A quarter-century after her brother Ron Goldman and her friend Nicole Brown Simpson were slashed to death, Kim Goldman hailed him as a hero in a new interview in which she spoke out about the infamous OJ Simpson case for the first time.
“I usually reserve the peace and quiet of the day to myself,” Goldman, 47, told ABC News. “This is the year of confronting.”
On June 12, 1994, Ron Goldman, 25, a restaurant waiter, was returning a pair of glasses to Brown Simpson’s home in the Brentwood area of LA.
He and the revered NFL Hall of Famer’s 35-year-old ex-wife were brutally attacked outside her Bundy Drive condo, where their bloodied bodies were found about two hours later.
“He put himself in harm’s way to protect somebody else,” Kim told ABC News about her brother.
“His last act of his life really showed you exactly who he was — his dedication and his commitment to his friends and the people that he loved and cared about. Even Nicole, for all we know who was an acquaintance. He didn’t run,” she added.
In 1995, OJ was acquitted of all criminal charges in the televised “Trial of the Century.” Two years later, a civil jury found him liable for wrongful death and he was ordered to pay millions to the families.
In 2008, the former gridiron great was convicted in a botched robbery and sent to a Nevada prison. He was released in 2017 and now lives in Las Vegas.
On Wednesday, Kim Goldman is launching a 10-part podcast called “Confronting: O.J. Simpson,” in which she interviews key members of the case, including prosecutor Marcia Clark and Simpson house guest Kato Kaelin.
In one episode, Kaelin recounted a conversation he said he had with OJ after the crime.
“OJ pulled me into the kitchen by himself and said, ‘You know I was here with you.’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t,’” he said. “I was like, ‘Is he trying to use me for something I think he could’ve done?’”
Kim said the podcast offered her a way to make up for “a lot of missed opportunities” in covering the case.
“For me to be able to sit down with people I’ve had such a profound relationship with, or have been connected to for so long, seems like a great way to go a little bit deeper,” she said.
“I’m proud of how far I’ve come and my dad has come. I’m proud of the growth and resiliency and the courage,” she added, noting that her brother would have been 50 years old now.
“It’s really hard to kind of wrap my head around who he would have become. Those are … realizations that are really hard for me, because they’ll never be,” she said.
“I can’t argue with my brother,” she said of his 25-year absence. “I can’t introduce him to my son.”
Kim said her 15-year-old boy knows his uncle “died a hero.”
“He knows that my brother was my best friend,” she added. “And I share as many stories of him as I can.”
Kim said her message to others is to “hold dearly the people you love and care about, and not take it for granted.”
“I’m very fortunate my brother and I were tight. He always knew how much I loved him. But in a second, someone can be taken from you,” she said. “I know how fragile life can be. My brother unfortunately taught me that.”
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