Nicole Brown Simpson's Autopsy Report Has Some Disturbing Details

This article includes graphic details of violence and domestic abuse.

When O.J. Simpson died at age 76, it wasn't his 11 seasons in the NFL or his performances in the "Naked Gun" films that were foremost in many people's minds; any legacy he left behind will forever be tainted by the grisly 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

After learning that he was the prime suspect in the case, O.J. sat down in the back seat of his friend Al Cowlings' white Ford Bronco, and the two led police on a low-speed chase that lives on in pop culture infamy. O.J.'s shocking behavior had the American public glued to their televisions, and his subsequent trial for the two murders marked the beginning of the 24-hour news cycle. When Simpson was acquitted, 150 million viewers watched him learn that he was a free man.

Budding true crime enthusiasts who closely followed the so-called "trial of the century" on television and in print media would learn disturbing details about Nicole and Goldman's final moments. A 1995 report by The Washington Post described how the bloody crime scene was discovered. The testimony of the neighbors who found Nicole's body outside her Brentwood home sounds like the opening of a "CSI" episode: Nicole's dog had been wandering around the area with blood-soaked fur, and the neighbors were trying to return it to its owner when they "saw a lady laying down in [a] pool of blood." The details in the coroner's autopsy report were even more disturbing.

According to the autopsy report conducted on Nicole Brown Simpson's remains, her attacker stabbed her seven times in the scalp and neck. Cuts on her hands indicated that she had tried to fight back against her killer. The largest wound on her body was a gruesome slash across her throat that was over five inches long. The cut severed the carotid arteries on both sides of her neck, as well as her jugular veins. It was so deep that the knife left a mark on one of her vertebrae. Nicole was also stabbed four times on the left side of the neck.

During O.J. Simpson's trial, medical examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran detailed how Nicole's face was smashed into a wall when she was attacked, per the Tampa Bay Times. She ended up face-down on the ground, and her killer likely delivered the fatal neck wound by grabbing her hair and slashing her throat. "She was alive at least a minute or more before the last wound was inflicted," Sathyavagiswaran said, per the Chicago Tribune. He revealed that Brown likely died in a matter of minutes afterward, saying, "She would have gone into rapid shock." According to The New York Times, detective Tom Lange testified that the assailant likely killed Brown before murdering Ron Goldman, citing the lack of blood from the crime scene on the bottoms of her feet. 

During the O.J. Simpson trial, his history of abusive behavior was brought to light. In 1989, Simpson was arrested and charged with spousal abuse after police were called to the home that he and Nicole Brown Simpson shared at the time. The jury heard how a frantic Nicole told police, "He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me!" when they arrived at the scene, per The New York Times. Simpson had badly beaten Nicole, leaving her with a black eye, a cut on her lip, and other facial injuries.

It wasn't the first time Nicole had called the cops on her husband. "You never do anything about him. You talk to him and then you leave. I want him arrested. I want him out so I can get my kids," she reportedly said. Nicole and Simpson's two children, Sydney and Justin, had been sound asleep when their mother was brutally murdered outside their home. According to CNN, one of the last things Nicole did with her kids before her tragic death was take them out for dinner and ice cream.

Nicole was also survived by two sisters. During Simpson's trial, her older sister, Denise Brown, testified that Simpson once threw Nicole into a wall, per The New York Times. Nicole's younger sister, Tanya Brown, now works as a counselor and life coach because of her family's traumatic ordeal. 

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.