Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
The question “Did OJ Simpson murder Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman?” has been looming around for decades now. The infamous 1994 murders of Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, and his “trial of the century” marked a turning point in popular culture. Multiple documentaries, movies, and TV shows have depicted the incident over the years as people theorize what happened that night in Brentwood.
Controversy has surrounded OJ Simpson’s acquittal on the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Despite the not-guilty verdict that came amid the country’s racial tensions, a civil trial held him responsible. However, he never received prison time in connection with the murders but faced a conviction on robbery charges later. The ex-NFL star was convicted of stealing sports memorabilia from two men in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2007. The next year, he received a 33-year prison term with parole and was free after serving a couple of years.
The case against OJ Simpson, his trial, and his turbulent life have been the subject of multiple documentaries, films, and shows. Some works include O.J.: Made in America, O.J. & Nicole: An American Tragedy, and O.J. Speaks: The Hidden Tapes. Very recently, a Lifetime docuseries, The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, aired as a tribute from Brown Simpson’s sisters.
How much time did OJ Simpson serve in prison & when was he released?
According to Fox 5, OJ Simpson served nine years in prison on robbery-related charges before in 2017 release on parole. Simpson is notorious for his acquittal in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. ABC News reported that an unknown assailant fatally stabbed Brown Simpson and Goldman outside the former’s Brentwood home on the night of June 12, 1994. The duo died of multiple stab wounds.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s detailed autopsy confirmed her cause of death was seven stab wounds to the neck and scalp. Moreover, she had defensive wounds on her hands. Ron Goldman had also died similarly. At the crime scene, detectives found a single bloody glove, which was one of the main pieces of evidence. This glove linked Simpson to the crime after authorities found the second glove on his property. They also uncovered blood on his iconic white Ford Bronco.
After the evidence surfaced, prosecutors called for OJ Simpson‘s arrest on June 17 after he fled which then led to the slow-speed chase. The police followed Simpson in the infamous car chase on the Southern California freeway. He eventually surrendered after a stand-off with authorities.
Reportedly, in 1995, OJ Simpson’s high-profile murder trial began and lasted for several months. His defense counsel, Robert Kardashian, Robert Shapiro, and Johnnie Cochran, helped in his acquittal. They successfully proved that the gloves that the killer wore while committing the murders did not belong to the accused.
The trial ended on October 3, 1995, when a jury found Simpson not guilty of two counts of murder. Nonetheless, In 1997, a civil jury found Simpson liable for wrongful death in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. He did not get a prison sentence, but the court ordered the former athlete to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families.
Afterward, OJ Simpson had multiple run-ins with the law, and a trial ultimately landed him in prison in 2008. He received a 33-year sentence following a conviction of charges of stealing sports memorabilia from two men in a Las Vegas hotel room. The prison term came with a possibility of parole after nine years. Later, on October 1, 2017, Simpson was released from the Lovelock Correctional Center on parole. He then moved to South Florida, where he lived until his demise on April 10, 2024, after battling cancer.
