Lawyers for the families of OJ Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman have told Sky News they still believe he was “a murderer”.
The former NFL star and Hollywood actor died aged 76 of cancer on Wednesday.
Nicknamed “The Juice”, Simpson was tried for their double murder in 1995, in what was dubbed the “trial of the century”.
Image: LA police department booking photo of OJ Simpson following his arrest for two murders. Pic: Reuters
He was found not guilty of murdering Ms Brown and Mr Goldman, but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil lawsuit.
It is claimed Simpson still owed $114m (£91m) to Mr Goldman’s family, and that they are considering how to claim it back over assets.
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How OJ Simpson’s trial unfolded
Speaking to Sky News, the Goldman family’s lawyer David Cook said: “I review and consider Simpson as what he was: that he was a bad person; he was a murderer; he got out of the acquittal here.
“He remains now and in his death as the day that he committed the crime in whatever the amount of years ago.
“He’s still the same person. And the fact that he died doesn’t change it.”
Image: Nicole Brown seen in a photograph – shown to jurors in the trial – documenting injuries allegedly from OJ Simpson. Pic: Reuters
Gloria Allred, the lawyer for Ms Brown’s family, also told Sky News that “he killed her” and pointed to Simpson pleading no contest to spousal abuse in 1989.
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“What happened five years before he killed Nicole? He gave her that black eye, she ran out of the house,” the lawyer said. “She was terrified. She hid in the bushes. The police came.
“He was arrested, charged with spousal battery and what were the consequences of that case? He admitted it.
Image: OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson
Pic: AP
“In other words, he pled no contest to a spousal battery, but he never was sent to jail. In fact, it’s really questionable as to whether he did anything that the judge required him to do, even out of jail, community service, for example.”
Image: Ronald Goldman was stabbed to death at Nicole Brown Simpson’s Los Angeles home on 12 June 1994. Pic: Reuters
Ms Allred added that “it’s only going to get worse for the victim” if no action is taken against perpetrators of domestic violence and said: “That’s what happened. He killed her.”
‘No great loss’
Mr Goldman’s father Fred Goldman told Sky News’ partner network NBC News earlier on Thursday that Simpson’s death was “no great loss”.
“The only thing I have to say is it’s just a further reminder of Ron being gone all these years,” he said.
“It’s no great loss to the world. It’s a further reminder of Ron being gone.”
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In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Keith Zlomsowitch, Ms Brown’s ex-boyfriend who served as a pallbearer at her funeral, said Simpson’s death was a “relief”.
He said: “I think finally some sort of justice has been served, that he’s been taken from the earth.
“So it doesn’t bring Nicole back. But it means he can no longer be who he is in this world.”
‘Good riddance’
Simpson’s team of lawyers also included his friend Robert Kardashian, the late husband of reality TV star Kris Jenner.
Caitlyn Jenner, who was previously married to Ms Jenner, tweeted just two words in response to the news of Simpson’s death: “Good Riddance.”
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The former Olympian and media personality wrote in her autobiography The Secrets Of My Life that Simpson “was the most narcissistic, egocentric, neediest asshole in the world of sports I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of them”.
Simpson was acquitted after the 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 former lawyers, told Sky News earlier that the defence was “a nightmare team” and that he did not want the former sports star to take the stand.
“Ultimately it was the glove” that made Simpson refuse to take the stand at his trial, Mr Dershowitz said.
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“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.”
The US has abstained from a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution it drafted on the war in Ukraine after the body approved amendments proposed by European countries.
The vote took place on the same day the 193-member assembly approved a competing European-backed resolution from Ukraine which demanded Russia immediately withdraw from the country.
The duelling proposals reflect the tensions that have emerged between the US and Ukraine after Donald Trump suddenly opened negotiations with Russia in a bid to quickly resolve the conflict.
It also underscores the strain in the US’ relationship with Europe over the Trump administration’s decision to engage with Moscow.
The US-drafted resolution, marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had called for an end to the conflict but did not mention Moscow’s aggression.
It also made no mention of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
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However, it was amended after European nations said that it should include references to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the need for a lasting peace in line with the UN Charter.
It was also amended to include references to Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The amended US-drafted resolutionwon 93 votes in favour, while 73 states abstained – including the US – and eight – including Russia – voted no.
Meanwhile, there were 93 votes in favour of theUkraine-backed resolution,while 65 abstained and 18 voted against it.
The UK, France and Germany were among the countries that voted in favour of the Ukraine-backed resolution, which called for a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.
The US, Russia, Belarus and North Korea were among those that opposed it.
Image: The US voted against Ukraine’s resolution. Pic: AP
The outcome marks a setback for the Trump administration in the UN General Assembly, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion.
However, the result also shows some diminished support for Ukraine – as more than 140 nations had voted to condemn Russia’s aggression in previous votes.
The United States had tried to pressure the Ukrainians to withdraw their resolution in favour of its proposal, according to a US official and a European diplomat.
US deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea, meanwhile, said multiple previous UN resolutions condemning Russia and demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops “have failed to stop the war,” which “has now dragged on for far too long and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine and Russia and beyond”.
“What we need is a resolution marking the commitment from all UN member states to bring a durable end to the war,” Ms Shea said.
Mr Zelenskyy responded by saying the US president was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space”.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is at the White House holding talks with Mr Trump to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine.
At the start of the meeting, Mr Trump told reporters Russian President Vladimir Putin will accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the war in the country.
Mr Trump and Mr Macron have been meeting after the pair had earlier joined a call between G7 leaders.
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An American Airlines flight travelling from New York to New Delhi was diverted midair due to a “bomb threat”.
Flight 292 landed at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport “due to a possible security issue,” the airline said in a statement on Sunday, adding later the threat “was determined to be non-credible”.
The airline did not clarify what the security issue was, but a source familiar with the situation told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News it was a bomb threat sent via email.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew reported the security issue.
“Safety and security are our top priorities, and we apologise to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline said in a statement.
Image: The view from the cockpit of the fighter jet. Pic: Italian air force/Reuters
Image: Pic: Italian air force/Reuters
The flight requested a diversion to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport at around 2pm local time, Roberto Rao, a spokesperson for the airport.
“We immediately agreed and organised a safe landing,” Mr Rao told NBC News.
“We don’t know what the security concern was, but my opinion is that it was serious enough to divert the plane, but not urgent, because we received the alert when the plane was over the Caspian Sea, a three hours’ flight from Rome.”
Once in Italian airspace, the plane was escorted by two Italian air force fighter jets and landed in Rome at around 5.30pm local time.
Image: The flight on the ground in Rome. Pic: AP
‘What’s going on here?’
Neeraj Chopra, one of the 199 passengers on board, said the captain announced the plane had to turn around about three hours before it was supposed to land in New Delhi because of a change in “security status”.
Mr Chopra, who was traveling to India to visit family, described the mood on board as calm until the captain later announced that fighter jets would be escorting their plane to Rome.
“I felt a little panic of, okay, what’s going on here?” Mr Chopra told the Associated Press. “There’s got to be like something bigger going on here.”
Jonathan Bacon, 22, added that once on the ground, all passengers were loaded on to buses and taken to the terminal, where each passenger and their personal items underwent additional security screenings that were time-consuming and felt “slightly heightened”.
More than two hours after landing, Mr Bacon and his friend said they were still waiting for their checked baggage. “It was definitely the longest flight to Europe I’ve ever taken,” he said.
American Airlines said the plane was inspected and cleared to depart again for New Delhi “as soon as possible” on Monday, after the crew gets some rest.
At least three people have died and two are injured after a boat capsized off the coast of New York, police in the US have said.
The vessel sent out a distress call from the Ambrose Channel just after noon on Sunday.
One of the injured is in a critical condition and another is described as stable, NBC, Sky’s US partner, said.
Five people were rescued from the water after the New York Fire Department (FDNY), the New York Police Department (NYPD), and the US Coast Guard responded to the call for help.
The boat capsized in an area known as Breezy Point, NBC said, quoting the NYPD.
Breezy Point is “a neighborhood at the tip of Queens’ Rockaway peninsula,” according to NBC New York, citing the Coast Guard.
Six people were said to be in the water after the boat capsized, the FDNY said.
Two of the victims were airlifted to Staten Island University Hospital and three were taken to Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook, where its emergency medical crews were waiting to treat them, the agency said.
Four of the five people rescued from the sinking boat were unresponsive, and some of them were given CPR, the Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard said on Sunday night it is still searching for one person missing in the water roughly five miles (8km) southeast of Breezy Point.
Nothing else is known about the victims or what kind of boat was involved.
Police said it is not clear what happened but it did not appear the vessel collided with another boat. The Coast Guard said it was notified of a “vessel taking on water” and described the boat as “sinking”.