OJ Simpson has been cremated, lawyer confirms
Former NFL star and celebrity criminal defendant OJ Simpson has been cremated, the lawyer handling his estate says.
Simpson died on April 10 at home in Las Vegas at the age of 76.
Lawyer Malcolm LaVergne told The Associated Press he was present, along with unspecified other people, for a Wednesday morning event at Palm Mortuary in central Las Vegas.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I am able to verify that OJ Simpson was cremated today,” LaVergne said shortly afterwards.
“Others were present, but I’m not disclosing who.”
He declined to provide details of the process.
LaVergne is handling Simpson’s trust and estate in Nevada state court.
He said Simpson’s cremated remains will be given to his children “to do with as they please, according to the wishes of their father”.
No public memorial was planned, the lawyer said.
Simpson died after he was diagnosed in 2023 with prostate cancer.
LaVergne said in a Tuesday interview that he visited Simpson just before Easter at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip, and described Simpson as “awake, alert and chilling” sitting on a couch, drinking a beer and “just catching up on the news”.
On April 5, a doctor told Mr LaVergne that Simpson was “transitioning”, as the lawyer described it, and by last week Simpson only had the strength to ask for water and to choose to watch a TV golf tournament instead of a tennis match.
A post on April 11 from Simpson’s family on X, formerly Twitter, said Simpson “succumbed to his battle with cancer”.
It asked on their behalf for “privacy and grace”.
Simpson’s children are the only beneficiaries of his estate, LaVergne said, adding he is now working to determine the value of Simpson’s assets.
Simpson was a record-setting star during 11 years as a running back in the NFL and became a film actor, sportscaster and television advertising pitchman before he was famously acquitted of criminal charges alleging he stabbed his ex-wife and her friend, Ronald Goldman, to death in 1994 in Los Angeles.
The proceedings in California in 1996 became known as the “trial of the century”.
Simpson was found liable for the deaths in 1997 by a separate California civil court jury and was ordered to pay the families of Simpson’s killed ex-wife and Goldman $US33.5 million ($A52 million) in compensation.
LaVergne acknowledged Simpson died without paying the bulk of that judgment.
In Las Vegas, Simpson went to prison in 2008 for nine years after being found guilty of armed robbery in a 2007 encounter at a casino-hotel with two collectibles dealers.
He was released from prison in October 2017 and lived a golf-and-country club lifestyle in Las Vegas - sometimes offering social media posts about sports and golf.
His last message was on February 11, when the NFL championship Super Bowl was played in Las Vegas.
