When Did OJ Simpson Pass Away and What Actually Happened at the End?

The news broke on a Thursday morning, but the world didn't find out immediately. O.J. Simpson passed away on April 10, 2024. He was 76 years old.

It was a quiet ending for a man whose life had been anything but quiet. His family posted a short, blunt statement on X (formerly Twitter) the next day. They mentioned he was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. No fanfare. No massive televised funeral. Just a quick update that the "Juice" was gone.

Honestly, it felt weird. For decades, Simpson was the center of the American "Trial of the Century." Whether you were alive in 1995 or just watched the Netflix dramatizations, he was this larger-than-life figure of controversy. Then, suddenly, he’s just... a headline about a cancer diagnosis.

The Medical Reality of His Final Days

People often ask about the specifics. What took him down? It wasn't some sudden heart attack or a freak accident. It was prostate cancer.

Reports started trickling out in February 2024 that he was in hospice care. He denied it at the time. He actually posted a video on social media, sitting in a car, laughing and telling everyone he was fine. He looked thinner, sure, but he was still projecting that same charismatic, slightly defiant persona he’d had since his days at USC.

He was wrong. Or maybe he was just protecting his privacy. By early April, the cancer had spread. Prostate cancer is often treatable if caught early, but once it metastasizes, it’s a brutal fight. Simpson spent his final weeks in Las Vegas, the city that became his home after he was released from prison in 2017 for that botched sports memorabilia heist.

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Why the Timing of When OJ Simpson Passed Away Mattered

Timing is everything in the news cycle. When he died in April 2024, it was almost exactly thirty years after the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. That’s a long time. An entire generation has grown up knowing him only as a meme or a documentary subject rather than the Heisman-winning running back for the Buffalo Bills.

The reaction was incredibly polarized. You didn't see the usual "Rest in Peace" pouring out from every celebrity account. Instead, the Goldman family issued a statement that was basically about justice—or the lack of it. Fred Goldman, Ron’s father, has been relentless for three decades. For him, O.J.'s death wasn't a tragedy; it was just the end of a long, frustrating pursuit of the $33 million civil judgment Simpson mostly never paid.

It’s interesting how Vegas handled it. He was a regular at local spots. He’d take photos with fans. He lived a relatively "normal" life for a guy who was once the most hated—and loved—man in America.

The Complicated Legacy of a Fallen Icon

Let’s be real. You can’t talk about his death without talking about the 1994 Ford Bronco chase.

When we look back at when did O.J. Simpson pass away, we have to acknowledge that he died as a pariah in many circles. In the sports world, he was a god. He was the first player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season back in 1973. He was in The Naked Gun movies. He was the face of Hertz rental cars. He was the guy who broke the color barrier for commercial endorsements in a way few athletes had before.

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But that all evaporated.

The 1995 acquittal changed the legal landscape of America. It brought DNA evidence into the mainstream. It exposed deep-seated racial tensions in the LAPD. So, when he died in 2024, the "legacy" wasn't just about football. It was about a fractured legal system.

He was cremated shortly after his death. His lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, was very clear that there were no plans for a public memorial. No museum-style tributes. They even made sure his brain wasn't donated to CTE research, despite many people wondering if years of football hits had affected his behavior. His family wanted it over. They wanted the noise to stop.

What Most People Get Wrong About His Final Years

There’s this myth that he was broke. Not quite.

While he owed tens of millions to the Goldman and Brown families from the 1997 civil trial, his NFL pension was legally protected. You can't touch a person's pension to satisfy a civil judgment. So, he was living comfortably in a gated community in Summerlin, Nevada. He played golf. A lot of golf.

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He was also very active on social media. It was bizarre. He’d post "Coming from the outside" videos on X, giving his takes on fantasy football and current events. He seemed like a guy who had moved on, even if the rest of the world hadn't.

The Aftermath of April 10, 2024

What happens now?

The estate is still a mess. Because he died owing so much money to the families of the victims, the executor of his estate has a massive headache. They’ve been trying to sell off his assets, but there isn't much "physical" wealth left. It’s mostly just the memory of a guy who lived two completely different lives.

One life was the American Dream. The other was a True Crime nightmare.

If you’re looking for a lesson in all this, it’s probably about the persistence of memory. Even though he died in 2024, the conversations about him haven't changed. Death didn't bring closure to the 1994 case. It just closed the book on the person at the center of it.

Actionable Insights for Researching the Simpson Case

If you are digging deeper into the life and death of O.J. Simpson, don't just stick to the headlines. The complexity lies in the documents.

• Review the Civil Trial Transcripts: Most people focus on the criminal trial (The People v. O.J. Simpson). However, the 1997 civil trial is where he was actually found "liable" for the deaths. The burden of proof was lower, and the evidence presented was in many ways more damning, including the photos of him wearing the rare Bruno Magli shoes he claimed he never owned.
• Study the 2007 Las Vegas Case: To understand why he spent nine years in a Nevada prison, look into the Palace Station robbery. It wasn't about the 1994 murders, but many legal experts believe the stiff sentence he received (33 years) was a "make-up" call by the legal system.
• Check the Estate Filings: For those interested in the financial side, the Clark County, Nevada court records regarding his estate are public. They show the ongoing struggle between his heirs and the creditors (the Goldmans).
• Watch 'O.J.: Made in America': This Ezra Edelman documentary is the definitive resource. It’s nearly eight hours long, but it explains the sociological context of his life better than any news clip from 2024 ever could.

Simpson's death marked the end of an era for tabloid journalism and the birth of the 24-hour news cycle. He was the first truly "viral" person before the internet even existed. When he passed, that cycle finally stopped spinning for him.