Certain dates were remarkable in the life of O.J. Simpson, who, in April 2024, passed away from cancer, at the age of 76. He, a sports legend in the 1970s, and a comedy actor in the 1980s, completely changed the course of his story on June 12, 1994. That’s right, 30 years ago the world stopped when after the brutal murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J. was the prime suspect.

Nicole’s death would be one of the most shocking crimes in the history of Los Angeles itself, especially due to the violence, still, the entire soap opera was only revealed to the world on the night she was practically beheaded at the door. from his home, but the fact that a celebrity was directly involved, in pre-reality shows and social media times, O.J.’s persecution and trial became a media phenomenon, but also a sad twist in the trajectory of one of the biggest idols Americans at the time.

Who was O.J. Simpson

Orenthal James Simpson was born in San Francisco, the son of a cook and a hospital administrator, growing up in a simple community and dealing with his parents’ divorce. Despite having used orthopedic braces until he was five years old, it was as an athlete that he found prominence and an alternative to social advancement. As a teenager, he was already a football and athletics star. After he started playing professionally he became a legend breaking records in football and athletics, with the nickname “The Juice”.

When he retired, he soon began working as an actor and commentator, appearing in some successful comedies. On the personal side, his first marriage ended when he met Nicole Brown when she was still 18 years old. Their marriage was marked by domestic violence – there are at least eight police records of physical attacks on her, leaving an official history of the regular beatings to which she was subjected – and ended in divorce.

The brutal crime

The separation didn’t stop the nightmare for Nicole. For two years, even though she tried to move on with her life, she dealt with violent bouts of jealousy from her ex-husband who chased her and threatened to attack her. It’s terrifying to hear and see her growing despair, warning that he was going to kill her, but having no form of protection, something unfortunately still so common in everyone. Nicole would become one of the worst examples of femicide known to date.

The bodies of Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, were found by a neighbor in a pool of blood in front of her home in Brentwood. Both were violently stabbed, and she was practically decapitated. Due to the abusive history of the marriage, and the evidence found at the scene, O.J. quickly became the main suspect, which would already be shocking, but ended up becoming part of something much bigger.

The police found the player’s blood at the scene, bloody footprints the size of his shoe leaving the scene, traces of blood in the player’s car, and, of course, a glove that matched the other found at the scene of the deaths. The wound on his left hand, which appeared to have been from a knife, was further evidence.

According to speculation, because he never officially confessed his participation, after watching a dance performance by his daughter, Sydney, Nicole and O.J. got into a fight. She was nervous, but he was traveling to San Francisco so no one imagined what would happen hours later.

What appears to have happened is that at around ten o’clock at night, he went to his ex-wife’s house, a few minutes from her house, parked his car in the back entrance, and entered the house through the kitchen. Their fight quickly escalated – the house was full of candlelight and many suspect he had another bout of jealousy in case she was expecting someone – and Nicole tried to escape through the front door, with O.J. chasing her with a knife. As soon as she reached the garden, she was caught by him and killed with 12 stab wounds, most of them in the throat. There were seven blows to her neck and head, and the six-inch cut to her neck, which almost decapitated her, was made after she was lying down. She had defensive wounds on her hands.

This is where the most tragic part of all comes in. Nicole’s mother had forgotten her glasses at the restaurant where Ronald Goldman worked and agreed to take them to Nicole’s house. He arrived to deliver them just as she was being attacked. From the cuts made on him, there were 25, apparently, Ron was initially attacked from behind, he tried to defend himself but was also stabbed to death. It all happened in a mere 15 minutes.

The trial of the century

O.J.’s arrest already stopped the world precisely because he seemed to be trying to escape and when the reactions

TV stations began broadcasting the chase live, and for the first time, the world saw a media event that is now commonplace: a celebrity, true crime, unscripted live TV, and irresistible drama.

What came next was even more fascinating in the worst way. The trial was broadcast live on an international network and everyone saw how the arrogance and unpreparedness of the Prosecutor’s Office, incapable of reading the environment or recognizing the terrible racist and violent record of the Los Angeles police, influenced the decision against O.J. Simpson.

Not long before, the city of Los Angeles had witnessed stormy demonstrations by the black community against a series of crimes virtually ignored by the justice system. The main one was that of Rodney King, who was brutally beaten and killed by white police officers without being able to react (the images were recorded on video and shown on all TVs). To the world’s shock, the culprits were cleared. Therefore, when the black American hero was going to be arrested for killing two white people, the trial became anything but justice for the victims.

Just over a year later, almost 150 million people watched in astonishment at the not-guilty verdict for O.J. Everything I said is spectacularly recorded and contextualized in the ESPN documentary, O.J. Simpson: Made in America, and in the series that is on Star Plus, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. They are worth checking out again, especially because 30 years later, we have a different perspective on everything.

What happened to the people involved?

O.J. Simpson was defended by what was called the Criminal Defense Dream Team, with all the best lawyers involved to help him. He may have escaped justice in 1995, but his decline was undeniable, with no work in films or commercials, and on the same date in June, 13 years later, he was arrested for armed robbery – a complex and unbelievable episode – and was sentenced to 33 years old, on the same date he had escaped before.

Although his release in 1994 was symbolic of Civil Rights, the sense of defeat in the case of femicide has not been forgotten, so much so that many recognize that his 2007 sentence was “excessive” for the crime he committed, but appropriate for the crime he committed. public opinion condemned him. Many felt that his attitude showed mocking disrespect towards the victims, even more so when he announced a book in which he said he would hypothetically discuss how the murders happened, but the project was canceled after Ron Goldman’s surviving family took legal action. He had announced the title as If I Did It.

Here’s what happened to everyone involved:

– Orenthal James Simpson: Unlike the criminal jury, a civil court jury found him responsible for the deaths and ordered him to pay compensation of more than 33 million dollars to the victims. He never paid the full amount. In 2007, he was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. He served nine years and was free from 2017 until his death in April 2024.

– Marcia Clark: the trial’s main prosecutor left the law soon after. She wrote a book about the case, Without A Doubt, and is now the author of detective novels.

– Johnnie Cochran: the main defense lawyer, he was already famous for defending Michael Jackson and remains active. He died of brain cancer in 2005, aged 68.

– Robert Kardashian: Kim Kardashian’s father was O.J.’s best friend since college. According to reports, after the trial, he maintained serious doubts about his friend’s innocence and distanced himself from him. He died of esophageal cancer in 2003, aged 59.

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