Shamed OJ Simpson spent final years shunned by A-list pals & playing lonely rounds of golf inside guarded Vegas mansion
HE was once considered one of America’s greatest sportsmen but OJ Simpson will forever be linked with the brutal death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown.
The former Buffalo Bills footballer reinvented himself as an actor after his sporting career but it all came crashing down when he was accused of killing Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
He was sensationally cleared of the murders in what was dubbed the ‘trial of the century’.
Yet the Naked Gun star, who died on Wednesday at the age of 76, found himself behind bars 12 years later when he spent nine years in jail for armed robbery.
OJ’s chequered history never put a damper on his life of luxury.
As he succumbed to cancer, he was holed up in a £1.4million luxury five-bedroom house where has lived since being released from prison in 2017.
Shunned by celebrity pals after being cleared of double murder in one of the first ever-televised trials, Simpson found solace in the home of close friend James Barnett.
The pair met when wealthy businessman Barnett hired him for a motivational speech decades ago.
The palatial, guarded property near the Las Vegas strip lies inside a gated community with its own pool and golf course where Simpson, nicknamed The Juice, regularly played a round.
The mansion is a far-cry from the 125 square-foot cell with just a bunk bed toilet and sink where OJ spent nine years locked up at Lovelock Correctional Centre in Nevada.
When he was released early for good behaviour in 2017, pals said he enjoyed dinners of steak and seafish and he was pictured lounging by the pool and enjoying the odd night out in Las Vegas.
Far from keeping a low profile, OJ was spotted at hotels and even a Vegas Golden Knights hockey game.
He lived on an £8,000-a-month pension from the NFL and was said to be making cash signing sports memorabilia at around £350 a pop.
Fans flocked to take selfies with him – despite his criminal background.
But in latter years he has barely been seen publicly, posting the odd picture of himself playing golf on social media.
One of the last photographs of Simpson was taken last month and showed him using a cane to walk after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It was a pitiful sight for a man who had once been a real American hero but lost everything.
Yet he claimed to “never look back”.
He once of the murder accusation: “We don’t need to go back and relive the worst days of our lives.
“The subject of the moment is the subject I will never revisit again. My family and I have moved on to what we call the ‘no negative zone’. We focus on the positives.”
Rags to riches
Simpson’s rollercoaster life was one of ups and downs from the start.
The disgraced ex National Football League running back suffered an impoverished childhood.
His dad left him aged five and the family were so poor OJ suffered from rickets, a calcium and vitamin deficiency that warped his legs.
Unable to afford medical care, his mum Eunice created crude braces by putting the wrong shoe on each foot until his legs grew stronger.
Simpson became so strong that he was eventually able to dash 100 yards in 9.9 seconds.
He was voted best player in American collegiate football and drafted into the Buffalo Bills where he won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award in 1973.
My family and I have moved on to what we call the ‘no negative zone’. We focus on the positives
OJ on murder accusations
He retired from football in 1979 and reinvented himself as a broadcaster and actor starring in movies such as the Towering Inferno, Capricorn One and the Naked Gun comedy series.
He also cashed in with massive advertising deals, including one for Hertz cars in which he sprinted through an airport in a three-piece suit.
Horror double death
But in 1994 he was charged with double murder of Nicole Brown, 35, and her restaurateur friend Ron Goldman.
They were found savagely murdered outside Brown’s Los Angeles townhouse in June 1994 as she and OJ’s two children slept upstairs.
Their bodies lay in a narrow passageway next to the Californian property and Nicole had been stabbed 12 times, with the fatal wound almost severing her neck.
Police put out a notice for OJ to give himself up but 95 million Americans watched transfixed as the shamed star took police on a 60-mile car chase through Orange County and Los Angeles, which was shown on TV.
His trial began in January 1995 and dominated the news agenda for 10 months.
The court heard how Nicole told pals Simpson had beaten her up over a period of 16 years – and detailed attacks in her diary. She alleged he once smashed up her car with a baseball bat and hit her at a friend’s anniversary party.
DNA evidence, which was a new science at the time, showed the chances of blood found on OJ’s sock not being from Nicole was one in 21 billion.
Blood found inside his white Bronco car – which he used to try escape cops – was also matched to Nicole and Ron.
But the jury found the forensic evidence confusing.
Inside OJ Simpson's infamous police car chase
On June 17, 1994, OJ Simpson, seen driving his white Ford Bronco, led a mass of police cars on a 90-minute chase through southern California.
Two days prior, his wife Nicole Brown, 35, and her friend Ron Goldman, 25, were found brutally stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles condo.
After gathering evidence from the scene, including bloody murder gloves, police filed charges against Simpson, and he was scheduled to turn himself in at 11 am on the 17th.
However, he failed to show up at the police station, and officials started looking for him.
Simpson’s defense attorney Ben Shapiro gave detectives the address where he had been lying low, but responding officers found that he ran away.
The former NFL superstar was declared a fugitive and a massive search was launched for him and his friend Al Cowlings, who he had run away with.
Hours after the search was launched, Simpson called 911 from his cell phone while driving his white Ford Bronco, allowing police to track down his location.
At around 6 pm local time, the low-speed chase started and continued down the I-5 Freeway in Orange County, California.
The chase was live-streamed by news outlets and horrified viewers across the nation were glued to their television screens to see what happened next.
Domino’s Pizza had its best day ever as families were too busy watching to make any dinner.
By 9 pm that same day, Simpson led cops to his Brentwood estate.
After a tense standoff, he turned himself in, and he was taken to the Los Angeles County Jail.
The trial’s most famous moment came when Simpson attempted to try on the gloves which were found by cops and were matched to Simpson’s DNA.
However, OJ’s hands appeared to be too big for the gloves.
His defence lawyer said the gloves were important evidence, telling the jury: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
He wants to eat seafood; he wants to eat steak. He’s going to get the latest iPhone
Pal Tom Scotto on OJ's prison release
They did acquit but OJ was later found guilty in a civil case and ordered to pay the victims’ families $33million for “wrongful death.”
Simpson was arrested for armed robbery in 2008 after an incident in which he said he was trying to get back items he believed were stolen from him – including his Heisman Trophy.
He went to a hotel to try and get them back after a tip-off, taking associates including one armed with a weapon.
He was jailed the same year, but by then the murder case had already ruined his reputation.
Jail stint
In jail, as ‘prisoner 1027820’, he passed the time toiling in the gym and coaching inmate sports teams. He even became the jail’s softball league commissioner.
He was meant to serve 33 years but was released early – much to the fury of victim Ron Goldman’s family.
When he first let-out, close friend Tom Scotto said Simpson was enjoying “simple pleasures”.
He said: “He wants to see his family and hug his family on the outside of prison.
“He wants to eat seafood; he wants to eat steak. He wants to enjoy the simple pleasures that he hasn’t enjoyed in nine years. He’s going to get the latest iPhone.”
In 2019 Simpson said he preferred to live in Las Vegas than return to his old home in Florida saying: “The town has been good to me.”
He remained close to his children and other relatives in Florida and often went to visit his two youngest Justin, 33, and Sydney, 35, who work in real estate.
They were inside their mother Nicole’s home when she was killed and later pictured at her funeral with their dad.
OJ had three other children to first wife Marguerite Whitley, who he wed in 1967.
His eldest Arnelle, 52, was a witness in his trial but their relationship later became strained when OJ allegedly became angry with her for not paying the mortgage on his South Florida home.
The ex player’s oldest son Jason, 51, is said to be working as a chef in Atlanta.
OJ and Marguerite’s third child, Aaren Simpson tragically died in a swimming pool accident aged one in 1979.