Controversial US football star OJ Simpson succumbs to cancer passing away at 76

CONTROVERSIAL former US footballer and actor Orenthal James Simpson popularly known as OJ Simpson has passed away at the age of 76 after succumbing to cancer yesterday according to his family.

OJ Simpson, a former American football player, often regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time, later became an actor and a cultural icon. However, he was perhaps most well known for his role in the highly publicised and controversial trial of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.

In what many referred to as the trial of the century, OJ Simpson was accused, charged and then acquitted of murdering Brown and Goldman in 1994. His acquittal, by a mostly Black jury, was a seminal moment in US cultural history, as despite being cleared of the double murder, the general public refused to acquit him of the crime.

A family spokesman said: “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.”

OJ Simpson rose to fame as a college footballer before playing in the US National Football League (NFL). In 1995, he was acquitted of the murder of Ms Brown and Mr Goldman but in 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment on charges of armed robbery and was released in 2017.

Before 1994, OJ Simpson was regarded with affection by the public, well known as a professional athlete, actor and million-dollar spokesman for several US companies. His trial changed all that however, as prosecutors argued that Simpson killed Brown in a jealous fury and evidence presented included blood, hair and fibre tests linking him to the murders.

However, his defence argued that OJ Simpson had been framed by police motivated by racism. In one of the most memorable moments in the trial, prosecutors asked Simpson to wear a pair of blood-stained gloves found at the scene of the murder but he struggled to put on the gloves.

That blunder led to one of Simpson's lawyers, Johnnie Cochrane, telling the jury in his closing arguments: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." At the end of the trial, the  jury sided with Simpson, who declared he was absolutely 100% not guilty.