OJ Simpson's remains are cremated in Las Vegas as his lawyer reveals ex

Release time：2024-05-21 14:43:56 Source：Horizon Herald news portal

OJ Simpson's remains have been cremated in Las Vegas, according to his lawyer who exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com that the former football star died ‘content’ and would not want anyone to feel sorry for him.

The Juice, 76, died ‘surrounded by his family’ last Wednesday after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer and was cremated at 10am today in accordance with his final wishes according to Malcolm LaVergne.

LaVergne, who is the executor of the former 49er’s estate, said the ceremony was private, and that a larger memorial service for friends and family is being planned but won’t take place for some time.

According to the Las Vegas lawyer, he also told his children where he wants his ashes scattered but says the location is only known to them and all four have agreed to comply with his wishes.

LaVergne said: ‘OJ wouldn't want anyone to feel sad for him. He'd tell you straight up, man, he's had a great life, happy life, certainly, he had his trials and tribulations, but his last seven years were fantastic, so he wouldn't want anyone feeling sorry for him.

O.J. Simpson sits at his arraignment in Superior Court in Los Angeles on July 22, 1994

LaVergne, who is the executor of the former 49er’s estate, said the ceremony was private, and that a larger memorial service for friends and family is being planned but won’t take place for some time

‘He would have liked a few more years to see his grandkids get a little bit older. But he was basically content at the end.’

As DailyMail.com previously revealed, Simpson spent his final year living in a luxurious Las Vegas golf neighborhood that he chose so he could be close to youngest son Justin who was also named an executor of his will.

Justin, now 35, is a realtor who is married to blonde wife Alycia Browne with whom he has two children – the first, Lana Nicole, named for his murdered mother Nicole Brown.

A source close to the family told DailyMail.com that Simpson’s decline was rapid: although hale and hearty a year ago, he declined precipitously in recent weeks and had been open about having cancer with pals.

The insider said: ‘I last saw him two weeks ago and he was gray. He looked really bad. He couldn’t walk across the restaurant without help and you could see he was really ill.’

They added: ‘It’s like night and day since this time last year. He looked fine then and you would never know something was wrong with him.’

Simpson had been living in Las Vegas since October 2017 when he was released from Lovelock Correctional Facility after serving a nine-year sentence for armed robbery.

Pictured: Palm Southwest Funeral Home

His first home on leaving prison was $1.4m mansion owned by a friend on a golf course belonging to the Red Rock Country Club.

He then moved on to another property at the Canyon Gate Country Club before moving to the Rhodes Ranch Golf Club in Summerlin last spring.

The family friend added: ‘He wanted to be close to Justin - he just had a baby. She’s about a year old now.

‘Justin’s a really nice guy. They didn’t live together but they did have homes close together.’

Simpson’s eldest daughter Arnelle, 55, also owns a $795,000 home in the same sprawling golf compound.

His final video, posted shortly before Super Bowl LVIII on February 11 was shot in Arnelle’s backyard, with the golf course clearly visible behind him.

In it, he attempted to reassure fans about the state of his health, following reports that he was in hospice care – saying ‘my health is good’.

He added: '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.'

Simpson also incorrectly predicted a Super Bowl victory for his hometown team, telling viewers: 'I see 24-20 WIN! by the 49ers. That's not hope, I'm basing it on the quality of the football players.'

In reality, Simpson was fading fast with LaVergne telling DailyMail.com he finalized his will in January.

Simpson’s other children live on the east coast with chef Jason, 53, living in Georgia while his oldest child with second wife Nicole, Sydney, now 38, is based in St Petersberg, Florida.

O.J. Simpson sits during a break on the second day of an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas

When DailyMail.com approached her over the weekend, a man at her home said she was traveling but claimed she had not gone to Las Vegas, despite the death of her father.

Prior to his cancer diagnosis, Simpson had become a familiar sight in the upmarket Summerlin suburb where he made his final home – regularly showing up in local bars and on the golf course, although never far from controversy.

In 2021, he settled a defamation lawsuit with the Cosmopolitan hotel having sued the luxury property after staff told a celebrity gossip website he had been banned from the property in November 2017 for being ‘drunk and disruptive’.

He was also repeatedly hauled back to court over the damages awarded at the end of his 1997 civil trial for the murders of Nicole, 35, and her friend Ron Goldman, 25.

The Juice was ordered to pay $33,500,000 in total: $8.5m in compensatory damages to the Goldman family, and $25m in punitive damages.

He never paid and died owing more than $100m to the Goldman and Brown families.

Both families are now expected to pursue claims against his estate, with LaVergne telling DailyMail.com the claims are likely to be accepted, setting up a new court fight.

He said: ‘I've got to look at all these people making claims and see what is there. I do anticipate way more claims than Fred Goldman coming in, and I've got to get them to get an agreement.’

LaVergne also walked back previous comments about making sure the Goldman family receive zero from the estate, telling DailyMail.com: ‘Fred Goldman's debt collection lawyer who was the one mouthing off after Simpson died and saying disparaging remarks about him.

‘Fred Goldman has not, to my knowledge, made a disparaging mark about Simpson other than, ‘Hey, I want to think about my son’.

‘It's obviously bittersweet for the man, but that [previous remark] was really in response to his lawyer turning up the rhetoric.

‘So I turned up the rhetoric, but I'm backing down from it and I'm backtracking, and we need to just try and handle this matter in a calm manner.’

Simpson’s death was announced on Thursday by his family via his X – formerly Twitter – account where they wrote he had 'succumbed to his battle with cancer' while surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

Simpson spent most of his life in the limelight, first as an NFL running back then as a defendant in one of the most famous trials of all time.

The case became infamous for its ultra-slow Bronco car chase prior to Simpson's arrest and months-long trial.

His defense lawyers included Robert Kardashian – the father of Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian.

Nicole had been close friends with their mother Kris while Simpson had also enjoyed a decades-long friendship with their future stepfather Caitlyn Jenner.

That friendship ended with the murders of Nicole and Ron and, on hearing the news on Thursday, Jenner responded with an ice-cold tweet that read: ‘Good riddance’.

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