O.J. Simpson comes full circle

Inter Lake editorial

The long, strange trip of O.J. Simpson from the bloody backyard of his ex-wife's condominium in Brentwood, California, to the inside of a jail cell for (probably) the rest of his life is almost over.

Of course, Simpson was found not guilty of murder in the brutal deaths of his ex-wife and her friend, Ron Goldman, back in 1994, but his problems were not over.

This split verdict between the civil trial and the criminal trial was typical of everything that Simpson got involved in for the next 13 years. Despite the general feeling that he was guilty of the crime, for instance, it is plain that the prosecution's case was flawed at best, and more than probably bungled to the point where no fair-minded juror would have felt comfortable convicting him.

Yes, Simpson got a new lease on life when he walked out of the courtroom on Oct. 3, 1995, after being acquitted of the murders. But his new life was never as good as the one he had left behind - as a well-liked football celebrity, sports announcer and occasional actor. His fame was now replaced by notoriety; his autograph seekers were more interested in his status as "the man who got away with murder" than as the Heisman Trophy winner who was the first player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in the NFL.

And most damaging to him personally: He was sued by the family of Goldman and ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages after being held liable for the deaths of Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. After that, he always had to play a cat-and-mouse game with Goldman's father, Fred, and sister, Kim, to keep his assets one step ahead of them and their court order.

That may ultimately have been what drove Simpson to make the mistake that led to his recent conviction of kidnapping and armed robbery. Simpson had threatened a Las Vegas sports memorabilia dealer in order to reclaim some property which he said rightfully belonged to him. Oddly enough, the conviction on those charges came on Oct. 3, exactly 13 years to the day after Simpson was found not guilty of the murders he will always be associated with.

Fred and Kim Goldman say they think their persistence in hounding Simpson for the last 13 years "drove" Simpson to finally go "over the edge" and commit the crimes that led to his conviction.

Whether it is simply a case of Simpson's hubris finally leading him to commit a fatal error, or a form of divine retribution, it is rewarding for society to see bad behavior rewarded at last with just deserts.