Would you believe that the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman
took only a few minutes? The murders were incredibly violent,
bloody, and swift. Whoever killed OJ’s ex-wife and Goldman seemed to go right for the kill,
savaging the two in front of her Brentwood, California condominium on June 12, 1994,
while her two children slept inside. A passerby found the bodies crumpled on the ground — Brown
Simpson at the bottom of the courtyard stairs — and Goldman close by near some foliage.
The killings would turn into one of the most infamous crimes in modern U.S. history,
with Nicole Brown Simpson's famous ex-husband, NFL-star-turned-broadcaster and occasional actor,
O.J. Simpson, becoming the prime suspect in the killings.
The couple met while Nicole was an 18-year-old waitress in 1977 and O.J. was still married
to his first wife, whom he divorced in 1979. Nicole and O.J. married in 1985.
The couple had two children together but, over the years, Nicole told friends and family he was
abusive toward her. In 1989, O.J. was arrested for "spousal battery" to which he pleaded no contest.
According to Bustle, during the 1989 spousal abuse incident, Simpson kicked and hit Nicole and, when
responding officers arrived, Nicole reportedly told them, quote, "he's going to kill me."
"You never hurt your wife either, correct?"
"No, I hurt my wife. Yes."
By 1992, the couple had divorced. O.J. Simpson was the only suspect ever really
considered for the killings, according to what a lead investigator said during the so-called
"trial of the century," in which Simpson was acquitted of the double murders after nearly
nine months of testimony. Still, shortly after the killings neighbors started sharing what they knew.
One told the Los Angeles Times he'd seen O.J. Simpson there several times,
but that's not unusual since the couple shared children.
Another said he'd see Nicole walking her dog sometimes and wondered if she was attacked during
a dog walk, as he said there was a dog walking unattended on a leash found the next morning.
Though Simpson was later held liable for Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman's deaths
in a civil trial, to this day, no other suspects have been named for the crime.
There were no signs of robbery, burglary, or any known motives for the vicious killings.
What was later learned in Brown Simpson's autopsy report, is that the assailant stabbed the mother
four times in the neck and cut her throat so deeply that the knife went into her cervical
spine. The slice was 5 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches in length, cutting through the soft tissues of the
neck and a quarter-inch deep into Brown Simpson's bone, sparing the spinal canal and spinal cord.
Per trial testimony, a medical examiner said that the stabs likely happened first,
then as Brown Simpson lay on the ground the killer lifted her head by the hair
and did the cut that would end Nicole Simpson's life, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Medical examiner's report showed that other than the stabs to her neck, there were three
other stab wounds to Brown Simpson's scalp, as well as a blunt force injury to her head.
There were only a few defensive wounds on Nicole Brown Simpson's hands,
which the Chief Los Angeles Coroner later testified showed that the attack only lasted
a few minutes, according to the Chicago Tribune. The coroner said in his testimony:
"I would say she died within a few minutes, probably less.
These kinds of altercations can take place pretty rapidly."
According to the coroner, the knife used was most likely six inches long and single-edged.
Yet whoever wielded it, did so with such furious intent that the killer nearly
decapitated Nicole Brown Simpson. Beyond the tragedy of the brutal murder of the young,
vibrant woman — and the fact that no one has ever been convicted of taking her life
and the life of Ron Goldman on that California summer night — is that Brown Simpson's autopsy
report shows that she was otherwise in great health, and likely had a long life ahead of her.
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