Two days ago news broke that former football player, actor, and Hertz spokesman O.J. Simpson passed away from a battle with cancer. For those of us who were around and of adult or somewhat adult age, he was known for being arrested for the murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. This was a really bizarre case and millions were following it.
When the murder first made the news, I didn't know or didn't care at that time who had done it. As the events unfolded, O.J. found himself on the very short list of suspects, and he was expected to turn himself in. On that particular Friday, I had the day off from work as that I had been working long hours testing a communications satellite, and I went to the beach. As I was listening to the radio on the way to the beach, the presumption was that he was going to turn himself in.
After I got home from my outing, I turned on the tube, and a most bizarre spectacle was unfolding. It was on almost all of the channels. A slow moving white Bronco was being "chased" by about thirty police cars on the 405 freeway, with police and news helicopters in attendance. I immediately grabbed a blank videotape, loaded it, and began taping. This was history and I wanted my own record of it.
It was known that O.J. was in the Bronco. There was talk that he had been on the cellphone and was going to kill himself. My guess is that half of the nation was watching this, garnering an audience of a size that hadn't been seen since the first Moon landing. And yes, I had that morbid curiosity about whether or not he was going to kill himself. The Bronco eventually found its way to O.J.'s house on 360 North Rockingham, and then it was another 45 minutes, or so it seemed, before O.J. was arrested.
The trial itself went on to be known as the "Trial of the Century". I didn't watch very much of it, even though I thought Marcia Clark was well north of attractive. What I do remember is being glad that I was going to Italy for a long vacation and I wouldn't have to hear about the trial for four weeks. When I was overnighting near Heathrow on the return leg I figured I'd turn on the telly and see what British television was all about, and there it was, the O.J. Simpson trial. I think I lasted all of thirty seconds before going downstairs to the bar and trying some of the beer.
I also remember listening to the final argument that Christopher Darden had made. I didn't listen to what Johnnie Cochran had to say; I had no use for him then and I never did after that. The next day at work, we were gathered around the radio to listen to the verdict, and were stunned at the "not guilty".
Now you can make the argument that the prosecution botched the case. There were some things that they could have done better. You can also make the argument that Judge Ito lost control of the trial, which in my opinion, he did. But upon reading Chris Darden's book, there was the statement that the defense savaged the first witness on national television, and no witness after that wanted the center of attention.
It also didn't help matters any that detective Mark Fuhrman denied ever using the word "nigger" in all his life, which he was later proven to have done so. And with that, there were some people who believe that he planted the DNA and the glove. I don't personally believe that he did that but I can't prove to you that he didn't. What I do know is that O.J. became a suspect when he was told that his ex-wife was murdered. He didn't ask which one as that he had two of them, and he didn't ask about the details.
All of that said, O.J. vowed to spend the rest of his life searching for the "real killer", and he was diligent in checking out lots of golf courses in his search. He had more legal troubles after that, lost a civil trial, and was resident at a correctional facility in Lovelock, Nevada. I was hoping that he would have remained there for a lot longer than he did, but that's not how it turned out.
Regardless, O.J. is now dead.
One rule that I imposed upon myself about ten years ago was to not celebrate misfortune happening to anyone else. I am trying very hard right now to live by that rule, but it was all I could do to not jump up and down for joy over this and celebrating it. Even though it's now two days since I learned about this, there's that part of me that wants to live this one up. And it's difficult to live by that rule.
That said...........I think I can say that we haven't had that good of a day since Charles Manson died.
