It’s hard to believe, but 25 years have now passed since the brutal deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman – a crime that famously saw Nicole’s ex-husband, former NFL football icon turned actor OJ Simpson, accused of their murders in what was dubbed ‘the trial of the century’.
The case continues to resonate today – watch the video below
Just after midnight on June 13, 1994, Nicole returned home to her Brentwood, Los Angeles condo – followed by Ron, who was widely described as a friend, but who was apparently simply returning the sunglasses she had left at the restaurant where he worked.
The pair were savagely knifed to death outside the California home, with the horrific crime scene photos splashed around the world. The murder quickly became the subject of the moment, and one of the most closely followed celebrity crimes in history.
With Simpson the immediate suspect in his ex-wife’s murder case, he attempted to flee police in a now notorious road chase that saw his white Ford Bronco pursued down California freeways live on TV.
Despite a history of alleged domestic violence towards his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, the football Hall of Fame inductee was found not guilty on October 3, 1995 – a result that provoked a wave of outrage around the country and the world. The failed murder trail made stars of Simpson’s legal ‘dream team’, which included Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and F. Lee Bailey.
It also introduced the world to the name Kardashian, with OJ’s friend and advisor, the late Robert Kardashian, often taking centre stage.
Simpson vowed to find the ‘real killer’ of Ron Goldman and his former wife – something he never succeeded in doing.
‘I will pursue as my primary goal in life the killer or killers who slaughtered Nicole and Mr. Goldman,’ he said at the time.
‘They are out there somewhere. Whatever it takes to identify them and bring them in, I will provide somehow.’
It’s unclear what methods the American star employed in his fruitless search.
The past caught up with the star in 2006, when the victims’s families launched civil action for the wrongful deaths of their loved ones. They were awarded millions of dollars in compensation.
Things got worse for Simpson in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2007, when he was arrested and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping.
In 2008 he was convicted and sentenced to 33 years imprisonment. After serving nine years he was released. He now lives a quiet life, claiming to survive on pensions after his fortune was stripped of him.
While opinions about his guilt still run hot, the case is no closer to being officially resolved a quarter century later.
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