Kim Goldman was only 22 years old when her life was shattered by the news that her brother, Ron, had been stabbed to death along with Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of former football star O.J. Simpson.
The ensuing court case -- a year-long, televised murder case that divided the nation and saw Simpson go from football icon to prime murder suspect -- resulted in Simpson being acquitted in 1995.
Now, 25 years later, Goldman has revisited the case of her brother鈥檚 death and the lingering questions it left in a podcast called, 鈥淐onfronting: O.J. Simpson,鈥� in which she speaks to prosecutors, investigators, witnesses and even two of the 12 jurors who made the final decision.
Speaking to 麻豆传媒 Channel, Goldman said she decided to make the podcast series now to have conversations 鈥渃entered around truth.
鈥淥ver the last couple of years, there have been so many shows and conversations that have been had around our case, my brother鈥檚 murder, the subsequent trials -- I felt like there was a disconnect between what actually happened and the newer, more dramatized version,鈥� Goldman said. 鈥淪ince there鈥檚 a whole new group of people that are paying attention to it, I wanted to make sure they had all the facts from the people that were actually in the room.鈥�
Ron Goldman was 25 years old when he was found dead in Nicole Brown Simpson鈥檚 house on June 12, 1994. The two had been stabbed and slashed numerous times. It was later discovered that he had gone to her house only to return a pair of sunglasses that her mother had left at a restaurant where he worked.
He has now been dead for as long as he was alive.
鈥淢y brother was very much loved by his family and his friends, he was a really charismatic guy,鈥� Kim Goldman told 麻豆传媒 Channel on Friday. 鈥淚 think the best thing that can describe my brother is who he was in the last couple minutes of his life, that he laid down his own to save another human being, and I think that鈥檚 pretty heroic of him.鈥�
Goldman said that each episode of her podcast has moments that were 鈥渟urprising to me, or comforting, or revealing鈥� but that the most challenging one was where she spoke to jurors.
鈥淚t was interesting because it validated some things that I had thought over the years in terms of what their intention was, when they stopped listening, the deliberation process,鈥� she said, describing it as the 鈥渕ost telling,鈥� episode for her.
The result of the criminal trial split the country, unearthing questions of race, domestic violence, celebrity and police misconduct. Simpson has continued to declare his innocence, and the murder case is officially considered unsolved.
In 1997, he was ordered to pay $33.5 million to the families of the victims, after a civil suit against him found him liable.
There have been numerous documentaries and books written about the case, including one by Simpson, called 鈥淚f I Did It,鈥� which described the murders from an allegedly hypothetical point of view.
Simpson was granted parole in 2017 after serving nine years out of a 33-year sentence he received for an armed hotel-room heist that he says was to get his personal property back. The now 71-year-old told The Associated Press in June of this year that he has moved on to what he calls 鈥渢he 鈥榥o negative zone,鈥欌�� and does not want to think about the past.
When asked what she would say to Simpson himself, were she permitted that one-on-one on her podcast, Goldman was uncertain what would come out of her mouth.
She admitted that she has 鈥渨restled with this a lot over the years,鈥� but that her desire to question him has changed.
鈥淚鈥檓 different in my grief than I was 5, 10, 20 years ago,鈥� she said.
One thing that she would have to ask, she said, is why Simpson, who pleaded not guilty, never spoke about her brother.
鈥淢y brother tried to save the mother of his children,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 confused about why he鈥檚 never really acknowledged that.鈥� But she said if faced with him, she would want what she said to him to be 鈥渁uthentic,鈥� and not 鈥渟omething rehearsed.鈥�
The podcast has amassed over five million downloads since it was launched in June of this year. Goldman said she has been overwhelmed by the support, calling the response 鈥減retty powerful.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 super proud of the episodes that talk about domestic violence, and grief,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 an advocate at heart, so those things are really important to me. I鈥檓 just deeply humbled by it, to be honest with you.鈥�
