Prostate cancer victim: OJ Simpson dies at 76

O.J. Simpson, the former college football icon accused of murdering his ex-wife and whose trial became a media spectacle, died this Wednesday at age 76 from prostate cancer. On social network X, the children said that their father passed away surrounded by family.

Known as “The Juice,” O. J. Simpson became one of the best North American Football League (NFL) players of his generation. “I’m not black, I’m OJ,” said the former running back, who, despite his impressive athletic career, which he abandoned in 1979, will always be remembered as the “trial of the century” in which he was responsible for a double murder his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman.

On June 17, 1994, OJ Simpson forced police to chase his white Ford Bronco at 60 km/h on Los Angeles roads for two hours. The chase was accompanied by thousands of people on the side of the road waving their arms and shouting: “The juice is spilled.” Al Cowlings, a friend of the former athlete, drove the car, and OJ, sitting in the back seat, threatened to commit suicide with a pistol. The former athlete was arrested on the same day, and a year later, after a scandalous trial that was watched on television by about 150 million people (57% of the US population), the jury found him not guilty. However, doubt remains.

In 2007, O.J. fell out of favor again when he was sentenced to 33 years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping. Ten years later he was released on parole.

Relationships marked by violence
Orenthal James Simpson married Marguerite Wheatley in 1967, when he was just 19 years old. The couple had three children: Arnel, 55, Jason, 53, and Aaren, who drowned in a swimming pool aged two. The couple divorced in 1979, by which time OJ was already dating German Nicole Brown, 20. Together they had Sydney, 38, and Justin, 35, but the relationship was marked by episodes of domestic violence.