Earlier in the past week, the public found out that former football legend & accused double murderer O.J. Simpson had passed away from cancer. The first time I heard about it, I was watching the PBD Podcast while he was speaking with former ESPN personality Sage Steele.
In posts like this it's customary for me to at R.I.P. however in light of his infamy I'm avoiding that. For me, I'm taking no position on whether or not he committed the murder. In my own head a jury of his peers judged him to be not guilty in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her buddy Ron Goldman.
We could debate - well if it really is a "debate" - whether or not O.J. was guilty of this gruesome murder. IMHO, if he did commit the murder I feel as if his life had unravelled in ways that may signal that perhaps he was part of that. I look at his most recent conviction where he had been sent to prison for robbery in Nevada between 2007 and 2013 when he was released.
On Ben Shapiro they showed clips of him from an interview that never aired on FOX. He discusses in some real detail the murder - I see it was involving his book If I Did It - and his detail seemed too real even if he did call it hypothetical. I see a man who really has difficulty processing what he had done. Another clip showed him joking using a banana like a knife stabbing into the air and mocking the music to the classic film Psycho. Again this just seems like a man unraveling.
Everyone is different for sure, however, killing another human being should take it's toll on anyone. My hope is that if he truly did the crime that at the time of his death he prayed for forgiveness. And however his life unravelled I just hope the first thing that weighed on him was guilt!
When this whole story took place I was still in grade school and making the transition to my high school years. The trial finally concluded during my high school years when my French teacher rolled a TV into the classroom so that we could watch the reading of the verdict. I probably cheered though the case is known for its division along racial lines.
For me in my young head I probably didn't pay much attention to that. It was difficult for me to recognize how someone who was as well-known as O.J. could effectively throw his life away like this. In California, murder either gets you sent to prison for life or they can execute you (California hasn't executed anyone in years, however, they still have the death penalty).
One of his attorney's on the so-called "dream team" the late Johnnie Cochrane said it best himself years later, Blacks probably cheered because they saw a Black man with money beat the rap. He also stated he'd be sick to his stomach if he learned O.J. had done it. Of course with attorney client privilege I can only wonder if Mr. Cochrane knows the truth himself anyway.
Also I was aware of the racial division of this case. They got the bogey man in former LAPD police detective Mark Fuhrman. This was at least three years after the L.A. Riots which was the result of a brutal police beating of Rodney King. Perhaps while one segment of the population saw this case for what it was, another seemed to have wanted the "racist" justice system to take a hit by getting O.J. acquitted.
For me, yes I wanted justice to prevail however I wanted O.J. to be innocent. Again I didn't want to believe he'd thrown his life away by doing this. Of course in later years we see how his life had turned out.
In recent years he's shown himself on what he calls "Xworld" formerly Twitter where he rants on things such as sports. He event commented on his health which was one of the last rants he had before his demise was announced on Twitter.
On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 11, 2024
He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.
-The Simpson Family
I would say another thing he just failed to avoid or attract was the spotlight. For me, knowing how this "debate" was still going on after his acquittal I've always wondered why he never could stay low?
In his case I'm most certainly fine with the idea that he asked for forgiveness when the inevitable happens. Who wants to think about that part of life? However again I hope he feels guilt over what happened, I suppose we'll never really know how that whole event went down.
Hospice??? pic.twitter.com/OXLzs9jWO6
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) February 9, 2024
One sad chapter is over now!
