O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson. Photo / Getty
O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson. Photo / Getty
By Rob Crilly
It is more than 20 years since O.J. Simpson, once one of America's best-loved sportsmen, was found not guilty of murdering his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
He is nine years into a 33-year sentence for a string of crimes including armed robberyand kidnapping. Simpson, who turned 70 last week, could walk free this year after winning parole today.
O.J. Simpson #32 of the Buffalo Bills looks on during an NFL game circa 1975. Photo / Getty
Simpson was an American football star who broke records during his prime, playing as a running back for the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers in the 1970s.
That success meant he was in demand after retiring, becoming a familiar figure on television as well as acting in in films.
His sporting achievements saw him inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
By then he had met and married his second wife, Nicole Brown. They had two children before she filed for divorce in 1992 after he was investigated a number of times for domestic violence.
Brown and her friend were found dead outside her home in 1994. They had been stabbed to death.
Nicole Brown Simpson and O.J. Simpson during a premiere in Los Angeles, California, United States. Photo / Getty
Simpson was questioned and later ordered to turn himself into police. However, he fled and the ensuing low-speed police chase - during which a convoy of vehicles followed Simpson in a white Ford Bronco down Los Angeles' Interstate 405 - was broadcast live on television.
It set the scene for an extraordinary court case that gripped America. About 100 million people were watching when a jury finally found Simpson not guilty at the end of an eight-month trial in October 1995.
Although the prosecution had an overwhelming amount of DNA evidence, the defence was able to argue that mistakes made by investigators may have contaminated the crime scene. Simpson was also unable to fit his hand inside one glove found at the scene and another found near his home.
Civil lawsuit
Brown's family never accepted the verdict and brought a case against Simpson for wrongful death.
O.J. Simpson attends his parole hearing at Lovelock Correctional Center July 20, 2017 in Lovelock, Nevada. Photo / Getty
After four months, a jury awarded the victims' families $33.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, holding Simpson responsible for their deaths.
Las Vegas robbery
Simpson's final downfall came in 2008, 13 years to the day after he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife.
The star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges for assembling a gang of five men a year earlier for help seizing game balls, plaques and photos from a hotel and casino complex.
Simpson always insisted he was merely reclaiming mementos that had been stolen from him.
He was sentenced to 33 years in prison with a possibility of parole after nine years - a stiff sentence his supporters said was payback for the not-guilty verdict in the murder trial.
He served his time at the Simpson Lovelock Correctional Centre in Nevada, where he is known as inmate 1027820. In 2013 his good behaviour in prison helped win him parole for the less serious convictions.
That left the Nevada Parole Board of Commissioners to consider on Thursday (local time) the more serious offences of assault with a deadly weapon and four weapons charges.
The board said it was meeting with a majority of members so that it could make its decision there and then.
The hearing was broadcast live on television andSimpson could be freed as soon as October 1.
