OJ Simpson’s official cause of death revealed

Disgraced former NFL star OJ Simpson’s official cause of death has been revealed.

Simpson, who was infamously acquitted of murder in 1995 over the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman, died of prostate cancer, according to his attorney Malcolm LaVergne.

He died on 10 April at the age of 76. The news was announced by his family on social media the following day.

Simpson revealed he was battling an unspecified form of cancer in May 2023 but suggested he had beaten the disease in posts online. Mr Lavergne told TMZ that he had received a copy of Simpson’s death certificate, and confirmed cause of death on Friday.

Despite his condition Simpson had been “awake, alert and chilling,” in the days before his death, his lawyer previously said. Mr LaVergne added that in one of the last visits to the former football player that he had been “on the couch … drinking a beer and watching TV”.

Simpson, pictured in court in 1994, was famously acquitted of criminal charges alleging he stabbed his ex-wife and her friend, Ronald Goldman, to death in Los Angeles (AP)

“He’s usually the one who keeps me up on the news … so we were just catching up on the news then,” he said.

About a week later, on 5 April, a doctor said Simpson was “transitioning,” as Mr LaVergne described it. The last time Mr LaVergne visited, Simpson only had strength to ask for water and to choose to watch a golf tournament instead of a tennis match on TV.

Simpson’s death was announced via a social media post on 11 April by his family on X, which explained that he “succumbed to his battle with cancer.” The family for “privacy and grace.”

Simpson’s remains were cremated, and a small service attended by close family members took place last week. Shortly after, Mr Lavergne, who attended the event, told The Daily Mail that the former NFL star had had a “fantastic” final few years.

“OJ wouldn’t want anyone to feel sad for him. He’d tell you straight up, man, he’s had a great life, happy life, certainly, he had his trials and tribulations, but his last seven years were fantastic, so he wouldn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him,” Mr LaVergne said.

“He would have liked a few more years to see his grandkids get a little bit older. But he was basically content at the end.”

Simpson was famously acquitted of criminal charges alleging he stabbed Brown and Goldman to death in Los Angeles in 1994. The proceedings in California were watched by millions on TV and became known as the “trial of the century.”

The former football player was found liable for their deaths in 1997 by a separate California civil court jury. He was ordered to pay the victims’ families $33.5m in compensation. Mr LaVergne acknowledged Simpson died without paying the bulk of that judgment.

Simpson was jailed in 2008 for nine years after being found guilty of armed robbery in a 2007 encounter at a Las Vegas casino hotel with two collectables dealers.

He was released from prison in October 2017, with his parole conditions lifted in 2021.

Before his run-ins with the law, Simpson was a record-setting running back in the NFL and became a movie actor, sportscaster and television advertising pitchman.

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