LOS ANGELES — Ron Goldman’s family has been fighting for justice for three decades, ever since the man they believed responsible for his murder was found not guilty.

They’ve waged court fights, done painstaking forensic accounting and even some detective work to try to get O.J. Simpson to pay.

But all efforts ended in frustration, as the football legend, who was also found not guilty of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, spent his days on the golf course, served time in prison and wrote a book featuring a hypothetical description of the slayings as if he were the assailant.

Now, Simpson’s estate for the first time has accepted a multimillion-dollar claim from Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, stemming from a wrongful death suit the family won against Simpson in 1997.

The Goldmans had collected only a fraction of the $33-million judgment, which continued to grow because of interest, while Simpson maintained over the decades that he didn’t have the money to pay. But it remains unclear how much the family will actually recover, after accounting for Simpson’s debts on an estate valued at just under $600,000.

Simpson’s executor, Malcolm LaVergne, indicated in a document filed in Clark County District Court in Nevada on Friday that the estate was approving the nearly $58-million claim, plus interest. Simpson, 76, died in April 2024 of prostate cancer at his home in Las Vegas.

It marks an important step in the fight that Fred Goldman has waged for 31 years — even if he doesn’t end up with much of the money, said his attorney, Michaelle Rafferty.

“The executor’s acceptance of the claim is a positive acknowledgment of the debt, which is something that the estate hadn’t previously done, and certainly something that Mr. Simpson and his counsel had never done,” she said.

According to court documents, Simpson’s estate was valued at about $328,000 in March and garnered an additional $268,486 at a recent auction. Simpson, once immensely wealthy and a ubiquitous presence on American TV screens from the many advertisements he starred in, saw a huge reduction in his assets after the criminal and civil trials, living off pensions in the years that followed.

In 2008, Simpson was found guilty of kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges stemming from his attempt to recover memorabilia he claimed was stolen from him. He served nine years in prison.

The judge overseeing the probate case in 2024 approved the sale of a replica of Simpson’s Heisman Trophy, his golf clubs, a high-end sports utility vehicle and even his driver’s license to pay off Simpson’s debts.

Among the items sold last spring was a framed photo of Simpson and former U.S. President Clinton, signed by both men after they shared a round of golf, an inscribed and signed Living Bible given to Simpson by Robert Kardashian, who was one of his defense lawyers in the murder trial, and a trophy Simpson received for being the first player in NFL history to rush more than 2,000 yards in a season in 1973. The replica Heisman, which he earned as a running back at USC, was sold for $42,700, according to the auction website.

Debts and charges from an estate must be paid out in a particular order and, under Nevada law, the Goldman claim would, in theory, be disbursed after first paying the expenses of administering Simpson’s estate and any medical and funeral costs.

“There’s no guarantee the estate has or will have the funds to pay this amount, or even any portion of it,” Rafferty said.

Goldman, 25, was an aspiring actor and friend of Nicole Brown Simpson. She had left a pair of sunglasses behind at the Italian restaurant where Goldman worked as a waiter, and he went to her townhouse to return them. The two were fatally stabbed and slashed on June 12, 1994, their bodies discovered some time after midnight.

Simpson’s eight-month trial for the murders, which was broadcast on television daily, prompted national soul searching about wealth and race. Images of the victims’ relatives sitting in the courtroom day after day were etched into the memories of many who watched the case unfold.

A civil jury in 1997 found Simpson liable for the deaths and ordered the former football star to pay the Brown and Goldman families more than $33 million. In the late 1990s, estimates of Simpson’s net worth varied from $850,000 to $15.7 million.

The Simpson case “was the perfect storm of celebrity, murder mystery and race,” said Carl Douglas, a member of the legal “dream team” that defended Simpson during his criminal trial. “I cannot think of another case that has continued to stir the fascination of millions like this one.”

Simpson had asked the California Supreme Court to overturn the civil judgment, arguing that he had been denied the right to confront evidence and witnesses. The court turned down the request.

In the late 1990s, Simpson gave up his Brentwood estate and moved to Florida, where under state law his home could not be seized by creditors, in large part to avoid paying the civil judgment. His pensions from the NFL and Screen Actors Guild were protected from seizure under federal law.

But the Goldmans didn’t give up.

They took possession of “If I Did It,” the “fictional memoir” in which Simpson discussed how he might have committed the slayings.

In 2018, the Goldmans sought money that Simpson had been paid for signing jerseys, helmets and posters from “The People v. O.J. Simpson” television series. A judge said at the time that they would have to identify exactly who paid Simpson in order to go after the proceeds.

The family received just over $132,000 of the total liability, according to a 2015 court document filed in the civil case.

Douglas questions the desire to continue to pursue money from Simpson after his death.

“His estate has no money,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”

Ron’s sister, Kim Goldman, did not respond to a message from The Times seeking comment on Monday. She has maintained that her family’s persistence was never about the money but about holding Simpson accountable. Kim and Fred Goldman wrote in a joint statement after Simpson’s death that “the hope for true accountability has ended.”

Loyola Law professor Laurie Levenson expressed skepticism that Simpson’s estate would have the funds to pay the Goldmans the full amount, but she said the acceptance of the debt was long overdue.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Levinson said of the Goldmans finally being paid. “It’s better than nothing, and it has taken a long time, but it won’t even come close to the victim’s suffering.”

She added that during his life, Simpson didn’t seem like he suffered financially in the wake of the murders.

“If there is money, why wasn’t it paid long ago?” she said.

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—Los Angeles Times editorial library director Cary Schneider contributed to this report.

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