Revisiting the 'case of the century' that shocked American history

The OJ Simpson trial shocked the American public, turning the former football star into the most famous criminal defendant in the country's history. The case attracted so much public attention that famous talk show host Larry King once declared on CNN: "If we have an interview with God and OJ is free, then we'll have to break our appointment with God!"

Trouble began when Nicole Brown and her lover Ronald Goldan were found dead with multiple stab wounds on June 12, 1994. Police suspected Simpson, 47, of murdering his ex-wife and her lover.

Early on the morning of June 17, 1994, after learning that authorities were preparing to file formal charges against him, the former football star attempted to flee Los Angeles. However, police determined that Simpson was in a white Ford Bronco, driven by his friend, former NFL player Al Cowlings.

Speaking to police on his cell phone, Simpson explained that he had a gun and was ready to kill himself. Authorities were forced to agree not to use force to stop the car.

Several news agencies sent helicopters to follow and update every development of the case. The entire process of the police chasing Simpson was broadcast live on television, attracting millions of viewers.

According to witnesses, a convoy of police cars relentlessly followed the white car driven by Cowlings, on many routes of Los Angeles, while Simpson sat huddled in the back seat of the car with a gun to his head.

Finally, after nearly nine hours of cat-and-mouse, Simpson's car returned to his Rockingham residence. It took police another 90 minutes of tense confrontation before he surrendered. A search of the car and person yielded a gun, a camouflage beard and mustache, and Simpson's passport.

Simpson's first criminal trial on January 24, 1995, was considered the most crowded trial in American history. For nearly nine months after that, every time the former football star's trial took place, more than half of the American population turned to the screen.

This was also the longest trial in California history, with court costs reaching $20 million. Official statistics show that 91% of the US television audience followed the trial; 142 million people listened to the verdict on radio and television. Some studies even estimate that the US lost more than $25 billion because workers neglected their jobs to follow this case.

In addition to being the focus of media attention, Simpson's trial has also deeply divided American public opinion and raised many doubts about the country's judicial system. In opinion polls, the majority of African Americans believe that the former football star, a black man, is completely innocent. Meanwhile, the vast majority of white people believe that he was the killer.

Due to the lack of convincing evidence to convict Simpson, on October 3, 1995, a jury of nine African Americans, two whites and one Latino juror acquitted Simpson.

The criminal trial ended, but the law did not let Simpson go. A year later, on October 23, 1996, he was again the defendant in a civil trial, for the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman in Santa Monica, California. This time, the purpose of the trial was simply to decide whether the defendant had committed or not committed the crime.

Finally, on February 4, 1997, a jury of one black, one Latino, one Asian, and nine whites found Simpson guilty of several counts of murder in the murders of his ex-wife and her lover. The court ruled that Simpson must pay $33.5 million in compensation to the victims' families.

However, in reality, the victims' families have received almost no compensation from the former basketball star because he is bankrupt, owes lawyers money and had to mortgage his Rockingham mansion to pay huge legal fees but it is still not enough.

Simpson later lived on a $4 million pension fund he had set up while playing football. He would receive more than $20,000 a month from the fund, which the courts could not touch. Simpson also moved to Florida to avoid having his money for compensation seized in a California civil court ruling.

In 2006, Simpson wrote a book called “If I Did It.” The book included several detailed descriptions of “imaginary” actions Simpson might take if he wanted to kill his ex-wife and his rival. The book was scheduled for publication, but was later canceled due to concerns that it would cause public outrage.

In September 2007, Simpson's name was mentioned again when he and eight others participated in an armed robbery at the Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. With many blemishes in the past, Simpson, now 60 years old, was denied bail and prosecuted on 12 charges ranging from kidnapping, assault, robbery to using a deadly weapon. In December 2008, the former basketball star was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

However, after serving at least 9 years in prison in Lovelock, Nevada, on October 1, 2017, Simpson, 70 years old, was pardoned and released early due to good behavior.