Mark Fuhrman, a former Los Angeles police detective who played a pivotal role in the 1995 trial of O.J. Simpson, has died at the age of 74.
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According to the Associated Press, the chief deputy coroner in Kootenai County (Idaho) said that Fuhrman died on May 12. The coroner did not provide a cause of death, but TMZ's sources said that he died from an aggressive form of throat cancer.
Furhman was one of the first detectives on the scene in 1994 as the investigation began into the murder of Ron Goldman and Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. The detective reported that he found a bloody glove at Simpson's home, but his testimony later became a problem during the 1995 trial.
Fuhrman testified under oath that he had never used any racial slurs in reference to Black people, but the defense played a tape showing him using a particular slur 41 times. The defense accused the detective of planting evidence.
He rebutted the accusation in 1996 during an interview with ABC, saying, "There was never a shred, never a hint, never a possibility — not a remote, not a million-, not a billion-to-one possibility — I could have planted anything. Nor would I have a reason to."
Fuhrman also said that the use of the racial slur was him "trying to do a screenplay. It was a misplaced effort and I did it the wrong way. I'm sorry for that."
Once the murder trial ended with Simpson's acquittal, Fuhrman retired from the Los Angeles Police Department.
The former detective moved to Idaho to start a farm, where he raised multiple animals. He also wrote a book about the crime and the trial, Murder in Brentwood, which he released in 1997. He also became a TV and radio commentator.
In 1996, the former detective pleaded no contest on the charge of perjury. He was placed on probation.
