Current location:style >>
O.J. Simpson, football star turned celebrity murder defendant, dies at 76
style1671People have gathered around
IntroductionWashington —O.J. Simpson, the American football star and actor who was acquitted in a sensational 19 ...
O.J. Simpson, the American football star and actor who was acquitted in a sensational 1995 trial of murdering his former wife but was found responsible for her death in a civil lawsuit and was later imprisoned for armed robbery and kidnapping, has died at the age of 76.
Simpson, cleared by a Los Angeles jury in what the U.S. media called "the trial of the century," had died on Wednesday after a battle with cancer, his family posted on social media on Thursday.
Simpson avoided prison when he was found not guilty in the 1994 stabbing deaths of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles. Simpson later served nine years in a Nevada prison after being convicted in 2008 on 12 counts of armed robbery and kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel.
Nicknamed "The Juice," Simpson was one of the best and most popular athletes of the late 1960s and 1970s. He overcame childhood infirmity to become an electrifying running back at the University of Southern California and won the Heisman Trophy as college football's top player. After a record-setting career in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Simpson parlayed his football stardom into a career as a sportscaster, advertising pitchman and Hollywood actor in films including the "Naked Gun" series.
All that changed after Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman were found fatally slashed in a bloody scene outside her Los Angeles home on June 12, 1994.
Simpson quickly emerged as a suspect. He was ordered to surrender to police but five days after the killings, he fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate - carrying his passport and a disguise. A slow-speed chase through the Los Angeles area ended at Simpson's mansion and he was later charged in the murders.
What ensued was one of the most notorious trials in 20th century America and a media circus. It had everything: a rich celebrity defendant; a Black man accused of killing his white former wife out of jealousy; a woman slain after divorcing a man who had beaten her; a "dream team" of pricy and charismatic defense lawyers; and a huge gaffe by prosecutors.
Simpson, who at the outset of the case declared himself "absolutely 100 percent not guilty," waved at the jurors and mouthed the words "thank you" after the predominately Black panel of 10 women and two men acquitted him on Oct. 3, 1995.
Prosecutors argued that Simpson killed Nicole in a jealous fury, and they presented extensive blood, hair and fiber tests linking Simpson to the murders. The defense countered that the celebrity defendant was framed by racist white police.
The trial transfixed America. In the White House, President Bill Clinton left the Oval Office and watched the verdict on his secretary's TV. Many Black Americans celebrated his acquittal, seeing Simpson as the victim of bigoted police. Many white Americans were appalled by his exoneration.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Stellar Station news portal”。http://kenya.downmusic.org/html-0c799994.html
Related articles
College baseball notebook: Conference tournaments to decide NCAA automatic bids and many at
styleThe field for the NCAA baseball tournament will take shape this week with conference tournaments det ...
【style】
Read moreSamoa citizenship bill passes first hurdle in Parliament with help of ACT and NZ First
styleBy Audrey Young of ...
【style】
Read moreUS Treasury Secretary explains her 'magic mushroom' experience in China
styleYour web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here ...
【style】
Read more
Popular articles
- Children are evacuated from school 'during an exam' after threat made via email
- More productive land being used for urban development, study finds
- Governor, Congress members to meet over support for rebuilding bridge
- Winston Peters to meet Anthony Blinken and Trump official in Washington
- Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
- Reserve Bank holds OCR at 5.5 percent
Latest articles
Socialite Jasmine Hartin enjoys beach snuggle with electrician hunk
'Hardest Geezer' Russell Cook completes almost year
Teenagers named as victims of Nelson off
HK gov't declines to say how much funding it gave for 'Chubby Hearts'
I was 'brokefished' by my friend for £400
'We will not be silenced': Gisborne council backs Māori wards
LINKS
- Rafael Nadal poised for Laver Cup swansong in Berlin in September
- Vice President Harris announces final rules mandating minimum standards for nursing home staffing
- Armenia asks UN court to throw out Azerbaijan’s claim alleging racial discrimination
- Paris Hilton puts on a VERY leggy display in pink PVC dress as she shares new collaboration with Tan
- Bride slammed for 'beige wedding' after telling guests what colours they could wear to ceremony
- Police in Greece raid homes and detain dozens in crackdown on deadly soccer violence
- Poland's prime minister celebrates after his party wins a string of cities in mayoral votes
- 3 Germans arrested on suspicion of spying for China, transferring info on potential military tech
- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass safe after suspect breaks into official residence, police say
- Matt Rempe and Rangers' fourth line comes up big in Game 1