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LAS VEGAS : Exactly 13 years to the day after being acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles, OJ Simpson was found guilty on 12 counts of robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime, assault and kidnapping with a deadly weapon.
After a three-week trial, a Las Vegas jury deliberated for more than 13 continuous hours on Friday against the former American football legend and Hollywood star.
Simpson kidnapped two sports-memorabilia dealers and robbed them at gunpoint in a room at the Palace Station hotel and casino in Las Vegas on September 13 last year, the jury at the Clark County District found.
According to Simpson, he was seeking to retrieve only personal keepsakes like ceremonial footballs from his Hall of Fame National Football League career and photographs of his family that years ago were taken from his home.
Simpson showed no emotion as he and co-defendant Clarence Stewart were found guilty on all 12 counts, verdicts which could see both men jailed for life.
These were two counts of first degree kidnapping, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of coercion with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping and robbery.
One of the most famous American football players of his generation during a glittering 1970s career, Simpson was the prime suspect in the brutal murders of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
Nicole, who had divorced Simpson in 1992 citing his "abusive behaviour," was attacked so savagely she was almost decapitated.
Simpson, who has always vehemently denied the killings, was acquitted of murder after a racially charged Los Angeles trial in 1995, a verdict that was greeted with widespread outrage across America.
- CNA/jk
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