The Murders Were Absolutely Brutal

The crime scene photos are available online but I do not recommend looking them up unless you’ve got a strong stomach. Both Nicole and Goldman were stabbed excessively; Goldman had been struck in the head with blunt force and then stabbed in the neck, head, heart, and lungs. Nicole’s throat was slashed so deeply that her larynx was actually exposed and even her vertebrae was damaged.

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Their Bodies Were Left In Pools Of Blood For Hours

Nicole lay in a sad slump at the foot of a set of stairs, curled in on herself. Goldman was flopped over on his side near a fence. They were both covered in blood. It took hours for the police to discover them, and yes, true to “American Crime Story,” their distressed dog was what finally lead neighbors to the scene of the crime.

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Nicole’s Children Were Home At The Time Of The Murders

As terrible as it is to believe, Nicole Brown Simpson’s children — Sydney, who was eight years old, and Justin, who was five — were actually sleeping upstairs at the Brentwood condo when the murders took place.

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O.J. Kissed Nicole’s Corpse At Her Funeral

Even though her attack had been brutal, Nicole was given an open-casket funeral. Her ex-husband arrived, despite the scandal surrounding her murder, and spent a significant amount of time with her body. Multiple witnesses, including Nicole’s own mother, have claimed he kissed her corpse on the lips and whispered an apology.

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Before The Bronco Chase, O.J. Recorded A Suicide Tape

Author of “American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the O.J. Simpson Defense” Lawrence Schiller shared portions of the tape he obtained that had been recorded by Simpson only hours before his infamous escape attempt. One part in particular seemed like a cry for help:

“Oh boy, I don’t know how I ended up here. Please remember me as ‘The Juice.’ Please remember me as a good guy. Don’t remember me as one of the negatives that might end up here. Please, please, please, please leave my kids at peace. I love everybody.”

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He Also Wrote A Suicide Note

Famously read by Robert Kardashian at a press conference, Simpson’s letter (which has been called both a suicide note and NOT a suicide note) contains thanks to friends and family, nods to current and ex-girlfriends, claims of innocence, and this chilling line:

I think of my life and feel I’ve done most of the right things. So why do I end up like this? I can’t go on. No matter what the outcome, people will look and point. I can’t take that. I can’t subject my children to that. This way, they can move on and go on with their lives.

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…Then Proceeded To Threaten To Kill Himself In Kim Kardashian’s Bedroom

This is a hot topic, thanks to “American Crime Story” and Khloe Kardashian’s claims that the event actually took place in her room (attention grab much?) but according to Robert Kardashian himself this is a true story. Schiller, who spoke at length with Robert Kardashian for his book, wrote Kardashian had this to say after finding O.J. in Kim’s room with a gun and photos of Nicole:

“Then O.J. said, ‘I’m going to kill myself in this room,’ and I said, ‘My little girl Kim sleeps here. I can’t have my little girl in this bedroom and every time I come in here, I’m going to see your body lying in this. You can’t do that.’”

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During The Bronco Chase, O.J. Was Prepared To Leave The Country

America watched in awe as Simpson lead the police on a nearly two-hour-long car chase, but what none of the spectators knew was that he had taken the time to plan the escape, at least in part. In the white Bronco, O.J. was in possession of a stash of clothes, his passport, a false beard/mustache, almost $8000 in cash, and a loaded .357 Magnum.

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O.J. Had Been Trained In Knife Combat — Just Months Before The Murders

Earlier in 1994, Simpson had starred in a still-unaired pilot for an NBC series called “Frogmen.” In it, he would play the leader of a group of Navy SEALs based out of Miami. The role required knife combat training for realism and even included a scene where Simpson’s character holds a knife to a woman’s throat.

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He Was Caught In An Outright Lie Regarding Key Evidence

One of the strongest pieces of evidence at the murder scene was a shoe print found in the victims’ blood: a men’s Bruno Magli, size 12. When asked if he’d ever owned a pair of said shoes, Simpson’s response was no. He then went on to elaborate, “I would have never worn those ugly ass shoes.” He was immediately confronted with a photo of himself published in the National Enquirer nine months prior, wearing a pair of Bruno Maglis. During the trial, 30 more photos of Simpson wearing those shoes were entered as evidence.

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A Serial Killer Says He Was Hired By O.J. For The Murders

Glen Rogers, a convicted serial killer, has confessed to being hired by O.J. Clay Rogers is “absolutely certain” his brother is who murdered Nicole and Goldman. In 1994, Glen Rogers had been a drifter who arrived in Los Angeles and was hired as Nicole Brown Simpson’s house painter. His brother claims he took a gold angel pin from Nicole’s body and mailed it to his mother in Ohio. Anthony Meoli, a criminal profiler, exchanged letters with Rogers — who then explained Simpson hired him to break into the Brentwood condo and steal back a set of diamond earrings he’d given Nicole. Supposedly, it went south when Goldman ran into him on the steps outside. The explanation for Simpson’s footprints? He was waiting nearby and wanted to check Rogers’ work, so he walked up to the steps himself, leaving behind evidence. And even more bloodcurdling:

“Glen told me that O.J.’s instructions were that ‘You may have to kill the bitch,'” Meoli said. “Those were his exact words.”

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After Being Found Not Guilty, O.J. Threw A Rager

You might think that after months and months of being a media circus, Simpson might want to lay low, but according to Vanity Fair he purchased 40 cases of champagne for a party at his estate in Rockingham. And just to add salt to the wound, he hired the LAPD — you know, the same LAPD his defense team had spent all that time belittling — to protect his house from media coverage.

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The Verdict Is One Of The Most Important Televised Moments Of Our Time

Obviously the verdict was a huge deal, but according to a survey done by Nielsen and Sony, it’s an even bigger deal than you may realize. It’s considered the third most “universally impactful” televised moment in the last 50 years, only trumped by the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina.