Johnnie Cochran’s Tombstone Declares “OJ Did it”-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
A picture that circulates as being the tombstone of the late defense attorney Johnnie Cochran. On the tombstone are the words “OJ DID IT”, a reference to Cochran’s most famous case, representing football start O.J. Simpson who was found not guilty of killing his ex-wife and one other person.
The Truth:
This is a hoax. It’s not Johnnie Cochran’s headstone.
The picture was created using a website that has a feature called The Original Tombstone Generator.
Whoever created it did not spell his name correctly. Cochran used “Johnnie” for his first name, not “Johnny.”
When the famous attorney died on 3/29/05, there was speculation about whether he privately believed in O.J.’s innocence or whether he merely took that stance publicly in order to serve as his attorney. Close associates and family have said, however, that he never wavered in his stance that O.J. did not commit the crime.
O.J. Simpson was famous as a college and professional football player, a television sports commentator, and sometime actor.
His former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a man named Ron Goldman were killed at Nicole Brown Simpson’s residence on the night of 6/12/94. Both were stabbed and Nicole Brown Simpson’s throat was cut.
O.J. Simpson was briefly taken into custody for questioning but released and on 6/17/94 when he was about to be arrested and charged with the murders, he became involved in one of the most highly publicized and televised police chases in history. It was a low speed event which showed Simpson riding in a white Ford Bronco on the freeways of Los Angeles talking on his cell phone and at times holding a gun to his head. The Bronco was driven by Simpson’s friend and fellow athlete Al Cowlings. Simpson was finally taken into custody when they returned in the Bronco to his home in Brentwood on the west side of the Los Angeles area. Although Cowlings claimed that he was taken hostage at gun point and forced to take part in the famous low speed pursuit by Simpson he was charged with aiding a fugitive and released on bail.
O.J. Simpson’s highly publicized trial resulted in his being found not guilty.
He later lost a civil suit filed by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and was ordered to pay restitution for their deaths.
updated 01/15/11