a gun to his head as the Bronco wove in and out of traffic on an LA highway. Millions of eyes were trained on that car and crowds of people gathered on the side of the road to watch police attempt to stop the pair. The chase went on for a whopping hour-and-a-half, across 96km, before OJ returned home and handed himself into police.
OJ PLEADS NOT GUILTY JULY 22
On July 22, 1994, OJ plead “absolutely, 100 per cent not guilty” to the double homicide charges of the murders of Nicole and Ron. The presiding judge ordered OJ to be held without bail. Later, in September, prosecution decided not to seek a death penalty and instead sought a life sentence. OJ’S lifelong friend Robert Kardashian – the late father of Kim, Kourtney and Khloé and Rob Kardashian – agreed to work as a volunteer assistant on the legal team, alongside Simpson’s defence
lawyers, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran.
THE TRIAL JANUARY 25, 1995
During OJ’S widely televised murder trial, everyday Americans watching were exposed to an entirely new phrase: “domestic violence”. Evidence given at the trial accused the 6’1” [185cm] football star of abusing his ex-wife Nicole, including frantic recordings of 911 calls she had made to police during their seven-year marriage. In one incident, Nicole had called for help and hid in the bushes while waiting for police to respond. She famously told an officer: “You guys have been up here eight times before, all you do is talk to him, you never do anything. He’s gonna kill me.”
HE’S ACQUITTED OCTOBER 3
After the trial of the century, which spanned 10 months, on October 3, 1995, OJ Simpson was acquitted on two counts of murder. The jury deliberated for less than four hours and came back with the shock verdict: not guilty. It took an epic 252-day trial and an endless media circus – but OJ was finally a free man. Despite this, no other suspect has ever been formally identified in the Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman murder case.
BACK TO THE COURTROOM SEPTEMBER 13, 2007
While he escaped conviction for the 1994 murders of Nicole and Ron, OJ was back facing a criminal trial in 2007 for kidnapping and robbing. On September 13, Simpson was the ringleader in a group of men who broke into a Las Vegas hotel room and stole sports memorabilia while holding dealer Bruce Fromong at gunpoint. In October 2008, Simpson was found guilty on 12 charges and was sentenced to 33 years behind bars, with eligibility for parole after nine years. In October 2017, OJ was freed on parole.
‘THE PEOPLE V OJ SIMPSON’ FEBRUARY 2016
In 2016, OJ’S famous trial inspired a new television series, American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson. Based on Jeffrey Toobin’s 1997 book of the same name. The episodes chronicled OJ’S arrest, his infamous Bronco car chase and the lengthy trial that ensued. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr played OJ in the FX crime series, with big names David Schwimmer and John Travolta joining the cast as OJ’S formidable legal team. The 10-episode miniseries won nine Emmy Awards, however Nicole’s sister Tanya blasted the show for bringing back bad memories. “They didn’t take the families into consideration,” Tanya told US People magazine. “Who is defending my sister?”
OJ SIMPSON NOW JUNE 2019
In a bizarre turn of events, OJ, 71, re-emerged in the public sphere on Twitter in June this year, 25 years on from Nicole and Ron’s murders. Within days, OJ had racked up over 800,000 followers. While he has stepped back into the spotlight, OJ’S children he shared with Nicole – Sydney, now 33, and Justin, 30 – are very private and do not speak publicly about their mother’s death. They were just 8 and 5 when she died.