Ronald Lyle "Ron" Goldman (July 2, 1968 – June 12, 1994) was an American waiter and an aspiring model. He was murdered along with
Nicole Brown SimpsonNicole Brown Simpson was a former wife of professional football player O. J. Simpson.- Relationship with O. J. Simpson :...
, former wife of
O. J. SimpsonOrenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
, an actor and retired American football player. The subsequent criminal investigation and
trial against O. J. SimpsonThe O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
was described as the "
trial of the centuryTrial of the century is an idiomatic phrase used to describe certain well-known court cases, especially of the 20th century. It is often used popularly as a rhetorical device to attach importance to a trial and as such is not an objective observation but is the opinion of whoever uses it. As...
." Although Simpson was acquitted following the criminal trial, he was later held liable for Goldman's death and that of his ex-wife in a 1997 civil trial.
Early life
Ronald Goldman grew up in
Buffalo Grove, IllinoisBuffalo Grove is an affluent village located in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and in Cook and Lake counties in Illinois, United States. The town was named for Buffalo Creek, which was itself named for bison bones found in the area....
. His parents divorced when he was six and he was then raised by his father, Fred Goldman. His mother was Sharon Rufo.
He attended high school at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in
Lincolnshire, IllinoisLincolnshire is a village in the Vernon Township region of Lake County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The village is a suburb of Chicago, a city in the adjacent Cook County. Its population was 6,108 at the time of the 2000 census. Lincolnshire was incorporated on August 5, 1957, from the...
. He was a student at
Illinois State UniversityIllinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...
for one semester and a pledge to Sigma Nu fraternity before he moved with his family to California. While living in Los Angeles, he attended
Pierce CollegeLos Angeles Pierce College, also known as Pierce College, Pierce, is a community college that serves more than 23,000 students in the northern Chalk Hills of Woodland Hills, a community within the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.The college began with 70 students...
. He had been supporting himself by working as a waiter and
tennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
instructor. According to a book authored by some of his family members, titled
His Name is Ron, before working at the restaurant Mezzaluna, Goldman worked with
cerebral palsyCerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
patients. He was also an avid Karate practitioner, achieving a 3rd degree black belt in the discipline. Goldman was a contestant on the short-lived game show
StudsStuds is an American television game show which was produced by Fox Television Studios. Hosted by Mark DeCarlo, it ran in syndication from March 11, 1991 to September 3, 1993.-Synopsis:...
in 1992. Goldman had also doodled plans for a bar and restaurant to be named ANKH, after the
Egyptian religious symbolThe ankh , also known as key of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life", a triliteral sign for the consonants ʻ-n-ḫ...
.
Reports have been released that Goldman was a convicted felon, but his criminal record is under seal due to his being a confidential informant that worked with police.
Snitch
Death
At the time of his murder, Goldman was working as a waiter at Mezzaluna Trattoria, a restaurant located at 11750
San Vicente BoulevardSan Vicente Boulevard is an east-west street in Santa Monica and Brentwood . It is the northernmost major street in Santa Monica and runs through the heart of downtown Brentwood...
in
Los AngelesLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Nicole Brown SimpsonNicole Brown Simpson was a former wife of professional football player O. J. Simpson.- Relationship with O. J. Simpson :...
, a friend of Goldman and the ex-wife of
O. J. SimpsonOrenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
, had called to report that her mother Juditha Brown had accidentally left her
eyeglassesGlasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
on the
tableTable or Tables may refer to:* Table * Table * Deliberative procedures:** Table , deferral or commencement of consideration** Table , contrasting usages* Tables , a class of board games...
. After a quick search, they were discovered in the
gutterpanels of a comic strip or comic book page*Gutter , the space between panes of postage stamps that creates configurations of "gutter pairs" or "gutter blocks"*Gutter, in interface design, the blank spaces that separate rows and columns in screen...
outside the restaurant. Although Goldman had not served Nicole's table, he agreed to take them to her home after work. Some authors, including
Gerry SpenceGerry Spence is a trial lawyer in the United States. In 2008, he announced he would retire, at age 79, at the end of the Geoffrey Fieger trial in Detroit, MI. Spence states that he "has never lost a criminal case either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney...
and the
perjuredPerjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
LAPD detective,
Mark FuhrmanMark Fuhrman is a former detective of the Los Angeles Police Department , known for his part in the investigation of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and his subsequent felony conviction for perjury...
, have cited this fact as evidence that Simpson and Goldman were lovers. Goldman told friends that he was just friends with Simpson.
Before returning the eyeglasses, Goldman stopped at his apartment, located at 11663 Gorham Avenue in
BrentwoodBrentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
, to change clothes and possibly take a shower. When he arrived at Nicole's located at 875 South Bundy Drive, he was murdered along with Simpson on the walkway leading to the residence, just a few weeks shy of his 26th birthday. During a reconstruction of the events, police believe he had arrived during or shortly after the murder of Simpson and was stabbed to death in the process.
O. J. Simpson was charged and tried for both the murders of Goldman and his ex-wife. In October 1995, after a public trial that lasted nearly nine months, Simpson was found not guilty of both murders. In a 1997 civil trial, a jury found Simpson
liableLegal liability is the legal bound obligation to pay debts.* In law a person is said to be legally liable when they are financially and legally responsible for something. Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law. See Strict liability. Under English law, with the passing of the Theft...
for the wrongful death of Goldman and awarded $33 million (USD) in
damagesIn law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
to the Goldman family.
Simpson book
The rights to O. J. Simpson's book,
If I Did ItIf I Did It is a book by O. J. Simpson, in which he puts forth a hypothetical description of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was tried and acquitted of the murders in a criminal trial but later found financially liable in a civil trial...
, a first-person account of how he would have committed the murders had he committed them, were awarded to the Goldman family in August 2007. The family was granted the proceeds from the book in 2007 as part of the $93.5 million civil juryaward against the ex-football star they have been trying to collect for over a decade. The Goldmans own the copyright, media rights and movie rights.
They also acquired Simpson's name, likeness, life story and right of publicity in connection with the book, according to court documents. After renaming the book to
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, the Goldmans published it in September 2007 through Beaufort Books. Within days of its release the book became a
bestsellerA bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
.
Foundation
The Goldman family contributed a portion of proceeds from the
If I Did It book sale to the newly-founded
Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice. The foundation provides grants for multiple organizations and programs that provide resources to victims and survivors of violent crimes.
External links