The O.J. Simpson Murder Case: A Timeline [Photos]

Today marks 20 years since the  murders of O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson was charged and later acquitted in the brutal slayings.

The retired football star married Nicole in February of 1985. Four years into the marriage Simpson was arrested for domestic violence, and in in 1992 Brown filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences.” The couple had two children together.

On the night of June 12, 1995, Brown and Goldman were at her Brentwood, Calif. condo. Goldman, who was a waiter, had reportedly stopped by to return a pair of glasses Brown’s mother left at his place of employment. Both were stabbed to death in the front area of the home. It is believed that Nicole was killed before Goldman.

In the days after the murders played out like a soap opera. Simpson, the main murder suspect, took police on a slow speed chase. In the middle of one of the most-watched moments on live TV moments Simpson’s friend and lawyer Robert Kardashian Sr. read a letter to the media on his behalf that stated in part that he had read in part “nothing to do with Nicole’s murder,” and professed his love for her:

“Nicole and I had a good life together. All this press talk about a rocky relationship was no more than what every long-term relationship experiences. All her friends will confirm that I have been totally loving and understanding of what she’s been going through. At times I have felt like a battered husband or boyfriend but I loved her. Make that clear to everyone. And I would take whatever it took to make it work.

Don’t feel sorry for me. I’ve had a great life, great friends. Please think of the real O.J. and not this lost person.

Thanks for making my life special. I hope I helped yours.

Simpson was considered a fugitive at the time before he surrendered to authorities.

For more than eight months viewers got to witness every single day of court proceedings unfold on television. In the area of public opinion there was a very obvious racial divide between those believing Simpson to be innocent (mostly Black people), and those who thought he was guilty (mostly white people).

To this day the  lead prosecutors Marsha Clarke and co-counsel Christopher Darden; Simpson’s “Dream Team” of defense lawyers  including Johnny Cochran, Robert Shapiro, and Kardashian, are still most commonly known for their involvement in the trial (Cochran and Kardashian have both passed away).

Take a look at a timeline of the “trial of the century” below.

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Photos: YouTube/Getty/ AP

June 13, 1994

The bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found outside her Brentwood condo at 12:10 a.m. Brown sustained multiple stab wounds to the head and neck as well a defense wounds. Goldman was stabbed in the multiple times in the head, chest, abdomen, and left thigh, in addition to various defense wounds.

Hours earlier O.J. Simpson, Brown’s estranged husband , hops a flight to Chicago. He flies back after authorities informed him of the murders.

June 16, 1994

Simpson attends his ex-wife’s funeral. He is being investigated for the double murders. His vehicle and a pair of sneakers are removed from his home amid reports that blood found at his home matched that of the crime scene. The next day Simpson attends Brown’s funeral along with their two children.

June 17, 1994

Authorities charge Simpson with two counts of murder. He gets into his infamous white Ford Bronco with friend Al Cowling at the wheel and takes cops on a slow-speed chase. Over 90 millions viewers tuned in to the chase which was being aired on live TV.

Simpson surrendered at his home after sitting in his car for almost an hour and later consulting with lawyer Robert Shapiro and family members inside his house. A .357 Magnum, Simpson’s passport, clothes, a fake mustache and beard, and $8,000 in cash was found in the vehicle.

July 8, 1994

Judge Kathleen Kennedy-Powell rules that  enough evidence has been presented for Simpson to stand trial for double counts of murder in the first degree.

July 22, 1994

Simpson pleads “absolutely 100% not guilty” to two counts of first-degree murder.

January 24, 1994

The trial begins preceded over by Judge Lance Ito. Prosecutors Marsha Clarke delivers opening statements, she earns rave reviews.

January 25, 1994

Defense attorney Johnny Cochran shares his opening statements. He tells jurors that they will render “perhaps the most important decision of their lives.”

March 1995

LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman takes the stand. He testifies to seeing blood at Simpson’s home on the night of ht murder.

In cross examination, Fuhrman was grilled over racism allegations and that he used the n-word a decade prior. Simpson’s defense attorneys produce recording of Furhman using the word 41 times.

June 15, 1995

Simpson slips his hand into the bloody glove found at near the crime scene. He has trouble getting the glove over his hands leading to Cochran’s “if it doesn’t quite you must acquit!” line. Prosecutors argued that Simpson’s hand swelled due to inflammation, and that blood shrunk the glove.

September 28, 1995

Johnny Cochran argued that former LAPD detective Mark Forman framed Simpson by planting a bloody glove at his home. In his statements Cochran calls Forman a “lying, perjuring genocidal racist,” who was out to get Simpson.

Closing arguments begin.

October 3, 1995

The jury finds Simpson not guilty of two counts of murder. Approximately 100 million people tuned in for the culmination of the “trial of the century.”

** The family of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman won a civil lawsuit against Simpson totaling $40 million.