OJ Simpson wins parole after nine years in jail

OJ Simpson will be paroled after serving nine years in prison for a botched bid to retrieve sports memorabilia in Las Vegas.

A Nevada parole board decided the 70-year-old former football, TV and film star will be released in October after serving his minimum term for armed robbery and assault with a weapon. Simpson responded emotionally, saying: “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Four parole commissioners in Carson City questioned him by videoconference from the Lovelock Correctional Centre in rural Nevada. He has been held there since he was convicted in 2008.

The conviction came 13 years to the day after he was acquitted of murder in 1995 over the deaths of his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles.

Earlier Simpson said he plans to return to Florida, where he was living before his incarceration.

“I could easily stay in Nevada, but I don’t think you guys want me here,” he joked at one point.