OJ Simpson murder trial. Where are the key players in the OJ Simpson murder trial after his death from cancer now?

The June 12, 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman sparked what is being called the “trial of the century” which culminated in the acquittal of the OJ Simpson murders. Thursday’s announcement that Simpson is dead has brought renewed attention to the closely watched trial and the fascinating cast of characters who played a role in the case.

Here’s a look at where they are now.

Two years after Simpson’s 1995 acquittal, a civil court jury found him liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman, and ordered him to pay his survivors $33.5 million. He got into a series of minor legal troubles ranging from a road rage incident in Florida in 2001 to racing his boat through a protected manatee area in Florida in 2002; He was acquitted for the first and fined for the second.

However, his most serious transgression came in 2007, when he and five others burst into a Las Vegas hotel room with firearms and confiscated property from souvenir dealers that Simpson claimed to own. He served nine years in a Nevada prison and was paroled in 2017. In recent years, Simpson lived quietly in Las Vegas, where he played golf and sometimes posed for selfies with those still enamored by his celebrity.

He died Wednesday of cancer.

Ron Goldman’s sister, Kim, was 22 years old and broke down sobbing when the not guilty verdict was read. Since then, she counseled troubled teens as executive director of a Southern California-based nonprofit, The Youth Project, until it closed during the pandemic.

A best-selling author and public speaker, Goldman has also launched several podcasts, including “Confronting: OJ Simpson” and, most recently, “Media Circus.”

Goldman’s family has taken possession of some of Simpson’s memorabilia, including his 1968 Heisman Trophy as that year’s top college football player.

The family also took the rights to Simpson’s films, a book he wrote about the murders and other articles to satisfy part of the $33.5 million judgment that Simpson refused to pay.

Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, remains the family’s most outspoken critic of Simpson, although, like the Goldman family, she refuses to speak his name.

Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Simpson’s lead attorney, died of brain cancer in 2005 at age 68. His refrain to the jury – “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” – sought to underline that the bloody gloves found at Simpson’s home and the crime scene were too small for the football legend when he tried them on in court.

After the trial, that phrase became a national slogan. After the trial, Cochran expanded his law firm to 15 states and appeared frequently on television. He also became the inspiration for Jackie Chiles, the bombastic lawyer character on the television sitcom “Seinfeld.”

Another key member of the defense team, Robert Kardashian, died of esophageal cancer in 2003 at age 59.

A longtime friend of Simpson’s, he renewed his law license specifically to represent him at trial. Between the time of the murders and his arrest, Simpson remained at Kardashian’s home. When Simpson fled from authorities in a white Ford Bronco on June 17, 1994, Kardashian read to reporters a rambling message Simpson had left while a historic highway chase unfolded on national television.

Since his death, Kardashian’s fame has been eclipsed by that of his ex-wife Kris and their children Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob, thanks to their reality show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

Robert Shapiro, the first member of Simpson’s defense team, continues to practice law. In 2005, he created a foundation that gives college scholarships to 11- to 18-year-olds to stay sober after his 24-year-old son died of an overdose.

Barry Scheck was the attorney who presented DNA science to jurors and undermined the prosecution’s forensic evidence by attacking collection methods. He and fellow defense attorney Peter Neufeld co-founded The Innocence Project in 1992. It uses DNA evidence to exonerate people who were wrongfully convicted.

F. Lee Bailey was the attorney who played a key role in exposing racist statements made by one of the prosecution’s key witnesses, police detective Mark Fuhrman, that undermined his credibility. By the time he joined the defense team, Bailey was already famous for his role in some of the most high-profile cases of the 20th century, including that of heiress-turned-bank robber Patricia Hearst.

Bailey was disbarred in Massachusetts and Florida in the early 2000s for misconduct in handling a client’s case. She died in 2021.

Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor emeritus, also helped Simpson secure an acquittal and consulted with him on the scientific aspects of the case.

Since then, he sparked controversy by helping late hedge fund manager and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein obtain a lenient sentence for abusing underage girls.

He was also part of the defense team for President Donald Trump’s impeachment that ended with his acquittal.

Marcia Clark, the trial’s lead prosecutor, resigned from the law after the trial, although she has appeared frequently over the years as a television commentator at high-profile trials.

Chris Darden, the co-prosecutor, was criticized for making Simpson try on the bloody gloves in the courtroom without first making sure they would fit. Now he himself is a defense attorney.

He represented the man accused of killing hip-hop mogul Nipsey Hussle before withdrawing from the case, saying his family had received death threats.

Darden also taught law, appeared on television as a legal commentator and wrote about the Simpson trial in the 1996 book, “In Contempt.” She is currently running for Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge.

Lance Ito retired in 2015 after presiding over approximately 500 trials. Simpson’s trial made him such a household name that “The Tonight Show” briefly featured a comedy segment called “The Dancing Itos,” in which stuntmen performed in judicial robes.

After Simpson’s trial, he had to remove his nameplate from the courtroom door because people kept stealing it. Ito has never spoken publicly about the trial, citing judicial ethics.

Brian “Kato” Kaelin, a struggling actor who lives in a guest house on Simpson’s property, testified that he heard a “thud” during the night of the murders and went outside to find Simpson in the yard.

Prosecutors later said that Kaelin’s testimony showed that Simpson sneaked back to his home after the murders. Mocked on talk shows as America’s most famous guest, Kaelin has appeared on reality shows as well as small roles in TV sitcoms and movies, and has launched a loungewear line.