Former American football player O.J. Simpson acquitted of murdering wife, dies aged 76

Former NFL star O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend, has died after a battle with cancer, according to a statement from his family on his X account.

He died Wednesday surrounded by his children and grandchildren, the post said.

Simpson was acquitted by a Los Angeles jury in 1994 of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Called the “Trial of the Century.”

The former NFL star, one of the most popular athletes of the 1960s and 1970s, was convicted in 2008 of robbing and kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint inside a Las Vegas hotel. 12 counts of armed robbery, 9 years in prison in Nevada.

Simpson, nicknamed “Juice,” was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 after a stellar career in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers.

Simpson also had a career as a sportscaster and Hollywood actor before he was charged with murdering his wife and her friend in 1994.

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles home. Simpson was ordered to surrender to police, but five days after the murder he fled with a former teammate in a white Ford Mustang. . A police chase ensued, ending at Simpson’s mansion, where he was charged with murder.

The Simpson trial lasted 11 months and was one of the most notorious trials in the United States. Even then-President Bill Clinton left the Oval Office and watched the verdict on his secretary’s TV.

Several films and documentaries have been produced about Simpson, including the 2016 Oscar-winning documentary “OJ: Made in America.”