come around hey i told you before i needed you more ♪ ♪ but it didn't even make a sound ♪ ♪ i got my heart open wide but the city been shut down ♪ ♪ got my heart open wide but the city been shut down ♪ ♪ got my heart open wide but the city been shut down ♪ [ cheers and applause ] tonight, o.j. simpson. >> o.j. simpson breaking through! >> the nfl famer and "naked gun" star. >> hiya, buddy! >> disgraced after the grisly murders of his ex-wife, nicole

brown simpson, and ron goldman, has died. at the center of the trial of the century. the bronco chase. the infamous gloves. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> igniting a cultural flash point about race. why, after his acquittal, he couldn't escape the shadow of doubt even from lawyer and best friend robert kardashian. >> i asked you if you, yourself, doubt o.j. simpson's innocence? >> i have doubts. plus, remembering the victims. nicole and ron. >> we're family that wanted justice. simple as that. >> nicole's mother taking solace in their last words. >> each one said, "i love you." not many people are that lucky. >> three decades later, how the goldmans are grappling with their pain. >> whether it's grief, the anger from it, the emotion that comes with it, we've got to figure out how to put it. >> their election to o.j.'s

death. this special edition of "nightline," "o.j.," will be right back. with bounce pet, you can cuddle and brush that hair off. bounce, it's the sheet. can neuriva support your brain health? mary, janet, hey!! (thinking: eddie, no frasier, frank... frank?) fred! how are you?! fred... fuel up to 7 brain health indicators, including your memory. join the neuriva brain health challenge.

♪ ♪ >> juju: thanks for joining us. tonight, o.j. simpson's death reverberating across the country. after earning fame on the football field and infamemy in the courtroom, for the man whose

stardom and name recognition couldn't get much higher, his fall was grace was just as spectacular. his murder trial mesmerized the country, and its legacy on race and the criminal justice system still resonates. here's abc's matt gut minute. >> reporter: o.j. simpson, the former football hero who became one of america's polarizing and often loathed figures has died at 76 years old. >> you're a quiet guy, you don't cause any troubl >> well, you know, i just do my thing. >> reporter: his family saying he succumbed to his battle with cancer surrounded by children and grandchildren. his final video two months ago responding to rumors about his health. >> my health is good. obviously i'm dealing with some issues. but hey, i think i'm just about over it. >> reporter: orenthal james simpson was at the center of one of the biggest and most controversial legal cases in american history. >> not guilty of the crime of murder -- >> reporter: acquitted of the

brutal murders of his ex-wife, nicole brown simpson, and her friend, ronald goldman. >> there has never been another trial like the o.j. simpson case. i don't think there ever will be. the o.j. simpson case was a perfect storm. >> reporter: the murders and crime scene, the slow-speed chase watched by millions, and the so-called trial of the century. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> reporter: the gloves, the dream team. it all captivated the nation, changing how americans watch tv. making it the verdict heard round the world. becoming a cultural flashpoint during a time of heightened racial tensions in america. just two years after the city of los angeles erupted in riots after the officers accused of beating rodney king were acquitted. the episode laying bare a racial divide with policing and justice and the wounds left behind.

>> and that conversation really came to a pinpoint because of the o.j. simpson trial. but in addition to diehl dealing with race and racism, in a lot of ways, you also had to deal with wealth and celebrity, too. >> reporter: o.j. simpson, one of the biggest stars in the country, at the center of it all. an nfl hall of famer with the buffalo bills. >> hiya, buddy! >> reporter: a movie star in "naked gun." >> nobody does it better than hertz. >> reporter: a tv pitchman for hertz. he was the epitome of hollywood. it all came crashing down on june 13th, 1994, when ronald goldman was found stabbed more than 20 times and o.j.'s ex-wife, nicole, nearly decapitated outside of her brentwood home. o.j. and nicole's volatile relationship took center stage at his criminal trial. >> can you send someone over here now? he's back. please. >> okay, what does he look like?

>> he's o.j. simpson. you're going to hear him in a minute. he's about to come in again. >> stay on the line -- >> i don't want to stay on the line, he's going to beat the [ bleep ] out of me. >> o.j. simpson was well known for beating nicole simpson. even after the divorce. people knew it, and nothing happened because he was o.j. simpson. >> reporter: o.j. simpson soon emerging as the prime suspect in the double murder five days after the grisly killings, prosecutors ordering simpson to surrender. instead, he led law enforcement on a now infamous slow-speed chase in his white ford bronco. rolling down l.a. freeways and watched by some 95 million americans live as it happened. >> that was the beginning of the enormous attention that became the o.j. simpson case. >> reporter: simpson eventually surrendered. he pleaded, a he put it, "absolutely, positively, 100% not guilty."

>> this trial was a three-ring circus. there were so many timelements it. this trial launched a lot of careers in wayward ways. there were witnesses that were getting book deals. witnesses who were getting offers to pose in "playboy." >> reporter: for almost a year, the murder trial seemingly all what everybody watched and talked about. >> a lot of you are going to say racism. >> i want to know, is o.j.'s parents and sisters, are they paying for this trial? my [ bleep ] taxes are paying for this fiasco. >> reporter: simpson was prepared. >> his defense team arriving again, world famous now -- >> reporter: dubbed "the dream team," including close friend, attorney robert kardashian. >> i've never seen a case go to trial with more evidence than they had against o.j. simpson. you had blood evidence. you had a glove, one of them

bloody, matching one at the crime scene, one at his home. you had fiber evidence. you had past domestic violence. >> reporter: but the defense dug in, arguing that the los angeles police department planted evidence against their client and that many of the officers were racist. like detective mark furman. >> did you know whether any fibers from the bronco would be found on that glove that you ultimately found at rockingham? >> no. >> and did you know the cause of death? >> no. >> then introduce you introduce the testimony of detective mark furman and the furman tapes in which he is heard describing police brutality, in addition to using the "n" word to describe black people. it looks almost like this racial molotov cocktail that was thrown in the middle of this terrible tragedy, and o.j. simpson became a symbol of that, whether he wanted to or not. >> reporter: but the day that will live in trial infamy -- >> people's exhibit 77 -- >> reporter: the turning point.

simpson slowly slipping on the gloves found at the crime scene, gloves prosecutors say belonged to o.j., which did not fit. just like that, the state's case fell apart. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> reporter: the defense seizing on the moment, that slogan, and victory. >> we the jury find the defendant o.j. simpson not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187-a, a felony, upon nicole brown simpson, a human being, as charged in count one of the information. >> reporter: it took the jury less than four hours to reach not guilty. in some ways, it was a culmination of years-long frustration. tears and anger in the black community, fed up with how cases of police brutality are often unheard and cast aside. >> racism, that's what it's all about! >> you realized in that moment that there were two americas. you saw black people cheering, not because they believed that

o.j. simpson was innocent. they were cheering because of a fractured judicial system. >> reporter: but for two families, the browns and goldmans, their loss, amplified. >> june 13th -- '94 -- worst nightmare of my life. this is the second. >> reporter: about a year after the trial, a shocking turn. simpson's best friend and attorney, robert kardashian, sitting down with barbara walters. >> i asked you if you yourself doubt o.j. simpson's innocence? >> i have doubts. >> why? >> the blood evidence is the biggest thorn in my side.

that causes me the greatest problems. so i struggle with the blood evidence. >> reporter: three years later, the goldman and brown families sued simpson in a separate civil trial, o.j. found liable and ordered to pay $33.5 million to their families. >> in the civil case, they actually uncovered additional evidence beyond the enormous evidence they already had against o.j. simpson. so if you take the two verdicts together, yeah, he didn't serve time, but he was found responsible for the killings. >> o.j. simpson is under arrest in las vegas -- >> in connection with an alleged armed robbery -- >> reporter: simpson found trouble again in 2007, arrested for robbery and kidnapping at a low-end las vegas casino. simpson claimed he'd received a tip that some missing personal memorabilia had surfaced in the hands of a sports memorabilia

dealer. his dramatic attempt to retrieve it documented on an audio recording played during his trial. >> [ bleep ] you think you can steal [ bleep ] -- >> reporter: his defense attorney saying the case reeked of retribution for the 1994 murders. >> it says perkins. this is great. "yeah, john said he's like, yeah, california can't get him, now we'll be, blank, got him." >> reporter: simpson was convicted and served almost nine years in prison. >> o.j. simpson had the book thrown at him in a case that, if it had been someone else, probably would have been a much lower sentence. but i don't know that there's an enormous amount of sympathy out there for o.j. simpson, considering that so many believe he got away with murder. >> reporter: he was granted parole and released in 2017, and more than 20 years after the murders, a new generation discovering the saga with the oscar-winning espn docuseries

"30 for 30." >> what drew us to the story of the trial of o.j. simpson was how strongly everybody felt about it at the time. >> reporter: and fx's "the people versus o.j. simpson: american crime story." >> this trial was a very good harbinger of reality tv. you know, people had their favorite characters. it was like watching a show. as opposed to watching a trial. >> even though o.j. simpson is gone now, we're probably still going to be talking about o.j. simpson for a really long time, because we just learned so much during that trial and in the aftermath of that trial. it kind of changed the course of history, in a lot of ways. >> juju: our thanks to matt. when we return, remembering those who lost the most. the families of nicole brown and those who lost the most. the families of nicole brown and ron goldman. or a dark?yellow a lt how do i clean an aioli stain? thankfully, tide's the answer to almost all of them. why do we even buy napkins? use tide.

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♪ >> juju: welcome back. though the world watched o.j. simpson's trial play out, for the loved ones of nicole brown and ron goldman, the loss was personal, intimate, and gut-wrenching. >> we find the defendant,er on 10 that will james simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder -- >> reporter: it was the verdict heard round the world. for freds and kim goldman, it was personal and painful. >> we're family that wanted justice, simple as that. wanted the person that violently, viciously butchered two people to be held accountable. >> reporter: today, fred and daughter kim releasing a

statement. "for three decades we tirelessly pursued justice. despite a civil judgment and his confession in "if i did it" the hope for true accountability has ended." fred as son ron, 25 years old, brutally stabbed to death, found next to the body of o.j. simpson's ex-wife, nicole brown. i sat down with fred and kim goldman in 2019. what was that moment like for you when they broke the news to you that it was your son who had died alongside nicole brown? >> we found out in the most bizarre way. it was a phone call from the coroner's office, basically saying, "did you hear about the death of nicole brown?" and i said, "what does that have to do with me?" and they said, "well, your son was the other victim." and, you know, overwhelmed. >> juju: you felt it was really

crucial that you break the news to kim? >> well, i didn't want kim to hear from the news or from anyone else. sadly, i had to be the one to tell her. >> he said, "did you hear anything on the news today?" and i said, "i don't know what you're talking about." and he -- he just basically said that ron died. i remember just falling to the ground, kind of screaming and crying. >> juju: the devastated family went to court nearly every day of the criminal trial. >> ron and nicole were butchered. >> juju: where are you, 25 years later in grieving your son? >> every day for 25 years has been a day without ron there. to not be able to see him growing and fulfilling his dreams. >> reporter: kim had her own podcast about the case. she talked to some of the key players involved, like prosecutor marcia clark. >> to my great regret, more and more got heaped to 0 my

shoulders. more and more, i was being pushed out to talk to the press. i was running literally 24/7. believe me, i hate the memory of that. >> juju: and kato kaelin, the famous simpson house guest. >> how did people treat you after the trial? >> spit at me. having actual hate. so many times i've gotten messages of, "you should have been the guy that was murdered." >> juju: she explored what grief looks like decades after violent crime. >> those of us that are living it, we have to figure out a way to make room for all of that throughout the day, whether it's grief or the loss from it, the anger from it, the emotion that comes with it. >> juju: kim said her wig brother was her protector. >> my dad raised us from when we were 3 1/2 and 6. he was a single dad. we could rely on each other. >> every picture of them in my mind is the two of them together, holding hands, together in some format. that was who they were. it never changed.

judge nicole brown's family in an interview with diane sawyer before the criminal trial recounted the last time they saw her. >> she was in great spirits. the best we'd seen. >> reporter: leaving dinner at the restaurant meza luna in brentwood hours before the murders. >> we walked one way to the parking lot, she walked off with her children. they were going to go get some ice cream. very happy. it's the way i would want to remember her. >> we always had a thing where, when you drive home, when you get there, you call. and so i remember she got on the phone, "we're home, we got here." "okay, love you." >> i think we're very lucky. each one said, "i love you." not many people are that lucky. those were our last words.

>> every telephone conversation would end with, "i love you." >> "love you." always. >> juju: two families thrust into an american crime saga, determined to keep the focus on all the victims. >> we want to make sure the story shifts back to ron and nicole. because we're not the only victims across the country. there's people that are victimized and traumatized on a daily, hourly basis. that's where the focus needs to be always. that's where we choose to talk about it. >> juju: we'll be right back. ra. i'm the life enrichment director at independence village, a senior living community in waukee, iowa. everybody here really, really make you feel like family and that they love you. our goal with tiktok was to enrich the lives of our residents. i think i am a tiktok grandma. my kids think i am. i mean, we're the ones that are being entertained. time goes faster when you're having fun. keep tiktok.

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♪ >> juju: that's "nightline."

you can see the latest coverage of o.j. simpson tomorrow morning on "gma." we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.