The People v. Orenthal James Simpson

Orenthal James "O.J." Simpson was born on July 9, 1947 at Stanford University Hospital in San Francisco. At the age of 2, he contracted rickets and was forced to wear home-made braces on his legs until age 5. O.J. joined the Persian Warriors gang in 1960 and was briefly incarcerated at the San Francisco Youth Guidance Center in 1962. Following this brief stint in the correctional system, O.J. enrolled at City College in San Franciso and played football for them from 1965 to 1966. Due to his prowess, he was named to the Junior College All American team which helped him earn an athletic scholarship to University of Southern California in 1967.

Much has been forgotten about O.J.'s much less infamous first marriage to Marguerite Whitley. The couple met at Galileo High School and began dating in 1965 and, once Marguerite turned 18 in 1967, they married. O.J.'s football career was just beginning to take off, and during their marriage they spent the majority of their time in Amherst, New York while he played for the Buffalo Bills. They had three children over the course of their 11 year marriage, one of whom tragically died in a drowning accident in 1979. By 1977 there was trouble in paradise, and O.J.'s celebrity status was taking its toll on the marriage. It was during this tumultuous time that O.J. met Nicole Brown, who was working as a waitress in Los Angeles. O.J. and Marguerite separated in 1978 and were divorced by 1979.

Nicole Brown was only 18 when she met O.J. in that Los Angeles restaurant, and despite the large age difference between the two, they married in 1985 and began reproducing almost immediately. The death of O.J.'s father, Jimmie Lee Simpson, in 1986 was bookended on each side by the birth of his two children; a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1988. While nobody can exactly say what went on behind closed doors in the Simpson household, what is known is that by January 1989 Nicole had ample reason to fear for her life. O.J.'s violent behavior led to a spousal abuse conviction where he was required to pay fines and make a charitable donation to a battered women's program, in addition to a 120-hour community service requirement. It seems that this did little good, however, as the couple were divorced by October 1992.

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were brutally stabbed in Nicole's home. Ron, who was both Nicole's friend and a local waiter, was visiting the home to return a pair of sunglasses that Nicole's mother left at the restaurant where he worked. He left for Nicole's at about 9:50 pm and this was the last time either Ron or Nicole were known to be alive. We do know that Ron made it to the Simpson house, because at 12:10am on June 13th, 1994, Nicole's dog led neighbors to the murder scene. Within the week, the LAPD begins their investigation into their now prime suspect; Orenthal James Simpson.

Nicole Brown was born in May 1959 in Frankfurt, West Germany to Juditha Anne and Louis Hezekiel Brown. Her mother was German and her father American, and by the time Nicole reached high school the family had relocated to California. In 1977, when Nicole was 18, she was introduced to O.J. Simpson while working as a waitress in an L.A. nightclub called the Daisy. The couple began dating, despite the fact that O.J. was still legally married to his first wife, Marguerite. While he and Marguerite divorced in 1979, his marital status seemed unimportant to Nicole as their relationship culminated in marriage in early 1985. Sadly, the couple were unable to reconcile their differences and Nicole filed for divorce in February 1992. Friends claimed the couple were "dramatic" and "mutually obsessed" during both their relationship and subsequent marriage, so it seemed that the divorce was for the best.

Below you'll find a clip of a 911 call made by Nicole Brown Simpson made not long before her untimely death. Her fear is laid bare in her frantic tone and shaking voice.

Although they were divorced, the couple still had to care for their 2 young children. O.J. and Nicole attempted to reconcile with one another, but were ultimately unable to come to any kind of middle ground. It was during this tumultuous time that Nicole was brutally murdered in her own home along with her friend, Ron Goldman. The pair were found by Nicole's neighbor at around 12 midnight on the morning of June 13th, 1994. The Simpson children, aged 8 and 6, were asleep in the house at the time the murder occurred.

Ronald Lyle Goldman was born in July 1968 in Buffalo Grove, Illinois to Sharon Rufo and Fred Goldman. Ron attended Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois before enrolling at Illinois State University for one semester. His family, father Fred and younger sister Kim, had moved to Southern California and he joined them in 1985. In California, Ron worked various waiter jobs in addition to occasional modeling work. He first became acquainted with Nicole Brown Simpson a mere 6 weeks before he was killed in her Brentwood home. The pair had a platonic friendship and met for coffee, dinner, and dancing several times during their short friendship.

While their friendship may have been a healthy one, it was nevertheless still the cause of Ron's death. He was killed on the walkway headed into the Simpson home and police believe that he arrived after Nicole had already been murdered, making him collateral damage. An eyewitness heard a man shouting that night, and it is believed that this was Ron attempting to help Nicole or call attention to the gruesom scene. Ron's name was often overlooked during the initial trial in 1995, but in 1997 his family was awarded $19.5 million in damages during a civil wrongful death trial against O.J. Simpson. Then, in 2007, his family was also awarded the proceeds, exclusive rights, and copyright of Simpson's book If I Did It. This enabled them to rebrand and redistribute the novel as If I Did It: Cofessions of the Killer, essentially ensuring Simpson would never be able to profit from the book.