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O.J. Simpson’s death certificate confirms his cause of death, lawyer says

O.J. Simpson smiles in a courtroom.
In this July 20, 2017, file photo, former NFL football star O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nev. Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison after his 2008 conviction on armed robbery, kidnapping, conspiracy and other charges.
(Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP, Pool, File)
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O.J. Simpson’s death certificate released this week confirms he died of prostate cancer at his home in Las Vegas, his attorney told The Times.

Attorney Malcolm LaVergne said on Saturday the Clark County, Nev.-issued death certificate “just confirms what I think most people widely suspected anyway — it was prostate cancer. No other causes listed.”

Simpson’s family previously said on the social media platform X that the 76-year-old had died of cancer April 10.

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Simpson, a former football star, was acquitted in the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald L. Goldman in a criminal court. A civil court jury later found him liable for the deaths.

He served nine years of a 33-year sentence following his 2008 conviction on armed robbery, kidnapping, conspiracy and other charges stemming from his attempt to recover memorabilia he claimed had been stolen from him. His incarceration was widely viewed as overdue punishment for the slayings of Simpson and Goldman.

Simpson announced in a May 2023 social media post that he had an unspecified type of cancer. In two videos posted in February, Simpson reassured his followers that he was healthy.

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In a Feb. 9 video, Simpson denied he was in hospice care. In a video posted two days later, he said his health was “good.”

“Obviously, I’m dealing with some issues, but I think I’m just about over it, and I’ll be back on that golf course, hopefully, in a couple of weeks,” he said, seated in a chair by a pool.

About one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. Prostate cancer risk is higher in African American men and in Caribbean men of African ancestry than in men of other races.

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