25 years after murder trial, O.J. Simpson says he lives in the 'no negative zone'

OJ Simpson in 1994.
(Image credit: Pool/AFP/Getty Images)

Now residing in Las Vegas, where he golfs regularly and stops for selfies when asked, O.J. Simpson doesn't want to talk about the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman 25 years ago this week.

"We don't need to go back and relive the worst days of our lives," he told The Associated Press. "The subject of the moment is the subject I will never revisit again. My family and I have moved on to what we call the 'no negative zone.' We focus on the positives." On June 12, 1994, Brown Simpson and Goldman were stabbed to death outside her home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, with Simpson going on trial for their murders. The country was riveted by his televised "Trial of the Century," as well as his subsequent acquittal. The case is still considered unsolved.

Simpson was later arrested and convicted of robbery and kidnapping after trying to steal back some of his sports memorabilia from a hotel in Las Vegas. He served nine years in prison, a sentence he thinks was too long, and was released in October 2017. "The town has been good to me," he said of Las Vegas. "Everybody I meet seems to be apologizing for what happened to me here." His eldest daughter, Arnelle, lives with him most of the time, and his parole officer has granted him permission to visit his children with Brown Simpson, Justin and Sydney, in Florida.

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Goldman's sister, Kim Goldman, told AP she doesn't think about Simpson unless his name is brought up. "I don't suffocate in my grief," she said. "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." This week, she is launching a podcast called "Confronting: O.J. Simpson," featuring interviews with defense and prosecution attorneys, two of the Simpson trial jurors, a detective, and some of her brother's friends.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.