Upon O.J. Simpson’s passing at the age of 76, his 11 seasons in the NFL were overshadowed by the stain of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, leaving behind a legacy marred by tragedy .
Upon learning he was the prime suspect, Simpson joined his friend Al Cowlings in the passenger seat of a white Ford Bronco, sparking a widely-remembered speed chase that became a cultural phenomenon. Aspiring true crime enthusiasts who avidly followed the infamous “trial of the century” through television and print media would encounter chilling details about Brown and Goldman’s tragic final moments. A 1995 report by The Washington Post vividly described the grim discovery of the bloody crime scene.
Testimony from neighbours who stumbled upon Brown’s body outside her Brentwood home painted a scene reminiscent of a CSI episode: Nicole’s blood-soaked dog roaming the area led them to the grisly sight of a woman lying in a pool of blood. The autopsy report on Brown detailed seven stab wounds inflicted on her scalp and neck, accompanied by defensive cuts on her hands, suggesting she had attempted to fend off her attacker. Among these wounds, the most extensive was a horrific slash across her throat, spanning more than five inches in length. The brutal slash severed Brown’s carotid arteries and jugular veins on both sides of her neck, leaving an impression on one of her vertebrae due to the force per the autopsy report .
The 911 call made by Nicole Brown Simpson after her ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, arrived at her house in October 1993. During the night of June 12, 1994, Brown was fatally stabbed outside her residence, along with her friend, Ron Goldman. An autopsy revealed that Brown had been… pic.twitter.com/LIL2ZEx2uf
— Morbid Knowledge (@Morbidful) April 14, 2024
During Simpson’s trial, medical examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran described how Brown’s face had been forcibly struck against a wall during the attack, according to the Tampa Bay Times . Subsequently, she was left lying face-down on the ground, with her assailant likely inflicting the fatal neck wound by seizing her hair and slashing her throat. “She was alive at least a minute or more before the last wound was inflicted. She would have gone into rapid shock,” Sathyavagiswaran said, per the Chicago Tribune .
Nicole Brown Simpson called a domestic violence shelter 5 days before she was murdered. She had called the cops at least 9 times. He stalked her for two years. The jury was not told any of this. “The foreknowledge [of her] death was stalking her.” https://t.co/pkB3dBUp4C pic.twitter.com/mL4KCDcIAv
— Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD (@arghavan_salles) April 11, 2024
Detective Tom Lange testified, as reported by The New York Times , that the assailant likely killed Brown before murdering Ron Goldman. He mentioned that the lack of blood on the bottom of her feet at the crime scene supported this sequence of events. In 1989, Simpson was arrested and charged with abuse of spouse following a police intervention at the residence he shared with Brown. Simpson had severely assaulted his partner back then leaving Brown with a black eye and several cuts. “You never do anything about him. You talk to him and then you leave. I want him arrested. I want him out so I can get my kids,” she reportedly said back then expressing her regret over the laxity of the authorities.
This article originally appeared 6 months ago.