The FBI has released about 500 pages of documents related to its investigation into the O.J. Simpson murder case in the mid-1990s, in which the former NFL star was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Investigators scrutinized Bruno Magli’s bloody shoe prints, clothing, Simpson’s infamous Ford Bronco and hair samples found at the scene.
Wednesday marks 30 years since the infamous double murder, which shocked the nation with its brutality and made headlines for more than a year.
Simpson agreed to turn himself in to police, but instead led police on a notorious slow-speed car chase through Southern California in a white Ford Bronco driven by former NFL player Al Cowlings.
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OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson were married for seven years before divorcing in 1992. She was murdered in 1994. (Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
Investigators tried every possible way to link the shoe prints to Simpson: according to court reports, they were his size and the model was from a rare Italian brand that sold fewer than 300 pairs nationwide.
An FBI shoe-sole expert testified at the trial that he had visited two Italian factories as part of the investigation, The New York Times reported at the time.
However, the prosecution was unable to convince the jury that there was a link between the fingerprints and Simpson, and the shoes worn at the crime scene were never found.
Read the FBI file:
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FBI shoeprint analyst William Bodiak explains his theory about bloodstains left at the scene of the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles on September 15, 1995. (Reed Saxon/AFP via Getty Images)
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According to the documents, investigators went to unusual shoemakers’ shops and worked hard to find links. American Retailerscouring records and interviewing shoe sellers.
Prior to the murders, Simpson was photographed wearing Bruno Magli shoes, which the FBI placed in an evidence file labeled “K32.” In letters to the court, FBI analysts wrote that the shoes in the photographs were not the same as those left in the footprints.
Ronald Goldman was murdered on June 12, 1994, along with OJ Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. (Lee Serrano/WireImage)
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The file also includes details about hair samples and other evidence recovered from clothing.
Simpson won the Heisman Trophy as a running back at USC in 1968 and in 1973 became the first NFL running back to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season.
University of Southern California running back O.J. Simpson (32) is photographed during a game against the University of Oregon at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 29, 1967. (Walter Ios Jr./Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
He earned the nickname “Juice” over his 11-year career. NFL career He played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, and also had a Hollywood career, starring opposite Leslie Nielsen and Priscilla Presley in the police comedy The Naked Gun.
Although a jury acquitted Simpson of murder charges, his legal troubles continued for decades: He lost a civil lawsuit and was ordered to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families, most of which he never paid.
OJ Simpson was spotted in Las Vegas on November 12, 2023. (Mega/GC Images)
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A few years later, at age 61, he took part in an armed robbery. After serving the minimum nine years of a 33-year sentence, he was paroled in 2017. At his trial, Simpson claimed he was trying to reclaim some of his belongings when he planned and carried out the armed robbery at a Las Vegas hotel.
He remained in Las Vegas until near the end of his life, and gained public attention by posting responses to current events on Twitter, now known as X.
Simpson passed away in April after a battle with cancer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
