O.J. Simpson, the former football star and Miami resident who was acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend in what became known as "The Trial of the Century," has died after a battle with cancer at 76, his family said.
His family announced his death on his X account on Thursday. Early in 2024, it was reported that Simpson had been diagnosed with and was being treated for prostate cancer.
The former NFL star moved to Miami after he was acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
O.J. SIMPSON
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The trial itself was a spectacle, the focus of breathless gavel-to-gavel TV coverage, with Simpson represented by a legal “Dream Team” that included the late Johnnie Cochran Jr. and F. Lee Bailey.
Three years later Simpson was, however, found liable for the deaths by a California civil court jury and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families.
In the late 90s, O.J. moved his family to Miami, marking the beginning of his connection with South Florida, multiple encounters with the law and shocking the South Florida community with scandals and gossip.
Simpson started a romantic relationship with Christie Prody back in Los Angeles before she moved to Miami. She was 21 years old, he was 46.
In 1999, Simpson called police from Prody’s town house to say that she had been on a cocaine binge. Then, in 2000, police said Simpson told them Prody had kicked and slapped him at a Miami hotel, according to NBC News.
Later that year, Prody accused Simpson of coming uninvited into her home, erasing messages on her answering machine, taking pages out of an address book, and also taking a letter. Simpson denied wrongdoing, and Prody ultimately decided not to press charges.
There was another physical confrontation between the couple in 2001 and another spat involving a neighbor in 2005. No charges were filed in those incidents.
O.J. bought a house in Kendall in 2000. The house was located at 9450 Southwest 112 Street.
The house was sold to third party bidder as part of a bank foreclosure proceeding issued by a judge in 2013 for JPMorgan Chase Bank after being in foreclosure proceedings for about two years.
Court documents showed Simpson owed more than $796,000 in principal and interest on the Florida property.
O.J. Simpson
In 2001, federal authorities and Florida police searched Simpson’s Kendall home “while investigating an international drug ring and the theft of satellite TV programming,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “A TV news helicopter captured videotape of Simpson, in his robe, leading officers around his backyard and playing with his dogs.”
No illegal substances were found in the home, said attorney Yale Galanter.
Simpson’s trouble with South Florida police continued when he got into that road rage dispute in Florida with a driver who accused him of trying to snatch the glasses off his face.
Simpson denied trying to take the glasses, testifying his fingerprints must have gotten on them when he accidentally bumped him as both were shouting at each other.
In 2002, he nearly got locked up when he pleaded not guilty to speeding his boat through one of Florida’s manatee-protected zones, then didn’t show up in court. After a judge issued a warrant for his arrest, he paid the fine.
Simpson was again in the spotlight in 2003 when his then-teenage daughter placed an emotional 911 call to Miami-Dade police, asking them to intervene in an argument between her and her father, according to ESPN.
Sydney Simpson, who at that time was 17 years old, was crying when she made the call the morning of Jan. 18, stating she had gotten into an argument with her father over family issues, according to ESPN.
In 2007, Simpson robbed a memorabilia dealer. He was later convicted for this and served a minimum of nine-to-33-year prison sentence. He spent more than eight years in prison.
A Nevada parole board said in 2017 that O.J. had requested to live in Florida after being released from prison.
"I could easily stay in Nevada, but I don't think you guys want me here," Simpson said while laughing during his parole hearing.
Simpson’s lawyer at the time, Malcolm LaVergne, said that there was “no doubt he’s going to Florida.”
This would later change in 2018, when it was reported he was not moving to Florida.
