After 'trial of the century,' OJ Simpson spent prison time, rest of life in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — After his acquittal in what was dubbed the "trial of the century," O.J. Simpson ultimately spent the last years of his life in Nevada.

Simpson's family said the former football star died Wednesday after being diagnosed with cancer. He was 76.

TMZ reported that he died in Las Vegas, where the football star took up residence after his release from a Nevada prison more than six years ago.

Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas back in 2007 for breaking into a hotel room at the Palace Station and stealing memorabilia at gunpoint. He admitted to taking items, but he said they were stolen from him and denied breaking into the room.

He was tried for 12 counts related to the incident, and a Clark County jury found him guilty on all charges on Oct. 3, 2008. That was exactly 13 years after a jury found him not guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.

A judge sentenced Simpson to 33 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after nine years, and he was incarcerated at Lovelock Correctional Center in Northern Nevada. Efforts to get a new trial or have the charges dropped were unsuccessful.

A Nevada parole board granted him an early release in 2017. While his attorney said Simpson planned to live in Florida once out of prison, he began living in Las Vegas under the terms of his parole and never left the valley.

He was later granted an early discharge from parole in December 2021.