A civil jury in 1997 found the Heisman Trophy winner liable for the deaths. The onetime actor, pitchman and sports commentator has paid little of the $33.5-million judgment.
In Las Vegas, the anticipated circus never showed up. Media coverage dwindled as the economy faltered and the presidential election ramped up. On most days, Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass' courtroom was only half-filled.
Simpson, who did not take the stand, was here in September 2007 to take part in a friend's wedding. Simpson has said he and his associates were trying to retrieve stolen mementos from collectibles dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley in the Palace Station hotel room.
"We may quibble with how it was done, what was done," said Simpson attorney Yale Galanter in his closing argument. "You may all say he didn't use common sense. But the real issue is whether he had criminal intent to commit a crime."
Prosecutors, however, say the group stole up to $100,000 in footballs, plaques and baseballs at gunpoint from the dealers, who had been tricked into thinking they were meeting a wealthy buyer.
Simpson and his associates "thought they could spin it that, 'It's all OK; it was my stuff,' " said prosecutor Chris Owens in the state's final rebuttal. That mind-set, he said, showed the football icon's "arrogance."
Simpson maintains he never saw guns during the alleged robbery or asked anyone to bring one, although nearly everyone in Room 1203 testified to seeing at least one pistol. Two men -- Michael McClinton and Walter Alexander -- told jurors they carried a .45-caliber Ruger and a .22-caliber Beretta, respectively, at Simpson's behest.
Thomas Riccio, the auctioneer who set up the meeting with the dealers, surreptitiously taped the six-minute encounter on a digital recorder hidden atop an armoire. He later sold the clip to celebrity gossip site TMZ.com for $150,000. Riccio, who was granted immunity for cooperating with prosecutors, also taped the hours surrounding the confrontation -- including Simpson denying in phone calls afterward that he saw weapons.
Jurors also heard phone calls that Simpson made from jail, a voicemail in which Alexander appeared willing to slant his testimony for money, and a secret exchange between investigators at the crime scene in which they mocked the double-murder acquittal.
"You're just picking on him because you are mad about the verdict," says one investigator.
