The documentary, “The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson,” promises a fresh perspective on the tragic life and death of Mrs Brown Simpson. Premiered on June 1st, the two-night special coincides with the 30th anniversary of her murder at the age of 35.
The documentary delves into previously undisclosed diary entries chronicling the abuse Mrs Brown Simpson suffered during her marriage to O.J. Simpson, the Independent reported.
Additionally, exclusive interviews with her sisters and closest friends shed new light on the dynamics of her relationship and the events surrounding her death.
On June 12th, 1994, Mrs Brown Simpson was found murdered outside her Brentwood, California home alongside her friend Ron Goldman. A jury acquitted O.J. Simpson in the subsequent, highly publicized trial. He passed away from prostate cancer in April at the age of 76.
“The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson” features insights from Denise, Dominique, and Tanya Brown, Ms. Brown Simpson’s sisters. Their revelations challenge the perception of a seemingly happy couple, exposing a darker reality.
Mrs Simpson’s secret diary revealed that their marriage was perhaps filled with verbal, emotional and physical abuse. The handwritten diary entry, which was shown in episode one of the documentary, detailed a fight they had in the first year of their relationship, shortly after the death of OJ’s one-year-old daughter Aaren, whom he shared with his first wife Marguerite Simpson.
“Early in 1st year 1977 in San Franciso after his baby died I found an earring in my apt bed on Bedford,” she wrote. “I accused OJ of sleeping with someone named Teri. He threw fit, chased me, grabbed me threw me into walls. Threw all my clothes out of the window onto street [from] 3rd floor. Bruised me, calmed him down.”
Later in the same episode, Judie Manto, a longtime family friend of the Browns recalled visiting Simpsons at their Laguna beach house. Ms Manto described the energy at the house as light and energetic, but then “[OJ] would just come and it would be like a black cloud all of a sudden.”
“Beach house – Hit me, threw me up against the walls. Threw my camera, it broke the panelling – mouldings off the doors to master bdrm and garage door,” Nicole wrote in a second diary entry.
Finally, the episode recounted an incident from Christmas 1988, when OJ Simpson became angry after a gay man kissed his and Nicole’s son, Justin. The family was gathered at a restaurant in Hawaii at the time.
“There was a gay couple sitting at the table and they just thought Justin was beautiful,” Denise explained. “One of the guys, he kissed Justin on the forehead. And it was so sweet and so nice, and as soon as we walked out all hell broke loose.”
In a clip from a 1996 video deposition of O.J.’s close friend, Marcus Allen, he recounted an incident to lawyers: “After Nicole let the man hold the baby, she took him back. O.J. supposedly said, ‘Why did you have that gay guy hold my baby?’ or something similar, and she responded, ‘Why are you concerned about him being gay? Your father is gay.’ O.J. then became very upset with her.”
O.J. had a strained relationship with his father, Jimmy Simpson, who came out as gay later in life and passed away from AIDS in 1986 at the age of 66.
Nicole described the incident in her diary, writing: “Hawaii gay man kissed Justin. OJ threw me up against the walls in our hotel and on the floor. Put bruises on my arms and back. The window scared me – thought he’d throw me out.”
Denise recalled that Mrs Simpson wore a long-sleeved shirt despite the warm weather. “I knew he was pissed off, but I didn’t know anything else that happened behind closed doors,” she said. “I read in her diary afterwards that he had her up against the wall, over the balcony, doing the usual – hurting her.”
The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson two-night event premieres on June 1 at 8p/7c on Lifetime.