The infamous and controversial O.J. Simpson trial stemmed from his wife Nicole Brown Simpson’s murder in June 1994. Neighbors found Brown Simpson and a restaurant waiter, Ron Goldman, stabbed to death outside the former’s Brentwood, Los Angeles, home.
According to The Sun, Nicole Brown Simpson’s autopsy revealed that she died of multiple stab wounds to the neck and scalp. She also had a severe slit in her throat, which had nearly decapitated her. Police also found a single glove at the victim’s house.
Detectives declared former NFL star and entertainment personality O.J. Simpson was a suspect in the killings based on crucial evidence they found at his house. This included blood and a glove that matched the one they recovered from the crime scene. The horrific killings and the spectacular trial that followed dominated news channels for years to come.
The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson revisits the horrific murders and the controversial O.J. Simpson trial that followed.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s autopsy report & cause of death explained
ABC News reported that on the night of June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her family went for dinner at a Los Angeles restaurant. A waiter from the same restaurant and Brown Simpson’s friend Ron Goldman went to her home that same night with her mother’s glasses that she had left behind. Later, sometime around midnight, a neighbor found both their bodies at a grisly crime scene outside her house. They both died of multiple stab wounds.
Grunge stated that Brown Simpson’s occurred while her two children, Sydney (8) and Justin (5), were sleeping inside the house. Their dog was the first to alert the neighbors who then made the gruesome discovery. When the first responders arrived at the crime scene, they found that the victim had drawn a bath and made a bowl of ice cream. Authorities found the children asleep in their respective bedrooms.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s autopsy revealed that the cause of death was seven stab wounds to the neck and scalp. Moreover, she had a deep slit across her throat, reported The Sun. The severe slit had severed both carotid arteries and breached her jugular veins, nearly decapitating her. She also had defensive wounds on her hands.
During the investigation, detectives found a single bloody glove at the crime scene. Furthermore, when they went to the victim’s husband’s house to inform him of the tragedy, they found a white Ford Bronco with blood on it. However, Simpson was not present there, as he had taken a flight to Chicago late the previous night. The police also found a second glove on his property and linked it to the one found at the scene.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s case: When did O.J. Simpson’s trial start?
Reportedly, prosecutors ordered O.J. Simpson to surrender on June 17 of that same year but he fled instead. This resulted in a slow-speed chase with the police and brought Southern California freeways to a standstill. Following the chase, the suspect had a brief stand-off with authorities and held a gun to his head before surrendering. They found a passport, $9,000 in cash, and a fake goatee and moustache in his possession, along with the firearm.
The athlete’s high-profile murder trial, which was dubbed the trial of the century, began on January 24, 1995. His defense counsel involved Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochran, and the defendant’s close friend, Robert Kardashian, who has since died.
According to The Sun, Cochran dismissed the prosecution’s crucial piece of evidence, the gloves, after they failed to fit the accused’s hands. Moreover, the defense used racial tensions in the country to benefit their cause. They revealed that detective Mark Fuhrman, who found the glove on Nicole Brown Simpson’s house, was a racist. They even played an audio recording of Fuhrman saying the “n-word” about 41 times.
On October 3, 1995, the former NFL star was acquitted of all criminal charges, per ABC News.