OJ Simpson, the former American football star and Hollywood actor who was cleared of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in a criminal trial, has died aged 76.
He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren when he “succumbed to his battle with cancer” on Wednesday, his family said on X.
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Simpsonwas tried for double murder in 1995, in what was dubbed the “trial of the century”, which gripped the world.
He was found not guilty of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, but was later found responsible for the deaths in a civil lawsuit.
Simpson was then imprisoned in 2008 for nine years for armed robbery and kidnapping after an incident at a Las Vegas hotel.
Local 10 News in Nevada reported in February this year that Simpson was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, but the former NFL running back said in a video at the time that “all is well”.
Posting on X, Simpson laughed as he said: “I’m not in any hospice, I don’t know who put that out there.”
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0:30
‘Hospice?’ OJ Simpson speaks in February
Caitlyn Jenner, whose ex-wife Kris Jenner was a close friend of the retired footballer and Ms Brown Simpson, said bluntly “good riddance” in response to Simpson’s death.
David Cook, attorney for Mr Goldman’s family, also told TMZ that Simpson “died without penance” as the family is still owed damages. He added that the Goldmans are exploring their options on what assets they can collect from Simpson’s estate.
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Simpson was acquitted after a 1995 criminal trial watched by millions worldwide, where Simpson famously tried on a pair of blood-stained gloves allegedly found at the scene of the crime.
The gloves appeared to be too small, leading defence attorney Johnnie Cochran to say: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
Alan Dershowitz, another of Simpson’s lawyers at the time, said the defence was “a nightmare team” and that he did not want the former NFL star to take the stand.
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1:02
OJ: ‘It was a nightmare team’
“Ultimately it was the glove” that persuaded Simpson not to speak at the trial, Mr Dershowitz told Sky News.
“When he was able to go in front of the jury and show them that the glove didn’t fit, that led him to conclude, and he made the decision, not to take the stand.
“In the civil case, he took the stand and was immediately found liable.”
Image: OJ Simpson tries on one of the leather gloves allegedly found at the scene of the 1994 killings. Pic: AP
Image: OJ Simpson appears in a courtroom for his preliminary hearing in 2007. Pic: AP
Nicknamed “The Juice”, Orenthal James Simpson rose to fame as a sports star in the Buffalo Bills team.
He was enrolled in the NFL’s hall of fame and was the first running back to gain 2,000 yards in a season in 1973.
He also became known as an advertising star, football commentator and Hollywood actor, appearing in a number of TV and film roles including the Naked Gun movie series.
Image: OJ Simpson became famous as a running back for the Buffalo Bills. Pic: AP
Image: Nicknamed ‘The Juice’, Simpson became a star of TV and film after his NFL career. Pic: AP
Simpson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after Ms Brown Simpson and Mr Goldman were stabbed to death at her Los Angeles home on 12 June 1994.
After he was accused of the killings, Simpson wrote a letter which insisted he was innocent, said goodbye to friends and made “a last wish” to “leave my children in peace”.
On 17 June that year, his lawyer Robert Shapiro feared Simpson was suicidal, while a white Ford Bronco carrying the former footballer led police on a 60-mile chase through Los Angeles.
Image: OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson in 1993. They divorced in 1992. Pic: AP
Image: A white Ford Bronco carrying OJ Simpson was trailed by Los Angeles police on 17 June 1994. Pic: AP
Simpson was acquitted of double murder on 3 October 1995.
A civil wrongful death lawsuit later found him liable for the two deaths in 1997. He was ordered to pay $33.5m in damages, but he declared bankruptcy shortly after.
Simpson was later arrested in 2007 for armed robbery and kidnapping in a dispute over sports memorabilia at a Las Vegas casino hotel.
Image: OJ Simpson being taken from the Las Vegas Police Investigative Services Division, 16 September 2007. Pic: AP Photo / John Locher
Sky News’ Steve Bennedik recalls how Simpson’s trial was covered
It was the first few weeks of 1995 when Sky News’ live coverage of the OJ Simpson court case got under way. Each evening we showed the trial and invited questions. In those days, the main form of correspondence was by letter.
But there was also a new electronic method emerging, called email. And the first of these had the simple, but deflating, sentence: “Which one is OJ?”
We asked ourselves: Is our audience ready to follow the story of a very American tragedy unfold on British TV? We decided to stick with it.
In contrast, OJ Simpson was a household name in the US. So much more than an ex-football star. But the shock of this icon being arrested for murder, the bizarre Bronco highway chase, the high-profile celebrity defence team, and ultimately the “did he do it?” question had universal attraction.
Although the case stuttered through until October, the weak Judge Lance Ito was obsequious to lawyers’ demands for delays, but the interest among Sky News viewers surged and remained undimmed.
As the court camera panned to the state of California seal, signalling another adjournment, we and no doubt the viewer sighed.
More behind-the-scenes legal wrangling, but we had an ace up our sleeve – Professor Gary Solis. Gary is a Vietnam veteran, former military judge advocate, with alma maters including George Washington University and the London School of Economics.
At the time, he was in London and ready to give up his evenings. He calmly steered our presenters, Laurie and Vivien, and our often puzzled viewers through the complexities of the Californian legal system and became a firm favourite with the newsroom and the public alike.
The court characters emerged. Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden for the prosecution, and the “Dream Team” defence – Jonnie Cochran, F Lee Bailey, Alan Dershowitz and Robert Kardashian, whose children would go on to outshine his fame.
It was compelling court drama, but it was also the very tragic story of two young people who’d been savagely attacked and murdered, with their families devastated by the loss, and tormented by the lingering back and forth court battle.
The proceedings had lasted months, but the jury reached their verdict in just a few hours and when they returned to the courtroom to deliver it, an early evening audience in the UK was hanging on every moment. And then it was over. OJ was a free man.
The People of the State of California v Orenthal James Simpson faded as a memory, flickering back to life with the news of his death.
He was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison in 2008. After nine years in a Nevada prison, he was released on parole in 2017 and then discharged from parole for good behaviour in 2021.
Since then, Simpson regularly commented on politics and sports on social media. He lived in a gated community in Las Vegas where he played golf.
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A second child in Texas with measles has died as the outbreak of the childhood disease reached nearly 500 cases in the state, officials have said.
The unvaccinated schoolgirl, who had no underlying health conditions, died on Thursday in hospital from measles pulmonary failure, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
She was being treated for complications from the illness, a spokesperson for University Medical Center Children’s Hospital in Lubbock said in an email.
Image: US health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (right) at the girl’s funeral. Pic: AP
The girl was recently diagnosed with the viral disease, NBC, Sky’s US partner said, quoting from the hospital’s statement issued on Sunday.
Two children have now died in Texas since an outbreak of measles in late January in Gaines County, where the vaccination rate is about 82%, below the 95% believed to ensure those who cannot be vaccinated are safe.
An adult in New Mexico is also suspected of having died from measles, NBC said, calling the deaths the first from the disease in the US for 10 years.
US President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, said that, if the outbreak continues, his administration will “have to take action very strongly”.
How to avoid spreading or catching measles
Measles is spread when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes.
A rash usually appears a few days after the cold-like symptoms. The rash starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading to the rest of the body.
A person is infectious from when they first have symptoms (around four days before the rash appears) until four days after they get the rash.
There are things people can do to reduce the risk of spreading or catching measles.
Do: Wash hands often with soap and warm water. Use tissues when coughing or sneezing. Throw used tissues in the bin.
Don’t: Do not share cutlery, cups, towels, clothes, or bedding.
Information from NHS website
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, identified the child as eight-year-old Daisy Hildebrand and said he visited Texas on Sunday to comfort the child’s family.
Pictures were published of him at the girl’s funeral in Seminole, northwest Texas.
Image: A funeral is held after the second measles death in the state, in Seminole, Texas. Pic: AP
In a post on X, Mr Kennedy, a vaccine sceptic who says it should be a personal choice, said vaccines are nonetheless the best protection against the illness.
He said the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles”, confirming that, as of Sunday, there were 642 confirmed cases of measles in the US, 499 of those in Texas.
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1:15
March: Why are measles cases so high?
The Texas Department of State Health Services said, as of Friday, 481 cases of measles had been confirmed, a rise of 14% in a week.
They include six infants and toddlers at a Lubbock day care centre that tested positive in the past two weeks.
Two of those children are among 56 people who have been treated in hospital for measles in the area since the outbreak started, NBC said, quoting health officials.
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses for humans. In serious cases, infections can cause complications including pneumonia, encephalitis, dehydration and blindness.
The Texas Department of State Health Services described it as a “highly contagious viral infection, which can cause life-threatening illness to anyone who is not vaccinated”.
Early symptoms can include a fever, cough and a runny nose, developing into a red-brown rash and high temperature.
Until five weeks ago, Arturo Suarez was a professional singer, performing in the United States as he waited for his asylum claim to be processed.
Originally from Venezuela, he had entered the US through proper, legal channels.
But he is now imprisoned in a notorious jail in El Salvador, sent there by the Trump administration, despite seemingly never having faced trial or committed any crime. The White House claims he is a gang member but has not provided evidence to support this allegation.
His brother, Nelson Suarez, told Sky News he believes his brother’s only “crime” is being Venezuelan and having tattoos.
Image: Arturo Suarez, in a music video, is now in a notorious prison in El Salvador
“He is not a gang member,” Nelson says, adamantly, “I’ve come to the conclusion that it has to be because of the tattoos. If you don’t have a criminal record, you haven’t committed any crime in the United States, what other reason could there be? Because you’re Venezuelan?”
Arturo, 34, was recording a music video inside a house in March when he was arrested by immigration agents.
He was first taken to a deportation centre in El Paso, Texas, and then, it appears, put on to a military flight to El Salvador.
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Image: Nelson Suarez insists his brother Arturo is not a gang member
His family have not heard from him since. Lawyers and immigrant rights groups have been unable to make contact with any of the more than 200 Venezuelan men sent to the CECOT prison, which holds members of the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs.
Tattoo clue to Arturo Suarez’s whereabouts
Nelson learned his brother is – most likely – in CECOT only because of a photograph he spotted on a news website of a group of inmates, with their hands and feet cuffed, heads shaved and bodies shackled together.
Image: A group of inmates are processed to be imprisoned in the CECOT jail in EL Salvador. Pic: Reuters
Image: Nelson Suarez believes this is his brother Arturo Suarez due to his distinctive hummingbird tattoo. Pic: Reuters
“You can see the hummingbird tattoo on his neck,” Nelson says, pointing to the picture. He says Arturo wanted a hummingbird in memory of their late mother. Arturo has 33 tattoos in total, including a piano, poems and verses from the Bible.
It could be that one, or more, of those tattoos landed him at the centre of President Trump’s anti-immigration showpiece. Nelson shows me documents which indicate that Arturo did not have a criminal record in Venezuela, Chile, Colombia or the United States, the four countries he has lived in.
Sky News contacted the White House, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for a response to Arturo’s case but have not heard back.
In March, Donald Trump signed the Alien Enemies Act, a law from 1798 which has been invoked just three times before, in wartime.
It allows the president to detain and deport immigrants living legally in the US if they are from countries deemed “enemies” of the government. In this instance, Mr Trump claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had “infiltrated the United States” and was “conducting irregular warfare”.
Image: Alleged gang members imprisoned in the CECOT jail in El Salvador. Pic: Reuters
Gang symbol tattoos
Immigration officials have centred on certain tattoos being gang symbols. Immigration officers were provided with a document called the “Alien Enemy Validation Guide”, according to a court filing from the American Civil Liberties Union. The document provides a point-based system to determine if an immigrant in custody “may be validated” as a gang member.
Migrants who score six points and higher may be designated as members of the Tren de Aragua gang, according to the document. Tattoos which fall under a “symbolism” category score four points and social media posts “displaying” gang symbols are two points. Tattoos considered suspicious, according to the document, include crowns, stars and the Michael Jordan Jumpman logo.
Jerce Reyes Barrios’s story
Another of the men sent to CECOT prison is 36-year-old Jerce Reyes Barrios, who fled Venezuela last year after marching in anti-government protests. He is a former footballer and football coach.
His lawyer, Linette Tobin, told Sky News that Reyes Barrios entered the US legally after waiting in Mexico for four months for an immigration appointment and then presenting himself at the border.
Image: Jerce Reyes Barrios
She says he was detained in a maximum security prison in the US while awaiting his asylum appointment. But before that appointment happened, he was flown to the El Salvador prison.
Ms Tobin says the DHS deported Reyes Barrios because they designated him a Tren De Aragua gang member based on two pieces of evidence.
The first, she says, is a tattoo of the Real Madrid football team logo surrounded by rosary beads. She has since obtained a declaration from the tattoo artist stating that Reyes Barrios just wanted an image which depicted his favourite team.
Image: Jerce Reyes Barrios’s lawyer says he has a tattoo of the Real Madrid logo surrounded by rosary beads
The second piece of evidence, she says, is a photograph, which she shows me, of Reyes Barrios in a hot tub with friends when he was a college student 13 years ago.
He is making a gesture which could be interpreted as “rock and roll”, but which she says has been interpreted as a gang symbol.
Image: Lawyer Linette Tobin says this gesture has been interpreted as a gang symbol
Distraught family in despair
Reyes Barrios has no criminal record in his home country. “I’ve never known anything like this,” Ms Tobin says.
“My client was deported to a third country and we have no way of getting in touch with him. His family are distraught and in despair, they cry a lot, not knowing what is going on with him. We want him returned to the United States to have a hearing and due process.”
Ms Tobin says she and other lawyers representing men sent to the El Salvador prison are trying to establish a UN working group on enforced disappearances to do a wellness check on them because the prison is completely “incommunicado”.
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1:10
17 March: US migrants deported to El Salvador
Sky News contacted the DHS for comment about Reyes Barrios’s case but did not receive a response. The DHS previously issued a statement declaring that “DHS intelligence assessments go well beyond just gang-affiliated tattoos. This man’s own social media indicates he is a member of Tren de Aragua”.
Reyes Barrios has an immigration hearing scheduled for 17 April, Ms Tobin says, which the Trump administration is trying to dismiss on the grounds that he is not in the US anymore.
In the meantime, children he used to coach football for in his hometown of Machiques in Venezuela have been holding a prayer vigil for him and calling for his release.
The secretary of the DHS, Kristi Noem, visited CECOT last month and posed for photos standing in front of inmates behind bars.
Image: Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem visited CECOT in March. Pic: Reuters
“Do not come to our country illegally,” she said, “you will be removed, and you will be prosecuted.” Donald Trump had promised during his election campaign to clamp down on immigration, railing against undocumented immigrants and claiming immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”.
I ask Arturo Suarez’s brother, Nelson, how he felt watching Ms Noem posing in the prison, knowing that his brother might be close by.
“I feel bad,” he says, “I feel horrible, because in those images we only see criminals. With my brother, I feel it is more a political issue. They needed numbers, they said, these are the numbers, and now, let’s throw them to the lions.”
Image: Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: AP
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s story
The Trump administration has admitted that at least one man sent to the El Salvador jail was sent by “administrative error”. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, was sent to CECOT despite a judge’s earlier ruling in 2019 that granted him legal protection to stay in the US.
The White House has alleged Garcia is an MS-13 gang member, but his lawyers argued there is no evidence to prove this.
A federal judge has ordered Garcia must be returned to the US by Monday 7 April. In a post on X, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to the judge as a “Marxist”, who “now thinks she’s president of El Salvador”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “We suggest the judge contact President Bukele because we are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador.”
International stock markets have fallen dramatically overnight amid fears of a global trade war following Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which he called “medicine”.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index dived nearly 8%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell more than 6%, and South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.4%.
Meanwhile US stock market futures signalled further weaknesses, with the future for the S&P 500 losing 4.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 3.5%, while the future for the Nasdaq lost 5.3%.
Mr Trump warned foreign governments would have to pay “a lot of money” to lift his tariffs, which he described as “medicine”.
“I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said on Air Force One.
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The US president said he had spoken to leaders from Europe and Asia over the weekend who had hoped to convince him to lower the tariffs, which are due to come into effect this week.
“I spoke to a lot of leaders, European, Asian, from all over the world,” Mr Trump said. “They’re dying to make a deal. And I said, we’re not going to have deficits with your country. We’re not going to do that because to me, a deficit is a loss. We’re going to have surpluses or, at worst, going to be breaking even.”
Mr Trump, who spent much of the weekend playing golf in Florida, posted on his Truth Social platform: “WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy.”
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1:04
Trump’s tariffs: What you need to know
On Saturday, US customs agents began collecting Mr Trump’s unilateral 10% tariffs on all imports from many countries.
Higher “reciprocal” tariffs of between 11% and 50% on individual countries are due to come into effect on Wednesday.
Mr Trump’s tariff announcements have jolted economies around the world, triggering retaliatory levies from China and sparking fears of a global trade war and recession.
Investors and political leaders have struggled to determine whether the tariffs are here to stay, or are part of a permanent new regime or a negotiating tactic to win concessions from other countries.
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1:33
Is it time to change tactics with Trump?
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer promised “bold changes” as he announced he will relax rules around electric vehicles after carmakers were hit by Mr Trump’s tariffs.
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2:53
‘Nothing off the table’ over tariffs
Meanwhile, KPMG warned US tariffs on UK exports could see GDP growth fall to 0.8% in 2025 and 2026.
The accountancy firm said higher tariffs on specific categories, such as cars, aluminium and steel, would more than offset the exemption on pharmaceutical exports, leaving the effective tariffs imposed on UK exports at around 12%.
Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said: “Given the economic impact that tariffs would cause, there is a strong incentive to seek a negotiated settlement that diminishes the need for tariffs. The UK automotive manufacturing sector is particularly exposed given the complex supply chains of some producers.”