Simpson case launched victim’s sister on fight for justice
Ron Goldman was not just Kim Goldman’s big brother. He was her hero and protector, the guy who pulled a terrified teenager from a devastating car wreck 34 years ago and rode to the hospital in the ambulance with her. The person every guy had to go through if they wanted to ask her on a date.
When O.J. Simpson was acquitted of stabbing to death Ron Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, in one of Los Angeles’ most exclusive neighborhoods on June 12, 1994 , Kim Goldman was devastated. As the verdict was read following one of the most divisive criminal cases in U.S. history , cameras in the courtroom caught her sobbing uncontrollably.
Twenty-five years later, she has turned the agony of that moment into a lifetime of helping troubled teens and aiding crime victims’ rights groups while also pursuing the life of a suburban single mom who, at the moment, is teaching her 15-year-old son, Sam, to drive.
“That’s very scary,” she says, laughing while recalling gripping the passenger-side door and putting her foot where the brake would be if she was in the driver’s seat.
Still, even lighthearted moments like that come with a price.
“I don’t suffocate in my grief. But every milestone that my kid hits, every milestone that I hit, you know, those are just reminders of what I’m not able to share with my brother and what he is missing out on,” she adds.
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Where are they now? Key players in O.J. Simpson murder trial
The June 12, 1994, killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman brought the “Trial of the Century” that saw O.J. Simpson acquitted of the murders. From Johnnie to Kato to Ito, the trial brought together a fascinating cast of charters. Here’s a look at where they are now.
THE DEFENDANT
Two years after Simpson’s 1995 acquittal, a civil court jury found him liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman, and ordered he pay their survivors $33.5 million. He got into a series of minor legal scrapes ranging from a 2001 Florida road-rage incident (he was acquitted) to racing his boat through a protected Florida manatee zone in 2002 (he was fined). His most serious transgression came in 2007, however, when he and five others barged into a Las Vegas hotel room with guns and robbed memorabilia dealers of property that Simpson said was his. He served nine years in a Nevada prison and was paroled in 2017. Now 71, Simpson lives quietly in Las Vegas where he says he plays golf nearly every day with a group of “retired guys.” He also poses for selfies with the many people still enamored with his celebrity. Simpson told The Associated Press in a recent interview that he will never discuss the murders again.
THE VICTIMS’ SURVIVORS
Ron Goldman’s sister, Kim, was 22 and broke into hysterical sobs when the not guilty verdict was read. These days she counsels troubled teens as executive director of a Southern California-based nonprofit, The Youth Project, and is a speaker to victims’ rights group. She has authored several books and on Wednesday — the 25th anniversary of her brother’s death — begins a 10-episode podcast titled “Confronting: OJ Simpson,” in which she says she’ll discuss all aspects of the trial. Goldman, now 47, lives in a Southern California suburb with her 15-year-old son.
Fred Goldman, Ron’s father, has relentlessly pursued Simpson through civil courts, maintaining it is the only way to achieve justice for his son. Goldman’s family has seized some of Simpson’s memorabilia, including his 1968 Heisman Trophy as college football’s best player that year. The family has also taken the rights to Simpson’s movies, a book he wrote about the killings and other items to satisfy part of the $33.5 million judgment that Simpson refuses to pay. Goldman, 78, lives with his wife, Patti, in Arizona, where both are Realtors.
Denise Brown, Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister, has remained the family’s most outspoken critic of Simpson, although like the Goldman family she refuses to speak his name. The former model has become a victims’ rights advocate and a speaker, urging both women and men to leave abusive relationships. She said she has gotten over her anger with God for the killings but has never forgiven Simpson and will not watch any films or documentaries about the killings.
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Tags: Beaufort Books, If I Did It, The Goldman Family