Mark Fuhrman, the former Los Angeles police detective who became infamous as one of the lead officials investigating O.J. Simpson after the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman, has died. He was 74.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fuhrman\u2019s death was confirmed Monday by Lynette Acebedo, the chief deputy coroner in Kootenai County, Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere will be no other information provided through this office,\u201d Acebedo said in a brief statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born Feb. 5, 1952, Fuhrman was an obscure homicide detective who became instantly famous after he found a bloody glove on Simpson\u2019s property the night of the 1994 slayings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the testimony of Fuhrman, who was white, was called into question during the double murder trial when Simpson\u2019s defense team raised the prospect of racial bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under cross-examination, Fuhrman testified that he had never made racial slurs. But his credibility took a hit when the defense produced recordings of him making racist statements and using the N-word to describe suspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Simpson was acquitted after a contentious trial that was closely followed by the public, Fuhrman was blamed in part for the verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simpson, a former NFL star and actor, was later found civilly liable for wrongful death in the double homicide case and ordered to pay $33 million to Goldman\u2019s family \u2014 damages that were never paid in full before he died in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after the trial, Fuhrman pleaded no contest to perjury charges and was placed on probation. He retired from the police department and moved to Sandpoint, Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he did not disappear completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fuhrman apologized publicly for using racial slurs in the past and insisted repeatedly that he didn\u2019t try to frame Simpson with the bloody glove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He went on to become a TV and radio commentator and wrote the book \u201cMurder in Brentwood\u201d about the killings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, Fuhrman delved into another sensational murder, that of 15-year-old Martha Moxley, in his true crime book \u201cMurder in Greenwich.\u201d He named Michael Skakel, a cousin to the fabled Kennedy family, as Moxley\u2019s likely murderer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Skakel\u2019s conviction for killing Moxley was overturned in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Fuhrman\u2019s discredited testimony at the Simpson trial came back to haunt him in 2024 when he was barred from law enforcement under a new California law directed at officers who act criminally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fuhrman was married and divorced three times and is survived by a son and a daughter, according to The New York Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n