(KNSI) – Football superstar turned murder suspect OJ Simpson has died after a battle with prostate cancer.
He played at City College San Francisco and the University of Southern California before being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1969. He played 11 seasons in the NFL, mostly for Buffalo, before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers. He hung up his cleats after a 31-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on December 16th, 1979.
Also known for his acting ability, he appeared in the TV miniseries Roots and films such as The Towering Inferno and The Naked Gun franchise. Aside from his acting career, he was also a commentator for Monday Night Football and The NFL on NBC.
In 1994, he was the main suspect in the brutal murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her partner Ron Goldman, who were found stabbed to death outside her L.A. condo. The infamous slow-speed police chase on a Los Angeles freeway and his ensuing trial were some of the most widely publicized events on TV at that time, even preempting the coverage of the NBA finals as the chase was aired live across television screens around the country.
He was charged with their murders, and the ensuing media spectacle was called the Trial of the Century.
In October of 1995, Simpson was acquitted in both murders, only to be found civilly liable two years later for the deaths Brown Simpson and Goldman in a wrongful death suit filed by their families. He was ordered to pay $33,500,000 in damages: $8.5 million in compensatory damages to the Goldman family, and $12.5 million in punitive damages to each family.
His legal troubles continued, and in 2001, Simpson was arrested after an altercation in Florida during a traffic dispute. He was also busted in 2004 for pirating signals from DirecTV and ordered to pay $25,000. In 2007, he was also caught up in a robbery at a Las Vegas hotel. Simpson admitted to taking items but denied breaking into the room. He was charged with multiple felony counts and later found guilty after a trial in 2008. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison but released on parole in 2017.
Family members said Simpson was battling cancer and that his health had taken a turn for the worse recently, and he had been in hospice.
He died Wednesday night surrounded by his kids and grandkids.
He was 76.
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