The Controversial Life of O.J. Simpson: From Murder Trial to Jail Time

EPAO.J. Simpson during an interrogation

NOS News•Thursday, 4:52 PM•Adjusted Thursday, 5:37 PM

Former American football player and actor OJ Simpson has died of cancer. His family wrote this on Simpson’s X account. He became world news in 1994 when he was accused of the double murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. When he was in danger of being arrested for this, he fled in a Ford Bronco. The long police chase in Los Angeles was broadcast live on TV.

A jury acquitted him, but doubts remained about his innocence. The trial was broadcast live on American TV from start to finish. Justice and police made major mistakes, even though they had a series of clues and evidence of Simpson’s guilt.

Cross-examination

Crucial in Simpson’s defense was the cross-examination of an officer who had found a bloody glove belonging to the suspect. Simpson had to put on the glove in court, but it did not fit him. Attorney F. Lee Bailey then managed to portray the officer through his questioning as a racist who might have provided the evidence himself.

Afterwards, jurors said they should have found Simpson guilty after all. The former football player was convicted during a civil lawsuit. He had to pay $33.5 million in damages and non-pecuniary damages.

The whole case received a lot of attention again in 2016 through both a long documentary and the TV series American Crime Story (starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as OJ).

Still going to jail

In 2008, crowd favorite Simpson ended up behind bars after a violent robbery. He had gone to a hotel room in Las Vegas to talk to two sports souvenir dealers. They are said to have owned his personal belongings. He took those objects back with him at gunpoint. “Those were my own things, photos of the children and personal letters and so on,” he said later in court.

Simpson, who after his sports career starred in the film series Naked Gun, wrote a book about the murder in 2006: If I did it. In it he explained how the murder would have happened if he was indeed the perpetrator. Publisher Judith Regan interviewed him at the time for an accompanying documentary. Due to pressure from public opinion, the book and the interview were not released. The book was later published.

In 2017, Simpson was released from Nevada prison after nine years due to good behavior. He had to serve a 33-year sentence for the violent robbery in Las Vegas.