O.J. Simpson Will Be Cremated, Brain Won’t Be Donated for CTE Research, Says Estate Executor
The news comes days after O.J. Simpson's family announced his death from cancer
Jason Bean/Pool/Bloomberg
O.J. Simpson listens during a parole hearing at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada on July 20, 2017.A longtime lawyer for O.J. Simpson says the Hall of Fame football player who died at age 76 on April 10 following a cancer diagnosis will be cremated and his brain will not be donated for scientific research.
Malcolm LaVergne, who is also serving as the executor of Simpson’s estate, told PEOPLE days after Simpson's death that Simpson will be cremated and that arrangements for a funeral service have yet to be finalized.
“His entire body, his brain, everything, his fake hips, his fake knees, everything,” LaVergne said. “That all goes into the crematorium.”
Speaking with the New York Post, LaVergne added that Simpson’s family gave a “hard no” to scientists asking to study Simpson’s brain for CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease that has been diagnosed in many deceased professional football players and is believed to be caused by repeated head trauma, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Related: O.J. Simpson Dead at 76 From Cancer, Family Announces
“With O.J. everything’s wild, but I’ve been getting calls from medical centers that are doing CTE testing asking me for O.J.’s brain . . . that is not happening,” LaVergne told the outlet, which was first to report the news of the cremation and request to study Simpson's brain. LaVergne added that Simpson’s four children still have to sign off on the paperwork, according to the Post.
According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of CTE include difficulty thinking, depression, impulsive behavior, short-term memory loss and emotional instability. Irritability, aggression, speech difficulty, trouble swallowing and vision problems may also be signs of the condition.
Simpson was famously and controversially acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson — with whom he shares two children — and her friend Ron Goldman.
Lee Celano/WireImage; Isaac Brekken-Pool/Getty Images; Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Ron Goldman, O.J. Simpson, and Nicole Brown SimpsonAn attorney for Goldman's father said Simpson owed the family more than $100 million prior to his death.
Related: O.J. Simpson Died $114M in Debt to Ron Goldman’s Family — and Legal Battle Looms, Attorney Says
Decades after Simpson was ordered to pay the Goldman and Brown families $33.5 million in a 1997 wrongful death lawsuit, Goldman family lawyer David Cook told PEOPLE the family has not seen the money, which he said has since grown due to interest.
"He died without penance,” Cook said of Simpson. “He did not want to give a dime, a nickel to Fred [Goldman], never, anything, never.”
LaVergne previously told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he does not want Goldman’s family to acquire money from the estate.
“It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing,” LaVergne said, per the outlet. “Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing.”
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But in his interview with PEOPLE, LaVergne said, "I'm kind of backtracking from those remarks. They were pretty harsh."
Simpson’s death was announced by his family in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, on April 11.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace," the post reads.
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