Thirty years after Nicole Brown Simpson's murder, and two months after the death of OJ Simpson , her ex-husband, her three sisters are speaking out about her life, her high-profile death and the work inspired by her story. "A lot of things changed after Nicole's murder and it was all for the better but my heartbreak is, 'Why did it have to take Nicole's life?'" Denise Brown said. Nicole Brown first met her future husband, the NFL player-turned-movie star, when she was 18 years old.
They married in 1985. The couple divorced in 1992. Brown Simpson, then 35, and Ron Goldman, 25, were brutally stabbed to death outside of her home on June 12, 1994.
OJ Simpson was arrested for the crime but was acquitted in October 1995 after a case that was known as the "trial of the century." The sisters said they were shocked by what her sister had endured, and the way she would often minimize the abuse in the relationship. "How can someone who you've known since you were 7 years old do this?" said Tanya Brown.
"That's what got me. I was devastated." Denise Brown said she started her advocacy work immediately after the trial and that she believes the murder was a tipping point in the push for the Violence Against Women Act.
OJ Simpson was later found liable for wrongful death by a civil jury in 1997. He was ordered to pay $33.5 million to the Goldman and Brown families.
A two-part documentary about Nicole Brown Simpson, featuring her sisters and others who knew her, will debut on Lifetime this w.