O.J. Simpson in court at a preliminary hearing in Las Vegas on November 14, 2007
Tribune Content Agency
On Wednesday, April 10, former NFL football player Orenthal “O.J.” Simpson passed away due to a battle with prostate cancer.
Despite his massively successful career in football, which won him the Most Valuable Player award from the NFL in 1973, Simpson is known and remembered in our society for something not nearly as noble.
Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her supposed friend Ronald Goldman, were murdered outside of Brown Simpson’s home in Los Angeles on the evening of June 12, 1994.
Simpson was shortly thereafter arrested for the murder of both Brown Simpson and Goldman after being chased down by the Los Angeles Police Department for two hours on June 17, 1994.
After a nine-month long trial, despite a plethora of evidence proving Simpson was the assailant, Simpson was found not guilty for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman by the jury.
As a result, nearly-unanimous shock and outrage ensued throughout the country as the world watched a man who was so obviously guilty of a double murder get off scot-free.
Because of the not-guilty verdict, which was decided on Oct. 3, 1995, Simpson’s death will subsequently not be mourned by many, and here are a few reasons (other than the obvious, overarching one) as to why:
1. Simpson demonstrates a clear lack of respect for his case and the victims involved.
In 1998, Simpson appeared on the documentary series “Ruby Wax Meets…,” where Ruby Wax, the host of the series, held an interview with Simpson regarding the case he was previously involved in.
After conducting the interview, Simpson notified Wax that he had a surprise for her backstage.
From there, Simpson proceeded to pretend to stab her with a banana, mocking the fact that he had recently been accused of bludgeoning his ex-wife and her friend to death with a knife.
2. Simpson has, quite literally, proven to be a violent criminal.
On September 13, 2007, Simpson, accompanied by a group, allegedly stormed into the hotel room of Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia dealer, believing him to have stolen merchandise from Simpson.
Simpson was convicted of twelve counts of armed robbery and kidnapping in December of the following year, and was sentenced to 33 years in prison in Nevada.
Simpson was released on parole on Oct. 1, 2017.
3. Simpson actually was, in fact, found guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
There is, in fact, an existent jury that recognizes O.J. Simpson as the murderer so many believe him to be.
The only problem is, he was already decided by the jury in his criminal court case to be not guilty. The separate case in which he was found liable for the murders was a civil lawsuit, which resulted in the families of Brown Simpson and Goldman being awarded $33.5 million for the wrongful death of the two victims.
4. Simpson was awarded custody of the two children he shared with Nicole Brown Simpson.
After Simpson was acquitted, he was awarded custody of the two children, son Justin and daughter Sydney, that he had with Brown Simpson.
Brown Simpson’s parents, however, fought for custody of their grandchildren as they believed their ex-son-in-law was a threat to their well-being.
Simpson was allowed full custody of Sydney and Justin largely due to the fact that his murder trial was not permitted to be used in the custody hearing. The judge hearing the case found no other reason to believe that Simpson would execute violence towards his children.
This decision was made even after Simpson was found liable for the murders of Brown Simpson and Goldman in the civil lawsuit.
5. A lock of Simpson’s hair was found on Ron Goldman’s shirt.
When analyzing the data at the crime scene, investigators found a lock of hair on Goldman’s shirt that was a perfect, microscopic match to Simpson’s.
There was also a knit ski cap found nearby, with twelve locks of hair that, too, matched that of Simpson’s.
It is clear that we will not be seeing any mournful tributes to O.J. Simpson on social media, nor will he be remembered in any positive light.
It is unfortunate to see that someone who could have accomplished great things will eternally be remembered as a blood-thirsty, conniving murderer.