American Manhunt: OJ Simpson: Was he found guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman? How to watch new documentary

The former NFL star, nicknamed ‘the Juice’, was a household name across the world in 1994. Not only was he regarded as one of America’s greatest sport stars, but he had also made the jump to film and television, appearing in The Naked Gun film series and the TV series Roots amongst other credits.

However, his fame - or infamy - reached new levels when he became embroiled in one of the most notorious high-profile murder cases in American history. The A-lister found himself at the centre of one of the most famous manhunts ever conducted following the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

The historical moment in time has been put to screen in a new Netflix true crime documentary series titled ‘American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson’, detailing the brutal murder, the ensuing manhunt and the sensational trial that followed.

What happened to Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman?

The murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman occurred on the evening of June 12, 1994. Both were killed by multiple knife wounds, with Brown and Goldman found in a pool of blood outside her Brentwood home in Los Angeles California.

The attention of the authorities turned to Brown’s then ex-husband Simpson. The couple had divorced in 1992, with reports suggesting that Brown had suffered emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband throughout their relationship.

After attempting to reconcile their relationship, Simpson and Brown split again in 1994. Six weeks before their death, Brown met Goldman, a 25-year-old restaurant waiter and struck a platonic friendship with him that included meeting for coffee and dinner.

He drove to her home on the evening of June 12 after a pair of glasses were left at the table of the restaurant where he worked. Brown and her family had ate at the restaurant earlier that evening.

Kris Jenner, a close friend of Brown, also revealed that she had reached out to her only one day before her death to confide in her about something. The Kardashian matriarch said that she believed that it could have possibly been about her “volatile” relationship with Simpson, but Brown was killed before the pair could meet.

Was O.J Simpson found guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman?

After the bodies of the pair were discovered at Brown’s Brentwood home, authorities embarked on a low-speed manhunt for Simpson after he was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. The manhunt was launched and Simpson was declared a fugitive after he fled the home of Robert Kardashian, his friend and lawyer, despite telling LAPD he would hand himself over to authorities at the residence.

Television news crews caught the dramatic moment the Simpson, driving his distinctive white 1993 Ford Bronco, led officers on a chase across Los Angeles. Multiple police vehicles were involved in the chase, including helicopters, with Simpson eventually driving to his Rockingham Avenue estate where he was apprehended.

What followed was dubbed the “trial of the century”. The trial lasted eight months, beginning on January 24 to October 3, 1995.

Despite prosecutors insistence that DNA evidence implicated Simpson in the death of Brown and Goldman, he was found not guilty of both murders by a jury. His lawyer, Jonnie Cochran, persuaded the jury that there was reasonable doubt surrounding the validity of the DNA evidence, which was a relatively new type of evidence in trials at the time.

Cochran also uttered the famous line "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" in his closing argument, in relation to a glove which was allegedly found by detectives who searched Simpson’s home following the fatal stabbings. The leather gloves become one of the most contentious pieces of evidence during the trial, with prosecutors arguing that they belonged to Simpson and contained traces of his, Brown’s and Goldman’s blood.

However, after Simpson failed to make the gloves fit on his hands during the trial, Cochran and his team convinced the jury that his client was not implicated by the key piece of evidence.

How to watch American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson

The full case and subsequent trial is being examined in the new Netflix documentary American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, which releases on the streaming platform on Wednesday, January 29. You will need a Netflix subscription to access the title, with subscriptions starting from £4.99/month.

The true crime series features brand new interviews, offering a fresh look at one of the most famous trials in history. Director Floyd Russ said: “This is a story that has so many faces and so many elements that when you contextualize it historically it takes on a new form every few years.”

He added: “Our interview subjects have a power to reflect in a new way with the passage of 30 years. Their emotions have evolved, and the way they’re able to talk about it is different than they ever have before. That sense of reflection from the people involved was apparent from the get-go, which made us feel that this story was one that needed to be told in a new and different way.”