OJ is dead

[Scarlett]

I just saw it on the news. 

[Home'scool]

.... And now he has Hell to look forward to.

[HomeAgain]

May his victims/families find closure.

And may we all continue to research brain impairment due to TBIs and CTE, minimizing them in the future. 

[Katy]

The jokes on social media… Kelly Manno did an Instagram story setting his 1996 police chase set to the song, “Highway to Hell.”

[gardenmom5]

Someone asked Caitlyn Jenner for a quote on OJ's death:  "Good riddance".  Considering their ex-wives were bffs . . . 
CJ didn't mince words.  Previously has said: He was “the most narcissistic, egocentric, neediest asshole in the world of sports I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of them.”

[Katy]

8 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

Someone asked Caitlyn Jenner for a quote on OJ's death:  "Good riddance".  Considering their ex-wives were bffs . . . 
CJ didn't mince words.  Previously has said: He was “the most narcissistic, egocentric, neediest asshole in the world of sports I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of them.”

Wow!

[gardenmom5]

6 minutes ago, Katy said:

Wow!

This. . . is "wow".

“Obviously he did it, and he got away with it, and at one point he even told Nicole, ‘I’ll kill you and get away with it ’cause I’m OJ Simpson,'” Jenner said

Jenner also said Robert Kardashian (one of OJ's lawyers, and his ex-wife's first husband) knew OJ was guilty.

eta: CJ was at Nicole's house two days before she was murdered.

Edited April 11 by gardenmom5

[DawnM]

1 hour ago, Katy said:

The jokes on social media… Kelly Manno did an Instagram story setting his 1996 police chase set to the song, “Highway to Hell.”

Pretty sure it was 1994.   

I know that because I was at my 10 year HS reunion while watching the chase and that was 1994.

[DawnM]

2 hours ago, Home'scool said:

.... And now he has Hell to look forward to.

I don't wish hell on people, but some deserve it more than others.   

[Scarlett]

I don’t believe in a place of torment after we die. 
And I try to leave the judging of peoples full selves to God.  It is difficult though in a  the situation like this when I am 100% convinced he murdered those two people.

I think the people that never admit their horrific crimes, even in the face of overwhelming physical evidence or circumstantial evidence really give me pause as to their character.

Edited April 12 by Scarlett

[Ginevra]

31 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

I don’t believe in a place of torment after we die. 
And I try to leave the judging of peoples full selves to God.  It is difficult though in a  the situation like this when I am 100% convinced he murdered those two people.

I think the people that never admit their horrific crimes, even in the face of overwhelming physical evidence or circumstantial evidence really give me as to their character.

I don’t believe in hell, either, but in some cases, I do not mind if I’m wrong. 

[Lady Florida.]

OJ was one of the best players in the history of football and not a bad actor. He'll only be remembered for one thing though. The murder of his wife and his subsequent escape from justice. 

[Scarlett]

4 minutes ago, Ginevra said:

I don’t believe in hell, either, but in some cases, I do not mind if I’m wrong. 

Musing here…. Really though? Do you really wish someone eternal torment?

My belief is that the wages sin pays is death. 
 

I don’t think I could wish eternal torment on  anyone.  And I do believe some people are wicked. 

[Scarlett]

I don’t remember where I was during the bronco chase. I do vividly remember where I was when they announced the not guilty verdict. I was at work and several of us had left our phone post and gone to the conference room to hear the verdict on TV. I will never forget the way my mouth fell open and complete and utter disbelief that he was found not guilty. That was the day I fully understood that the justice system can be deeply flawed.

I also remember a coworker, laughing, and seeming to be gleeful that he was found not guilty. I can’t recall what she said, I just remember looking at her and thinking it sounded like she was underwater.
 

I also understood that day a little bit about prejudice and racism, and the flawed nature of humans

Edited April 12 by Scarlett

[kbutton]

Someone I met through extended family (family of family) somehow was in OJ’s orbit for some reason (work maybe), and he didn’t have good stuff to say, though I was not part of the adult conversation at the time to remember specifics. It doesn’t surprise me that people have spoken out about his character and behavior.

[Corraleno]

LAPD screwed up that case so badly. On the one hand, Fuhrman never should have been involved, he was not on call and he inserted himself into the case because he had previously answered a DV call from Nicole and he knew it would be a juicy case. On the other hand he was the only one who noticed what was presumed to be OJ's bloody fingerprint on Nicole's gate, which would have provided damning evidence, but the other cops who were assigned to the investigation didn't notice it and didn't bother to read Fuhrman's notes, and the fingerprint got destroyed. OJ's defense team knew about Fuhrman's past, and their strategy from the beginning was to focus on Fuhrman in order to suggest a racist conspiracy to frame OJ.

I met Fuhrman in 1990 after an armed man broke into a home in West LA where I was housesitting, and he was assigned to the case. I met with him a couple of times before the trial, and then right before I went to court as a witness I talked to him and the two cops who had arrested the suspect. He and the one of the other cops were making racist jokes, so I wasn't at all surprised when they played the tape of him in court repeatedly using the n-word.

I think a conviction would have been a lot more likely if Fuhrman had not decided to involve himself, and/or the other cops had bothered to follow up on the bloody fingerprint. The whole thing was just such a cluster****.

[marbel]

I was in the ATL airport waiting for a flight when the verdict was announced. The overwhelming emotion there was joy. I mean people erupted in cheers. Surprising to me then; it wouldn't be today. 

 

[Scarlett]

2 hours ago, marbel said:

I was in the ATL airport waiting for a flight when the verdict was announced. The overwhelming emotion there was joy. I mean people erupted in cheers. Surprising to me then; it wouldn't be today. 

 

My XH said college kids (he was older in college at the time) erupted in cheers. I honestly did not believe him then but I do now. 
 

[Pam in CT]

4 hours ago, Corraleno said:

LAPD screwed up that case so badly. On the one hand, Fuhrman never should have been involved, he was not on call and he inserted himself into the case because he had previously answered a DV call from Nicole and he knew it would be a juicy case. On the other hand he was the only one who noticed what was presumed to be OJ's bloody fingerprint on Nicole's gate, which would have provided damning evidence, but the other cops who were assigned to the investigation didn't notice it and didn't bother to read Fuhrman's notes, and the fingerprint got destroyed. OJ's defense team knew about Fuhrman's past, and their strategy from the beginning was to focus on Fuhrman in order to suggest a racist conspiracy to frame OJ.

I met Fuhrman in 1990 after an armed man broke into a home in West LA where I was housesitting, and he was assigned to the case. I met with him a couple of times before the trial, and then right before I went to court as a witness I talked to him and the two cops who had arrested the suspect. He and the one of the other cops were making racist jokes, so I wasn't at all surprised when they played the tape of him in court repeatedly using the n-word.

I think a conviction would have been a lot more likely if Fuhrman had not decided to involve himself, and/or the other cops had bothered to follow up on the bloody fingerprint. The whole thing was just such a cluster****.

https://bsky.app/profile/kenwhite.bsky.social/post/3kpvg4bl7xd25

(language alert)

[HomeAgain]

12 hours ago, Corraleno said:

I think a conviction would have been a lot more likely if Fuhrman had not decided to involve himself, and/or the other cops had bothered to follow up on the bloody fingerprint. The whole thing was just such a cluster****.

I was local when this was happening.  And you're right, but ultimately there would have been a much greater chance of conviction had there not been the beating of Rodney King and the subsequent acquittal of the 4 officers that were caught on video.

A lot of people came away with the feeling that this "evened the score".  There was not a jury pool in the area that was not colored with the feelings that the L.A. police were a bunch of aggressive, racist idiots who tried to get away with murder.  It didn't matter if OJ did it or not - what mattered was not letting the police have a win and contributing to their racial bias over the people they serve.

It's one of those things that we absolutely cannot take out of historical context.

[Scarlett]

..

Edited April 12 by Scarlett

[El...]

I'm surprised by how much I'd forgotten about him, and how much of what I thought I knew was skewed by the political environment in which I grew up. What a complicated saga, more about the society than about him. 

[Scarlett]

2 hours ago, El... said:

I'm surprised by how much I'd forgotten about him, and how much of what I thought I knew was skewed by the political environment in which I grew up. What a complicated saga, more about the society than about him. 

Can you elaborate? I am curious. 

[livetoread]

I was in graduate school and was in the process of learning that black people often experience our country differently than white people. I mean, I kind of knew that a little before but didn't really grasp how profound the differences can be. Watching some black and white professors attempt to discuss the verdict during lunch break was eye opening for me. That's what I remember most about that time - just coming to terms with how different our experiences and subsequent perspectives might be.

As for him being dead, well I won't mourn. 

[maize]

I remember the chase; we were flying back to the US for a brief visit from overseas, and it was breaking news playing on all the TVs in the airport. I had zero context for what was going on--had never heard of OJ Simpson, didn't know why the chase was happening. It was just one more out-of-context fragment like so many over the course of my childhood as I struggled to make sense of unfamiliar places, cultures, histories, and expectations. 

[Ginevra]

On 4/11/2024 at 4:26 PM, Scarlett said:

Musing here…. Really though? Do you really wish someone eternal torment?

My belief is that the wages sin pays is death. 
 

I don’t think I could wish eternal torment on  anyone.  And I do believe some people are wicked. 

No, not really. It’s tongue-in-cheek. But I don’t believe there is such a thing as anyone condemned to eternal torment. However, for some people, I’m willing to sort of wish they would get some paybacks for their wickedness. But when it comes right down to it, I don’t actually believe that happens to anybody. I believe when you die, it’s all over. Curtain call; the end. 
 

I admit that I hope for a heaven, because there are people I hope are there. But if it came down to some sort of wager, I would bet that death is the end, whether you were wicked or righteous on earth. I believe that the wages of sin is whatever happens in life as a result of your bad choices. And yes, some people unfairly get to defer those results while others suffer though they did nothing wrong. But that’s life. 

[SKL]

It wasn't until recently that I realized the racial divide on his murder case.  (Or maybe I'd forgotten that.  But, we didn't have the internet, so there wasn't as much info everywhere.)

I remember my uncle always arguing in favor of OJ based on this or that evidence / info.  My mom said he was just playing devil's advocate to get a rise out of people.  However, he was damn good at it.

And according to something I saw today on Twitter, at least some in the black community still take OJ's side / identify with him, and one of the reasons is that the people he allegedly killed were white.  An interesting take.

I generally respect juries, and acknowledge that they will have seen a different set of info than I've seen.  That said, over the years, OJ has shown himself to be a creep.  So, no mourning here.

I always wondered what his kids thought of the whole situation.  Not that it's any of my business.

[DawnM]

16 hours ago, SKL said:

It wasn't until recently that I realized the racial divide on his murder case.  (Or maybe I'd forgotten that.  But, we didn't have the internet, so there wasn't as much info everywhere.)

 

I always wondered what his kids thought of the whole situation.  Not that it's any of my business.

I was working in a high school in Los Angeles at the time.   All the wheeled TVs were taken, but I had prepared and brought in my radio.   All 40 of my students were sitting silently, listening to what the verdict would be.   They were 14 and 15 year olds, 99% Hispanic students.    It was divided.   Some cheered and some booed and yelled, "He got away with it" (or something similar, I don't remember the exact verbiage).

 

[Sneezyone]

I was in college in LA at the time of the trial. None of the black folks in/around South Central had fond feelings toward the police. College parties around campus were routinely shut down by 11p if the attendees were black while Greek row was allowed to do all manner of foolishness in the open until the wee hours. The double standards were blatant and the community anger was palpable. The only thing that saved our uni from damage and destruction after Rodney King's beating and the subsequent acquittal of LE perps was favorable town-gown relations. These two things happened within 3 years of each other. Pete Wilson was also the Governor at the time too, which didn't help matters at all. "The Governator" (small r) notwithstanding, CA hasn't had a Republican governor since.

Edited April 14 by Sneezyone