Whether or not you’re a fan of football, you’ve heard the name O.J. Simpson. Though “The Juice” made his career in the NFL, his name is much more closely tied with murder than his four rushing titles. The former footballer recently passed after a battle with cancer, and for the members of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman’s families, the news is bittersweet.
After Brown Simpson and Goldman were found stabbed to death outside of her Los Angeles townhome in 1994, the public perception of the former Buffalo Bills player was forever changed. The very public trial has one of the most thorough crime timelines available, and it’s impact has remained decades after the Not Guilty verdict was passed down.
From the murder, pursuit, arrest, trial, and acquittal, here is the full timeline of the O.J. Simpson murder case.
The night of the murders
6:30 p.m. – Brown-Simpson goes to dinner with her family. After her mother discovers she had forgotten her glasses at the restaurant, Simpson taps family friend, Ronald Goldman – who worked at the restaurant as a waiter – to retrieve them. Goldman leaves the restaurant just before 10 pm with glasses in tow.
9 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. – Brain “Kato” Kaelin, a friend of O.J. Simpson’s, is staying at a guest house –set a few miles back from the home. After going to dinner with Simpson, he returns to the guest house at around 9:30. Around 10:40, he hears three loud thumps on the exterior wall.
Around 10:50 – a neighbor of Nicole Brown Simpson hears cries from outside and a dog barking incessantly – it’s Brown-Simpson’s white Akita, whose paws are covered in blood.
Just before 11 pm, Allan Park, a limo driver tasked with picking up O.J. Simpson, parks outside of the home’s gate. His attempts to page Simpson are unsuccessful, but he is reminded that Simpson is chronically late, and told to wait until 11:15. As he waits, Park sees a person he describes as 6 ft. tall, Black, and weighing around 200 pounds walking towards the home.
Around this time, Kaelin decides to investigate the sound he heard outside the guest house, and sees Park waiting at the gate. For his part, Park tries again to page Simpson. This time Simpson answers, saying he’s overslept and just got out of the shower.
By 11:45 pm, Simpson is on a flight headed for Chicago.
Just after 12 midnight, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are discovered outside of her townhome after her Akita leads neighbors to the scene.
Simpson’s first arrest and the funerals
June 12, 1994 – 5 a.m. — Detectives arrive on the scene. When they go to inform Simpson of the murders and ask the ex-husband some question (meanwhile Simpson, remember, is in Chicago), they discover bloodstains on OJ Simpson’s Ford Bronco – and the infamous bloody glove that matched one found near Goldman’s body.
10:40 a.m. – Detectives have a search warrant for Simpson’s mansion. They find traces of blood on the property and more inside of the Bronco. After learning of the murders, Simpson arrives in Los Angeles by noon, and is promptly arrested.
June 15, 1994 – Robert Shapiro replaces Howard Weitzman as lead counsel for Simpson.
June 16, 1994 – The funerals for Nicole Simpson Brown and Ron Goldman are held. Simpson and two of his children attend Brown Simpson’s funeral.
The White Bronco chase
June 17, 1994 – O.J. Simpson is formerly charged with murdering Goldman and Brown Simpson. After promising to surrender to authorities, Simpson flees. He is later spotted off the freeway in the white Bronco – which is being driven by a friend. Simpson’s fans line the freeway with signs of support as the chase speeds down the road.
An estimated 95 million tune into the 60 mph pursuit on television, but Simpson surrenders at his home just before 9 p.m., where he is arrested and jailed without hope of bail.
July 22, 1994 – Simpson pleads “absolutely, positively, 100 percent not guilty” to the murder charges.
Pre-trial: September – November 1994 – January 1995
The prosecution decided to push for life without parole rather than the death penalty. A mixed-race jury is selected on November 3, 1994. By January they are sequestered.
January 15, 1995 – Simpson’s lawyers, Robert Shapiro and F. Lee Bailey, announce that they are no longer on speaking terms. By January 18 – Johnnie Cochran becomes lead counsel for the defense.
The Trial of O.J. Simpson
January 24, 1995 – Prosecutors argue that Simpson was driven by jealousy, to wit “He killed her because he couldn’t have her.”
January 25 – Cochran argues that the case was a rush to judgment.
February 3, 1995 – Brown Simpson’s sister-in-law testifies that Simpson abused his ex-wife.
February 12, 1995 – The Jury is taken to the scene of the crime and O.J. Simpson’s homes.
March 13, 1995 – A detective on the case, Mark Fuhrman, is accused of being racist, a claim he denies on the stand.
March 21, 1995 – Kaelin takes the stand and argues that O.J. didn’t have time to commit the murders, as they were together for hours beforehand.
April 4, 1995 – Criminoligist Dennis Fung admits that the investigation didn’t follow proper protocols.
May 10, 1995 – DNA is presented and it doesn’t match Simpson’s.
June 15, 1995 – Simpson tries on the gloves found at the scene. They are too small.
August 29, 1995 – Evidence is brought forward proving Fuhrman regularly uses racist epithets and is found to have committed perjury. The defense uses this to claim that Fuhrman planted evidence, which he denies. The defense has no evidence to the contrary.
September 28, 1995 – Closing arguments are made by the defense, and the famous “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” is born.
October 3, 1995 – Simpson is found Not guilty on both murder counts after only 4 hours of deliberation.
The Civil Trail
October 23, 1995 – Though Simpson was found not guilty, a second civil trial for wrongful death is filed.
February 4, 1997 – The jury finds Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Ronald Goldman. $8.5 million was awarded to Goldman’s family for compensatory damages, and an additional $25 million was awarded to the families.
Goldman’s father told the media, ‘The jury decision of last Tuesday was the only decision important to us, to find the killer of my son and Nicole,” in the wake of the verdict.
