Goldman's father reflects on OJ's death, addresses his 'new normal'

And Fred Goldman. Ron's dad lives right here in the valley.

Our very own Mark Curtis sat down for an exclusive interview with him in July of 2017.

Mark called Mr Goldman again this morning to get his reaction.

He and his wife, Kim sent us this statement here, it reads in part,

the news of Ron's killer passing away is a mixed bag of complicated emotion.

For three decades.

We tirelessly pursue justice for Ron and Nicole and despite a

civil judgment and his confession in if I did it,

the hope for true accountability has ended,

we will continue to advocate for the rights of all victims and

survivors ensuring our voices are heard both within and beyond the courtroom.

Let's take a look back now at what Mr Goldman had to say

nearly seven years ago about his new normal after his son's death.

OJ Simpson, there has been no formal police action but the coroner's report is in

Nicole Simpson and the man found with her had multiple wounds.

What was your life like before that call?

I guess you could say it was reasonably normal.

We were a reasonably normal dysfunctional family.

Hey, you know, I had raised Ron and Kim since they were roughly four and six.

I hope that some reasonable point, I'd be able to retire,

do my thing and go forward and watch my kids grow up

and get married and have kids of their own and enjoy life.

The bodies of Simpson's ex wife, Nicole Brown.

Simpson and Ronald Goldman were discovered early Monday morning.

It should have worked out that way.

But on the night of June 13th, 1994

everything changed for Fred Goldman. I wasn't home when the phone call came in.

Patty had gotten the call. The call went something to the effect of uh, hello.

Is this uh, Goldman's? Yes.

Um,

do you have a son, Ron? Yes, Patty said there's somebody from

the coroner's office. They calling about Ron

and I get on the phone and this person said to me,

are you aware of the murders that took place?

I said, I don't know what you're talking about. Why are you calling?

Well, your son was the other victim.

Time suddenly stopped. Fred Goldman's only son was gone.

You know, I said, well, do I have to come down and

identify? No, we, we know it's him. We had a,

you

know,

they hung up

and Patty and Harry

stood in the kitchen hugging each other, crying her eyes out.

Things couldn't get any worse,

but they did.

He was the one who'd have to call and break the news to his daughter, Kim. I said to Kim

almost what was said to me by the corner. Did you hear anything about

Kim said, why are you asking me something like that?

And I told her that

Ron had been killed.

Fred's life had suddenly in the cruelest possible way, lurched off the tracks.

Your life becomes a new norm,

a new normal because the previous normal instantly goes away your

dreams and your thoughts about what your child in this case

is gonna be doing with their life. Next year, next week,

who their wife is gonna be, what their kids are gonna look like. All gone

weeks turned into months and the months into years as the

OJ Simpson case turned into the trial of the century,

we the jury in the above entitled action, find the defendant Orenthal

James Simpson not guilty of the crime of murder.

And even though many made it about race or celebrity in the end,

this was really about a father sitting in a courtroom

looking at the man that he believed had butchered

his son when you're sitting there in the courtroom

for weeks

and you're looking at him and you know

that he killed your son.

How do you keep yourself from jumping over that railing?

It's an interesting question because I thought about that many a time.

Um,

and to this day still think about it.

Um,

I guess the answer is, um,

I, I think of myself as a decent human being.

And that's not something

I would do.

Is there a lesson that you've learned? That the only thing I can I can say is that

time does heal some,

doesn't heal everything.

But time gives you the opportunity to have. As I said before, a new normal in your life

and the new normal may not be what you wanted it to be,

but it's gonna be your new normal.

In 1997 a civil suit by the victims families found Simpson

liable for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson

and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.

Now, Simpson paid little of the debt,

moved to Florida and struggled to remake his life.