Your current location:HOME >health >O.J. Simpson, football star turned celebrity murder defendant, dies at 76 正文
TIME:2024-05-21 21:03:45 Source: Internet compilationEdit:health
Washington —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.
Digital technologies restore looks of 2,2002024-05-21 21:00
Exhibiting how dragon got integrated into Tibetan culture2024-05-21 20:56
HKSAR LegCo unanimously passes milestone bill to better safeguard national security2024-05-21 20:53
China to take multiple measures to upgrade basic education: Minister2024-05-21 20:35
Trump or Biden? Either way, US seems poised to preserve heavy tariffs on imports2024-05-21 20:20
The proof going vegan ISN'T better for you? Study finds plant2024-05-21 19:48
Bassitt gets 2nd straight victory as Blue Jays win 32024-05-21 19:43
North America witnesses total solar eclipse2024-05-21 19:30
Travis Kelce downs whiskey shot on slice of bread at Kelce Jam without Taylor Swift2024-05-21 19:18
Belarus, Azerbaijan to strengthen bilateral cooperation2024-05-21 18:40
Christopher Reeve Super/Man documentary2024-05-21 20:44
China denounces EU's pretext for anti2024-05-21 20:35
14 killed, 37 injured in passenger bus crash in north China2024-05-21 20:16
China to enhance coordination with Arab League: Chinese FM2024-05-21 19:56
Macron is making a surprise trip to New Caledonia amid deadly unrest and indigenous frustration2024-05-21 19:31
11 killed in suspected IS attack in Syrian desert region: war monitor2024-05-21 18:54
China launches new relay satellite for Earth2024-05-21 18:53
Veterans' fury as millionaire New Labour power couple lodge plans to build 'oppressive' 202024-05-21 18:42
Revealed: Brit tourist, 19, subjected to sex attack in Majorca 'was gang2024-05-21 18:41
Why the royals are no fans of Buckingham Palace... and what it's really like to live there2024-05-21 18:18