Who found the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? The O.J. Simpson crime scene, explained

This article contains graphic descriptions of murder. Please take care while reading.

It began with a dog barking. Nicole Brown Simpson returned home that night after dinner at Mezzaluna Trattoria in Brentwood, the suburban area of Los Angeles where she lived. Earlier that day, she attended her daughter’s dance recital. At around midnight, she was found dead, alongside Mezzaluna waiter Ron Goldman.

The details of what happened next are permanently scarred in our collective memories. Brown Simpson’s ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, a once-beloved NFL star, actor, and entertainer, was accused and later acquitted of brutally murdering his ex-wife, and Goldman, possibly in a jealous rage. Nicole had forgotten her glasses at Mezzaluna earlier that night, and Goldman dropped by her house to return them.

But who discovered Brown Simpson and Goldman’s bodies, alerting the authorities to the shocking crimes, and setting off a sequence of events that would culminate in a trial of the century, the outcome of which is still the subject of controversy today? Brown Simpson’s dog barked and cried, starting at around 10:15 p.m. that night — the first sign there was something wrong. Then about two hours later, Brown Simpson and Goldman’s mutilated bodies were discovered.

Neighbors found Nicole Brown Simpson first

Another couple out walking their dog that night found Nicole Brown Simpson’s body first, as it lay in the walkway leading to the front door of her Brentwood townhome. Ron Goldman’s body was found a short distance away, and both had been repeatedly stabbed. Brown Simpson also had blunt force injuries to her head and was nearly decapitated, with signs of a defensive struggle, according to her autopsy.

Goldman had also been stabbed and killed. His throat was slashed with signs that the killer may have poked him in the face after he died, possibly to see if he was still alive, according to UPI. “This isn’t a robbery, this isn’t for sex, this is a rage killing,” veteran homicide detective Tom Lange later told Dateline. 

A series of clues led investigators to charge Simpson with his ex-wife’s murder and the murder of Ron Goldman, who was seemingly at the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, Simpson, who died in April 2024, was acquitted although he was later found liable for Brown Simpson and Goldman’s deaths in a civil case brought by Brown and Goldman’s families.

The story of Brown Simpson and Goldman’s murder with input from Brown Simpson’s sisters is reexamined in the 2024 Lifetime docuseries, The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, now streaming on Hulu, and the highly-acclaimed O.J.: Made In America, which is streaming on Netflix.