Former NFL football star O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his wife in 1995 after one of the most sensational trials of the 20th century. On June 12, 1994, Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, was the victim of a gruesome and bloody murder along with an acquaintance named Ronald Goldman. Police were immediately suspicious of Simpson who attempted to flee in a now-infamous white Ford Bronco driven by his friend Al Cowlings. Simpson's trial, which was nationally televised, made household names out of many of the participants including defense lawyer Johnny Cochrane, district attorney Marcia Clark, judge Lance Ito, and Simpson's houseguest Kato Kaelin. On October 4, 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted. The jury, which reached its not-guilty verdict after only three hours of deliberation, had been sequestered for 266 days -- the longest such period in U.S. legal history.