<Archive Obituary> Nicole Brown Simpson (June 12th 1994)
Bill Schenley
The Slain Ex-wife Of The Football Star Is Described
As A Kind Beauty Who Was Well-known At Local Schools.
Photo: http://pages.infinit.net/reparvit/nic.jpg
FROM: The Orange County Register (June 15th 1994) ~
By Tony Saavedra, Teri Sforza and Barbara Diamond
The requiem for Nicole Brown Simpson could be heard
Tuesday throughout the town.
In a Monarch Beach bistro, where waitresses huddled
over newspapers, gasping as they read. At Dana Hills
High School, where teachers searched the yearbooks _
and their memories _ for images of the golden-haired
homecoming princess who married an NFL star.
And in the beachfront neighborhood where her family
grieved.
"She was so beautiful," they all said.
As a Los Angeles police investigation focused on O.J.
Simpson, the stabbing death of Nicole Brown Simpson,
35, and a waiter brought a worldwide spotlight that left
friends and family blinking back tears.
"Nicole was a kind, generous and loving daughter, sister
and friend," said her older sister, Denise Brown, reading a
family statement late Tuesday. "Her sense of caring and
her nurturing spirit made her a most sensitive and adoring
mother to her two children. "
With their stunning looks, Denise and Nicole Brown took
Dana Hills High by storm, classmates remembered. Denise
was a homecoming princess in 1974. Nicole was a princess
in 1976. Both went on to become fashion models.
"We had a good time back then," Denise Brown said,
swallowing hard Tuesday. "And I miss her. I miss her and
love her a lot. "
Back in high school, everybody called her "Nick" and they
laughed when she kissed a pumpkin at the 1974
homecoming dance. As a graduating senior, Nicole Brown
left notations beside her 1976 yearbook picture admonishing
classmates to "be yourself, don't be a phony, you don't have
to do anything. "
"She came on campus and everybody was wowed. She
was good-looking and gregarious," said Allyson Becktel
Doherty, who rode in the back of a baby-blue convertible
with Nicole Brown as one of the 1976 homecoming
princesses.
"When I heard it on the radio, I felt like it kind of hit
home. "
Born May 19, 1959, in Frankfurt, Germany, to Louis and
Judith Brown, Nicole spent most of her childhood in
Garden Grove's Royal Palm Estates, where she was active
in Brownies and Girl Scouts,friends said.
"Her mom and dad were so nice. They tried really hard to
make sure their kids were raised right and cultured," said
Rhonda Dzandzara, whose sister was close to Nicole.
"Dance lessons.
Singing lessons. Anything those kids wanted or felt they
had a talent for, they got. "
Nicole, Denise and an older brother attended Rancho
Alamitos High School, where they studied German. All
three spoke fluent German, said Juergen Richardt, their
high school German teacher.
In the mid-1970s, the family moved to Monarch Beach and
Nicole transferred to Dana Hills High. In 1985, she married
O.J. Simpson, a football standout for the University of
Southern California, where he won the Heisman Trophy,
and for the National Football League's Buffalo Bills.
After football, O.J. Simpson launched an acting career,
with major roles in the "Naked Gun" movies, and became
a football analyst for NBC.
Besides in movies and TV, O.J. Simpson could also be
spotted around south Orange County, at Dana Hills
football games, at Easter services at St. Edward's Catholic
Church, and at charity events such as the Monarch Beach
golf tournament benefiting women with breast cancer.
Banker Chuck Potter played golf with O.J. Simpson at the
tournament. "He was a great guy; one of the nicest
celebrities I've ever met," Potter said. "I would be really,
really disappointed and devastated if he (killed his ex-wife).
It's crazy, it's crazy. He talked about his wife that day, very,
very fondly. "
The couple bought an oceanfront house in Victoria Beach, a
part of Laguna Beach stars such as Bette Midler and Ricky
Nelson have called home.
The house the Simpsons lived in is tucked at the end of
Wards Terrace _ towering three stories tall, spilling smack
onto the sand, ocean views streaming in every window.
If you can't find marital harmony here, joked the
construction workers remodeling the house for its new
owners, then perhaps it can't be found at all.
From his home above the Simpsons' old house, Sam
Goldstein had a bird's-eye view of their weekend
gatherings. There were always groups of people _
often sports figures _ at the Simpson house, he said.
"I never saw any problems between them," Goldstein
said. "On the surface at least, they were very compatible.
He always had a smile on his face. She was a terrific
mother. She didn't delegate her kids off; if she had help,
she was still part of the action."
But, court records show, violence marred the marriage.
In 1989, O.J. Simpson allegedly screamed "I'll kill you" as
he slapped and kicked his then-wife in a pre-dawn New
Year's Day argument at a home they owned in Brentwood.
He pleaded no contest to wife beating and was placed on
two years' probation.
The couple divorced in 1992, but friends said they were
trying to reconcile. They have two children, Sydney and
Justin.
Register staff writers Mike Gordon, Anne C. Mulkern, Jeff
Collins and Jeffrey Miller and news researchers Penny Love
and Gayle Carter contributed to this report.
---
Photo:
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/owlive/img/jun04/simpsons_061704_big.jpg
---
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS SURROUNDING THE
DOUBLE SLAYING
Sunday:
6 p.m.: O.J. Simpson and ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson
leave dance recital for their daughter in West Los
Angeles.
6:30: Nicole Simpson and nine others, excluding O.J.
Simpson, dine at the Mezzaluna restaurant in Brentwood,
a few blocks from Nicole's condominium. Among the
waiters on duty was Ronald Lyle Goldman, but he didn't
serve Nicole Simpson's party.
8:30 p.m.: Nicole Simpson leaves Mezzaluna. Later she
calls the restaurant to report she left her glasses behind.
Goldman offers to return them to her house.
9:45 p.m.: Goldman leaves for Nicole Simpson's house.
11 p.m.: Approximate time Nicole Simpson and Goldman
are killed.
11:45 p.m.: O.J. Simpson takes American Airlines Flight
668 from Los Angeles to Chicago, according to broadcast
reports. Two other flights left Los Angeles for Chicago
around the same time.
Monday:
12:10 a.m.: Bodies of Nicole Simpson and Goldman found
near the gate of her $ 700,000 condominium.
6:15 a.m. (CDT): O.J. Simpson checks into the O'Hare
Plaza-Hotel, where he had made a reservation three to
five days earlier.
8:30 a.m. (CDT): Simpson hurriedly checks out of hotel.
9:41 a.m. (CDT): Simpson takes American Airlines flight
1691 back to Los Angeles, according to broadcast
reports.
11:08 a.m.: Simpson arrives in Los Angeles.
11:30 a.m.: Simpson arrives home.
Noon: Simpson picked up by police at his Brentwood
mansion and taken to Parker Center downtown for
questioning.
4:30 p.m.: Simpson leaves Parker Center after
questioning.
---
Photos: http://www.jimmccrary.com/pages/page7/images/13nicole.jpg
http://cache.eonline.com/Features/Features/OJ/Images/oj.nicole.brown2.jpg
http://www.courttv.com/graphics/photos/trials/oj/photogallery/1-nicole-oj-060304.jpg