O.J. Simpson has died

[Judy]

My first reaction was that I hope the remaining family members of his victims can find some peace now. Both murders were horrific.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Never mind. How's the temp, Orenthal James?

 

[Sylvia]

O.J. Simpson @TheRealOJ32 (1 hour ago on his X account):

On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.

He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.

-The Simpson Family

https://twitter.com/x/status/1778435372919230964

 

[Simone411]

O.J. Simpson @TheRealOJ32 (1 hour ago on his X account):

On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.

He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.

-The Simpson Family

https://twitter.com/x/status/1778435372919230964

Since I shared the link in the In Memoriam thread, should I delete the post I made? Or can it just stay where it is?

 

[ilovepaydays]

Well, O.J.’s family got 30 more years then Nicole’s and Ron’s families got. I’ll just leave it at that.

 

[Sylvia]

NYT's initial obituary online:

O.J. Simpson, Football Star Whose Trial Riveted the Nation, Dies at 76

He ran to football fame and made fortunes in movies. His trial for the murder of his former wife and her friend became an inflection point on race in America.

www.nytimes.com

O.J. Simpson, who ran to fame on the football field, made fortunes as a Black all-American in movies, advertising and television, and was acquitted of killing his former wife and her friend in a 1995 trial in Los Angeles that mesmerized the nation, died on Wednesday. He was 76. [...]
A jury in the murder trial, which held up a cracked mirror to Black and white America, cleared Mr. Simpson, but the case ruined his world. In 1997, a civil suit by the victims’ families found him liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman, and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages. He paid little of the debt, moved to Florida and struggled to remake his life, raise his children and stay out of trouble.
In 2006, he sold a book manuscript, “If I Did It,” and a prospective TV interview, giving a “hypothetical” account of murders he had always denied committing. A public outcry ended both projects, but Mr. Goldman’s family secured the book rights, added material imputing guilt to Mr. Simpson and had it published.

In 2007, he was arrested after he and other men invaded a Las Vegas hotel room of some sports memorabilia dealers and took a trove of collectibles. He claimed that the items had been stolen from him, but a jury in 2008 found him guilty of 12 charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping, after a trial that drew only a smattering of reporters and spectators. He was sentenced to 9 to 33 years in a Nevada state prison. He served the minimum term and was released in 2017.
Over the years, the story of O.J. Simpson generated a tide of tell-all books, movies, studies and debate over questions of justice, race relations and celebrity in a nation that adores its heroes, especially those cast in rags-to-riches stereotypes, but that has never been comfortable with its deeper contradictions.
A complete obituary will appear soon.

Variety.com:

O.J. Simpson, Football Player and Actor Accused of Murdering Ex-Wife, Dies at 76

O.J. Simpson, the former champion football running back and actor who was acquitted of murder, died of cancer, his family confirmed.

variety.com

ESPN:

O.J. Simpson dies of cancer at 76, family says

O.J. Simpson, whose life as an American sports hero quickly turned when he was charged with the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, died Wednesday at the age of 76, his family said.

www.espn.com

Associated Press:

O.J. Simpson, legendary football player and actor brought down by his murder trial, dies at 76

Simpson was found liable for deaths in a civil case, and then served nine years in prison on unrelated charges.

apnews.com

Public fascination with Simpson never faded. Many debated whether he had been punished in Las Vegas for his acquittal in Los Angeles. In 2016, he was the subject of both an FX miniseries and five-part ESPN documentary.

He married his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, on June 24, 1967, moving her to Los Angeles the next day so he could begin preparing for his first season with USC — which, in large part because of Simpson, won that year’s national championship.
Simpson won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. He accepted the statue the same day that his first child, Arnelle, was born.
He had two sons, Jason and Aaren, with his first wife; one of those boys, Aaren, drowned as a toddler in a swimming pool accident in 1979, the same year he and Whitley divorced.
Simpson and Brown were married in 1985. They had two children, Justin and Sydney, and divorced in 1992. Two years later, Nicole Brown Simpson was found murdered.

 

[Sylvia]

Since I shared the link in the In Memoriam thread, should I delete the post I made? Or can it just stay where it is?

It's totally up to you (no need to ask me).

 

[caseyedwards]

RIP Nordberg!

 

[Simone411]

It's totally up to you (no need to ask me).

I'll just leave it. I posted in the In Memoriam thread because I thought that was where we posted. There's really no sense in deleting because other members had already responded to it.

So I'll just repost the link here.

OJ Simpson, former football star acquitted of murder, dies at 76

Simpson was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, but was ultimately acquitted.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Frau Muller]

I’ll never forget hearing the verdict at work. Shocker.

 

[Judy]

Well, O.J.’s family got 30 more years then Nicole’s and Ron’s families got. I’ll just leave it at that.

I’m not going to blame the children. Nicole’s parents lost custody with the not guilty verdict. Sadly.

 

[canbelto]

Damn. Now I'll never get to hear the audiobook of "If I Did It."

 

[Badams]

I absolutely loved OJ Simpson when I was a kid. He was a Buffalo Bill, after all! Loved him in The Naked Gun movies. And was absolutely shocked, almost brokenhearted, after those murders. Have the afterlife you deserve, Mr. Simpson.

 

[Judy]

Damn. Now I'll never get to hear the audiobook of "If I Did It."

I read it years ago (free from my at the time library subscription). I’d recommend not reading it though. It’s sickening.

 

[Private Citizen]

I was going to say, "if you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me." Except there's already a crowd. Rot in hell, OJ!

 

[Judy]

I absolutely loved OJ Simpson when I was a kid. He was a Buffalo Bill, after all! Loved him in The Naked Gun movies. And was absolutely shocked, almost brokenhearted, after those murders. Have the afterlife you deserve, Mr. Simpson.

Yup.

 

[Yehudi]

Oh No! Anyway

Oh No! Anyway is a memorable quote from the British television series Top Gear in which host Jeremy Clarkson feigns concerns before immediately moving on. Online, people use a two-panel reaction image macro of Clarkson saying the line to express a lack of sympathy.

knowyourmeme.com

 

[Judy]

I just remember the entire trial turning into a bizarre theatrical .. circus. I backed out months before the verdict. I don’t think DNA was fully understood back then too.

 

[Vash01]

I’ll never forget hearing the verdict at work. Shocker.

Me too. I remember a coworker/friend appear in the opening of my cubicle at work and say - "OJ is (pause) non guilty". She was just reporting a fact and just as shocked as everyone else.

 

[tony]

I was in 4th grade- 9 years old mind you. My teacher literally wheeled in one of those carts with the TV held in place by the strap over it so that we could watch the verdict live.

What a different time it was

 

[skategal]

Glad someone finally took out the trash….

 

[Judy]

I very clearly remember the bronco chase .. it was insane. My youngest sister and I were glued to the tv. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRD3TQEoeY

I clearly remember people on the overpasses cheering him on.

 

[vgerdes]

I absolutely loved OJ Simpson when I was a kid. He was a Buffalo Bill, after all! Loved him in The Naked Gun movies. And was absolutely shocked, almost brokenhearted, after those murders. Have the afterlife you deserve, Mr. Simpson.

Couldn't have said it better.

 

[Spikefan]

Larry Wilmore on Instagram: "The best meme I’ve seen so far! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽"

809 likes, 18 comments - larrywilmoreApril 11, 2024 on : "The best meme I’ve seen so far! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽"

www.instagram.com

 

[attyfan]

I just remember the entire trial turning into a bizarre theatrical .. circus. I backed out months before the verdict. I don’t think DNA was fully understood back then too.

It really was fairly new. Also, in the civil case, the judge said that high school chemistry would be enough to understand it .... except that at the time, people did not take high school chemistry unless (a) they were going to a college that required it for admission or (b) they wanted to enter the medical profession in some capacity. I am prepared to bet that none of the jurors on the criminal trial (none of whom went to four year colleges or worked in the medical profession) had high school chemistry.

After the trial, my sister was not the only science teacher who started a unit in every class on DNA -- specifically intended to equip the kids to handle DNA evidence in trials.

 

[barbk]

Until 1985, I lived just about a half mile down Bundy (in the cheaper direction) from Nicole Brown Simpson's townhome. It was both horrifying and morbidly fascinating to watch that trial unfold. I was shocked when he was aquitted, and I do wonder if current day DNA testing might have proved more persuasive.

 

[Yehudi]

Until 1985, I lived just about a half mile down Bundy (in the cheaper direction) from Nicole Brown Simpson's townhome. It was both horrifying and morbidly fascinating to watch that trial unfold. I was shocked when he was aquitted, and I do wonder if current day DNA testing might have proved more persuasive.

Not with that jury and not with Fuhrman

 

[Judy]

Until 1985, I lived just about a half mile down Bundy (in the cheaper direction) from Nicole Brown Simpson's townhome. It was both horrifying and morbidly fascinating to watch that trial unfold. I was shocked when he was aquitted, and I do wonder if current day DNA testing might have proved more persuasive.

The DNA was very good. It was just not as kinda “understood” back then or maybe respected as much as it is now. It was a very long time since those murders happened too. I remember my SIL’s best friend - as she’s kinda in that field .. saying years ago how could they not find him guilty with the dna.

Most of us aren’t capable of understanding dna but we rely on the experts that do in a criminal trial.

 

[attyfan]

...

Most of us aren’t capable of understanding dna but we rely on the experts that do in a criminal trial.

But in OJ's trial, there were competing experts, with one testifying that some issues in handling the evidence effectively "contaminated" things so the results wouldn't be reliable. The jury that was seated could not really assess the competing experts because their schooling did not give them the necessary background knowledge. Now that DNA evidence is more common (and now that many schools address the issue in all science classes, even those not for college prep people) jurors are better equipped to deal with it.

 

[Judy]

But in OJ's trial, there were competing experts, with one testifying that some issues in handling the evidence effectively "contaminated" things so the results wouldn't be reliable. The jury that was seated could not really assess the competing experts because their schooling did not give them the necessary background knowledge. Now that DNA evidence is more common (and now that many schools address the issue in all science classes, even those not for college prep people) jurors are better equipped to deal with it.

There’s always experts for both sides. The whole trial turned into a circus.

The trial lasted an insane 11 months. I tuned out long, long before the verdict.