The family of the man O.J. Simpson was accused and acquitted of killing said they expected the parole hearing decision on Thursday.
Fred and Kim Goldman, the father and sister of Ron Goldman who was killed in 1994, described watching Simpson’s hearing as “jarring.” However, they didn’t find the decision to release the 70-year-old man on parole surprising.
Simpson was granted parole after serving nine years of his 33-year sentence in a Nevada prison after an armed hotel-room heist he says was to get his personal property back.
During the two hour-long televised parole hearing, Simpson told the parole board that’s he’s had a mostly “conflict-free” life. Fred Goldman took issue with the statement saying Simpson has instead lived a life of violence.
“I think it’s an insult to every woman who’s ever lived in a battered-wife relationship, to consider (his life) not being a conflict,” Fred Goldman told CTV News Channel. “He’s hardly conflict free.”
Following Simpson’s acquittal for the murders of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, he was found liable in civil court, and ordered to pay US$33.5M to his wife’s estate and the Goldman family.
According to Fred Goldman, any money that Simpson makes doesn’t go directly to them unless they go to court to ask for it. He also said the money itself doesn’t matter to the family, just the punishment it inflicts.
“It’s never been about the dollar amount, it’s about punishment,” said Fred Goldman. “Whatever we can take from him will be a measure of punishment.”
Watch the full interview to find out what else Fred and Kim Goldman had to say about Simpson.
