It seemed back then you couldn't escape without hearing about it. Why was it so popular? Did Americans have nothing better to do with their time?
shareSensational murders have a long history of stirring popular interest, in most countries.
shareHey, it was all on TV, and OJ was still moderately famous, and we'd all dropped what we were doing to see how the Bronco chase turned out, and it was great drama without being important enough to be threatening!
It was, in short, one of the most entertaining current events ever.
the Bronco chase turned out, and it was great drama without being important enough to be threatening!
Are you getting hysterical? Take some deep breaths, relax, and think about this some more.
shareThe message you replied back to was posted 14 HOURS ago.
SO NO.
No one is HYSTERICAL -- just PISSED that CUSTODY of those 2 KIDS that he left there all alone --- who would also have found the near HEADLESS dead body of their mother laying there in a pool of blood next to RON's dead body --- were given to OJ who murdered them.
And since that also happened several decades ago, the way that one feels about that situation also isn't going to change.
Because CUSTODY should also have gone to NICOLE'S family (not to OJ who KILLED their mother).
It truly was a perfect storm. I was in college and remember it like it was yesterday. Essentially it was a soap opera come to life.
Here's why...
- The absolutely brutal murder in the front yard of a famous celebrity's wife and her lover, er, friend. I mean, they weren't just killed but slaughtered. Their kids were asleep upstairs as this happened.
- The location - this was in the heart of Los Angeles in a fancy area called Brentwood.
- While they were around before, this really busted out the '24-hour news channel.' I remember CNN covered the #@#$@# out of this thing. Anytime you turned the TV on they were talking about it.
- The trial was on TV. I mean, you could sit down at lunch and watch.
- OJ wasn't a suspect at first but as evidence started stacking (which was all being leaked to the public), he ran from the cops in the back of a white Bronco and the entire chase was filmed live all over the world. I can't stress how crazy this was - closed freeways as he drove with a gun and cops behind, TV stations cut off their broadcasting and every channel was on the chase. I want to say it was one of the top five broadcast moments in television history.
- OJ pleaded not guilty even though he ran from the police!
- OJ hired the Dream Team of attorneys. These were arguably the most famous attorneys in the US - Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, Barry Scheck, F. Lee Bailey. That brought a whole lot of attention as those attorneys turned the trial into a circus.
- OJ was a very famous person - from Heisman Trophy winner to HOF running back to Hertz spokesman to NFL commentator to actor (he was in some decent stuff in the 1970s and recently made the Naked Gun movies).
- The sideshows of Faye Resnick, Kato Kaelin, et all added flavor. Even Marcus Allen, the famous LA Raider Running Back, was pulled in as he had an affair with Nicole.
- This was not too long after the LA Riots (think Rodney King) and racial tensions in Los Angles were palpable.
Good answer!
> a famous celebrity's wife and her lover, er, friend.
LOL -- Yeah, the media never could come out and say Ron Goldman was boning Nicole, they always called him her "friend" with a knowing tone and expression,
> OJ hired the Dream Team of attorneys. These were arguably the most famous attorneys in the US - Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, Barry Scheck, F. Lee Bailey.
I'd disagree with that. Dershowitz and Bailey were already well known, but the others were unknowns to the general public. The Simpson trial made them famous.
Vincent Bugliosi, the attorney who prosecuted Charles Manson, wrote a book about the Simpson trial. He makes a pretty strong case that the reason for Simpson's acquittal wasn't because his lawyers were so wonderful -- they weren't. Rather, it was because of incompetence among the judge and prosecutors. (Yes, Dershowitz was a Harvard law professor. But his specialty was as an appellate lawyer. He's the guy you should hire after you've been convicted, not for the original trial.)
https://www.amazon.com/Outrage-Five-Reasons-Simpson-Murder/dp/0393330834
> OJ wasn't a suspect at first but as evidence started stacking (which was all being leaked to the public), he ran from the cops in the back of a white Bronco and the entire chase was filmed live all over the world.
And, he had a gun and was threatening suicide at the time. On a side note, it wasn't the only time he came close to killing himself. He almost did it while visiting his attorney, the late Robert Kardashian, as he stood in his fourteen year old daughter's bedroom. Yep, O.J. almost blew his brains out in Kim Kardashian's bedroom!
I'll also add that before the murders, Simpson's public image was Mister Nice Guy. He was seen as the affable man who did Naked Gun movies and commercials for Hertz. So the idea of him being violent at all was a shock to most people.
I'd recommend the 30 for 30 documentaries "June 17, 1994" and "OJ Simpson: Made in America". That will tell you all you need to know about his popularity, the trial, and the significance of those events.
shareimagine if one of
lebron james
alex rodriguez
wayne gretzky
tiger woods
was the prime suspect in the slasher double-murder slaying of their wife and some other man
do you think that wouldn't be a big deal ?
Yeah it was more than that too. OJ had the trifecta of being a sports star, movie star, and advertising icon for Hertz. Everybody from all circles of life knew OJ.
Add the drama of "The Chase" onto an already compelling story, and it exploded.
Then the racial debate got thrown in there, on top of a town already reeling from Rodney King, and we got ourselves a barn-burner!
Hey -- Lebron, ARod, Tiger might do that stuff.
But Wayne -- no way !!
it would not get round the clock coverage on network television.
shareThe OJ Simpson saga was great dramatic TV. And it was real.
First the breaking news that OJ's wife & pal were murdered. Later, reports that popular football player OJ is a suspect and he will surrender to police. Uh oh! OJ fails to surrender and is on the lam - wanted by the police! On Friday night, news bulletin interrupts all shows with SLOW moving police chase of suicidal OJs bronco. He finally surrenders after seeing his mom!
The trial:
What characters! Beautiful. Rich. Glamor. Colorful characters like Kato the rent-free boarder, Kato the heroic dog, racist white cop who was caught in a lie, creepy morgue examiner, distraught family, star-struck judge, outgunned prosecuting attorneys vs best defense attorneys money can buy.
It had everything a great dramatic ongoing soap opera could have:
Murder, suspense, glamor, wealth, beautiful homes, romance, jealousy, comedy, great court drama and strategy, car chase, race, bad acting, great dialogue, and shocking ending.
BTW, I watched the entire trial to form my own opinion because the news was spinning it every night. Even though I personally believe OJ was guilty, I found the court evidence lacking, perjured and tainted which created a reasonable doubt and I decided not guilty before the jurors returned. I was surprised when the jurors decided the same.
As a trivia by the way, David Lynch's film "Lost Highway" (1997) was heavily inspired by his case.
shareBecause OJ was a superstar athlete and after his career he stayed relevant through acting and broadcasting. He was immensely popular and then was charged with murder which you could watch the trial on TV.
share