Former US football star OJ Simpson, who was acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife in a spectacular trial in 1995, is dead. As his family announced, Simpson died of cancer on Wednesday at the age of 76 surrounded by his relatives.
Simpson was one of the best running backs in the NFL in the 1970s with the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers and was voted the league’s most valuable player in 1973.
However, he became known to the world public 15 years after the end of his career. His escape in a white Ford Bronco from 20 police cars in Beverly Hills was broadcast live on television; he was suspected of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her companion Ronald L. Goldman. In a spectacular circumstantial trial, Simpson was acquitted, but later ended up in prison for a robbery in Las Vegas. In 2017 he was released – for the last seven years of his eventful life.