NFL superstar who became a disgraced murder suspect

The life of OJ Simpson, who has died at the age of 76, was overshadowed by one of the most infamous trials of all time

- JANE DALTON

Twenty-nine years ago, in 1995, the world was gripped by what the US media called “the trial of the century”, in which American football star and actor OJ Simpson was accused of murdering his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. They had been viciously stabbed to death.

Simpson was a superstar of sport and screen in the US, but in the UK what really made him famous was the live television coverage of police chasing his car through the streets of Los Angeles – as viewers were stunned by a celebrity becoming a wanted man. Other drivers got out of their cars to cheer him on, in what became an iconic real-life highlight of television history. After 60 miles, the chase ended at Simpson’s mansion, and he was later charged with the double murder.

The story of how the American hero was suspected of turning into a villain played out dramatically in court, in one of the most notorious trials to be held in 20th-century America.

The case had everything to keep viewers on the edge of their seats: a rich celebrity defendant; a Black man accused of killing his white former wife out of jealousy; a woman murdered after divorcing a man who had beaten her; expensive, charismatic defence lawyers; and a huge gaffe made by prosecutors.

In a sensational ending to the trial, Simpson was cleared of both murders, but 13 years later, in 2008, he was convicted of 12 counts of armed robbery and involvement in the kidnapping of two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel, for which he spent nine years in prison. Many people who were still convinced he was guilty of the murders felt it was the second-best outcome.