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OJ Simpson has died aged 76 after a reported long battle with prostate cancer.
The American football star, who was infamously acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, saw his health deteriorate in the past few months with him landing in hospice care, according to TMZ.
His death was announced when the NFL Hall of Famer’s X account posted a simple message from his family.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. 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 statement said.
In what many referred to as “the trial of the century”, Simpson was accused, charged and then acquitted of murdering Brown and Goldman in 1994. His acquittal, by a mostly Black jury, was a seminal moment in US cultural history.
A civil court later in 1996 found him guilty of their murders and ordered him to pay over $30 million to the victim’s families. He only paid some of the debt before his death.
The general consensus is that the NFL Hall of Fame star had an estimated $3 million net worth, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
OJ makes a constant source of income through pensions, which creditors and the Goldman family cannot legally obtain.
He receives $42,000 a year in Social Security, a pension from Screen Actors Guild and between $125,000 and $300,000 annually in an NFL pension.
OJ and his late ex-wife were married for seven years before they separated in 1992. According to a court filing, OJ claimed to have an estimated net worth of $10.8 million and a monthly income of $55,000, per Celebrity Net Worth.
In the end, OJ agreed to pay Nicole a one-lump sum of $433,750 and an additional $10,000 in child support.
Legal fees and court settlements resulted in a significant reduction of his wealth.
Who stands to inherit his fortune?
As it stands his $3million fortune looks to be going to his four surviving children Sydney, Jason, Justin and Arnelle Simpson.
One of his boys, Aaren, drowned as a toddler in a swimming pool accident in 1979.
Goldman’s family, still doggedly pursuing the multimillion-dollar wrongful death judgment, won control of the manuscript. They retitled the book “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.”
“It’s all blood money, and unfortunately I had to join the jackals,” Simpson told The Associated Press at the time. He collected $880,000 in advance money for the book, paid through a third party.
“It helped me get out of debt and secure my homestead,” he said.
Less than two months after losing the rights to the book, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas.
What did he owe Goldman’s family?
Goldman’s father, Fred, recently alleged in court papers intended to keep the judgment viable that Simpson now owes $96 million.
That’s because these amounts generate significant interest on the initial $30million awarded.
The number also remains high because Simpson allegedly hasn’t paid much of the amount.
As of February 2021, Goldman claimed that Simpson had paid only $123,000.
