The father of Ron Goldman may finally get some of the millions he was awarded in the 1997 wrongful death judgement against former Hall of Fame running back OJ Simpson. Ron Goldman, 25, was brutally murdered along with Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole, in one of the most famous true crime stories of the century.
In 1995, a Los Angeles jury acquitted the charismatic Simpson of the homicides after a nationally televised trial that took up much of that year. But more than a year later another jury in a civil case brought against Simpson found him responsible for both slayings and awarded Ron Goldman’s parents $33.5 million in damages.
In the summer of 1994, police found Nicole Brown Simpson slain with her head nearly severed and Ron Goldman dead with multiple knife wounds in what appeared to be a valiant attempt to fight off his attacker outside Nicole’s Brentwood condo in Los Angeles.
Fred Goldman appears in court during the sentencing of O.J. Simpson, at the Clark County Regional Justice Center December 5, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Goldman is the father of Ron Goldman, who was killed along with Nicole Brown Simpson, the former wife of O.J. Simpson, in 1994. Simpson and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart were sentenced on 12 charges, including felony kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy related to a 2007 confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Despite decades of effort, father Fred Goldman has recovered only a small portion of the award, which has now reportedly grown to more than $100 million from interest accumulated for three decades.
Now, the executor of the Simpson estate has accepted a negotiated claim of $57,997,858 with the father, TMZ reported Saturday.
Goldman initially submitted a claim exceeding $117 million, which he claimed included interest the family was entitled to on the unpaid judgment.
But estate executor Malcolm LaVergne disputed Goldman’s calculations and offered a number that was half of what the grieving father sought. Goldman accepted, according to TMZ.
The executor told TMZ that the estate intends to pay as much as it can of the approved amount with ongoing auctions of Simpson’s possessions, some of which is memorabilia that has been stolen and that attorneys are working to recover.
It is not clear if LaVergne was referring to the same memorabilia that became the subject of an armed robbery conviction in 2008, which landed Simpson in prison for nine years in Nevada when he tried to recover personal items he believed belonged to him from memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.
It also has not been reported what the total value of the Simpson estate is today.
Simpson became a successful actor and broadcaster following his spectacular, record-setting football career with the Buffalo Bills. He died in April of last year at the age of 76 from prostate cancer.
TMZ reported that the agreement represented a reversal of executor LaVergne’s position following Simpson’s death, when he said the Goldman family would receive nothing from the estate.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true-crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
