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Nicole Simpson with O.J.

Nicole Brown Simpson's Grave at Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California

Nicole Brown Simpson (May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of American football player O.J. Simpson. She was murdered at her home in Los Angeles, California, along with her friend Ronald Goldman. O.J. Simpson was arrested and tried for her murder in one of the most controversial and widely-discussed criminal trials in U.S. history, which found him not guilty.

The daughter of Juditha and Louis Brown, Nicole was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but the family moved to Dana Point, California, where she grew up, along with younger sisters Dominique and Tanya and older sister Denise. Nicole was elected Homecoming Queen at Dana Hills High School. Shortly after graduating from high school, she met her future husband while she was working as a waitress at a night club.

Brown was married to O. J. Simpson on February 2, 1985, who by that time had retired from professional football. They had two children together, Sydney Brooke Simpson (born October 17, 1985) and Justin Ryan Simpson (born August 6, 1988). The marriage lasted seven years, ending when Nicole divorced him in 1992, citing an "abusive relationship".

Main article: O. J. Simpson murder case

On the morning of June 13, 1994, neighbors, alerted by a barking dog, found the mutilated bodies of Brown Simpson and a man (who was returning sunglasses she left at a restaurant), Ronald Goldman, in the enclosed front courtyard of her condo on South Bundy Drive in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. Both had been hacked and stabbed multiple times, with Nicole Simpson's head nearly severed. At the time of the murders, her children were asleep inside the condo.

After her death, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with both murders; he was acquitted of these crimes in a criminal trial by a jury of 9 black people, 2 white people and 1 hispanic person. However, in a subsequent civil trial, he was found liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman and ordered to pay $33,500,000 (USD) (including profits from his new book) to the families of Brown and Goldman.

In 1994, Nicole Simpson's sister Denise Brown established The Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation in Nicole's memory, to assist victims of domestic violence. [1]

During the murder trial, Nicole's parents looked after the two children, Sydney and Justin, their daughter had with Simpson. In 1996, a judge granted Simpson's petition to give him full custody of the children. Simpson has been fighting with Nicole's parents for custody of Sydney and Justin.

Whether Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman were just friends or something more is not known conclusively, but Goldman is always referred to as "her friend". The LA Times reported on June 15, 1994:

"Goldman, 25, also had an increasingly close relationship with 35-year-old Nicole Brown Simpson, whom he had exercised with, accompanied to dance clubs and often met for coffee and dinner during the past month and a half. He told others that he was just friends with Simpson. But he boasted of her stunning good looks and talked about the special kick it gave him to see heads turn when the two of them pulled up in her white Ferrari in front of The Gate, a fashionable West Hollywood dance club, with him behind the wheel....Six weeks ago Goldman was driving the Ferrari, with its highly recognizable L84AD8 license plate, when he joined [another waiter Craig] Clark for lunch at Cafe Montana in Santa Monica. Clark said that Goldman told him it was Nicole Simpson's car, but that he did not say she was his girlfriend. 'He said they were friends', Clark recalled."

On the night of the murder, Nicole's mother called the Mezzaluna at 9:30 pm to inquire if her sunglasses were left at the restaurant. Nicole called at 9:35 pm and asked specifically for Ron Goldman, presumably to ask him to deliver the sunglasses to her that night. Between leaving the restaurant and arriving at Nicole's around 10:30 pm, Ron stopped at his apartment to shower and change clothes. Nicole was found wearing a short black dress and inside were lit candles and music playing. There was speculation that their relationship was romantic but never any evidence. The police do not believe the relationship had any connection to the cause of the murder.

Brett Shaves dated Nicole Simpson in 1993 several months after she and O.J. Simpson divorced. It is believed by some that the murderer was actually after Brett Shaves and not Ron Goldman the night the two were murdered. Nicole and Brett met at the law firm where they both worked and, at one point, took a trip to Mexico together.

After the murders, pictures were published by the National Enquirer of Brett Shaves and Nicole Simpson in a hot tub together naked. Other photos came out of the two of them in Mexico together.

• Court TV's complete coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder case