At the age of 76

Famous due to murder trial: O.J. Simpson died

O.J. Simpson achieved worldwide fame through a sensational murder trial.

(Bild: AFP, Krone KREATIV)

O.J. Simpson, the former football star who later made a career in Hollywood, has died at the age of 76. Simpson gained worldwide fame, however, particularly through the trial following the murder of his ex-wife and her acquaintances, in which he was acquitted despite some solid evidence. 

Simpson succumbed to cancer on April 10, surrounded by his family, as his relatives announced on Twitter (X). They asked for privacy. 

Orenthal James Simpson was born in San Francisco in 1947 and his sporting talent was already apparent at school. He began his career as a professional football player in New York, and had three children from his first marriage to Marguerite L. Whitley, although one daughter drowned in the family pool at the age of seven. 

Shortly after the divorce, Simpson retired from active sport and worked as a commentator and advertising endorser. He appeared in several Hollywood productions, his best-known role probably being that of Detective Nordberg in the "Naked Gun" films with Leslie Nielsen. 

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In 1985, Simpson married Nicole Brown and had two children from this marriage. Simpson is said to have been very jealous during the marriage, and Brown also reported that he had beaten her several times. In 1989, O.J. Simpson was sentenced to community service, a fine and a two-year suspended sentence for abusing his wife - the marriage was divorced three years later. 

Sensational murder trial
On the night of June 13, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman were found. The two victims had been murdered with numerous stab wounds. Simpson was considered the prime suspect and fled from the police. The chase was broadcast live on US television, and the subsequent trial also received massive media attention.

Simpson and the infamous gloves that ultimately led to his acquittal.

(Bild: AFP)

(Bild: AFP)

Although the evidence seemed overwhelming in parts, Simpson was acquitted by the twelve-member jury in October. An acquittal by a jury in a US criminal trial is final and immediately binding. The prosecution has no right of appeal. The decisive factor was probably the underestimation of DNA traces as evidence at the time.

The case with the glove
The racial conflicts that flared up again at this time also enabled Simpson's lawyer to present various one-sided facts as a kind of conspiracy against his client, which he proved in particular by means of racist remarks made by the main investigator. The decisive trigger for the acquittal was probably a bloody glove that was named by the investigating police authorities as the perpetrator's clothing, but which did not fit Simpson when he tried it on in the courtroom.

In 2008, however, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of armed robbery and hostage-taking and sentenced to 33 years in prison, with the possibility of release after nine years at the earliest. After these nine years, he was released from prison on parole on October 1, 2017 and subsequently lived in Las Vegas until his death. However, the accusation that he had murdered his ex-wife always remained in the air and was frequently rehashed both satirically and in various other pop culture art forms.