An attorney for O.J. Simpson says his body will be cremated and his brain won’t be donated for CTE research. Simpson died at age 76 on April 10 after a battle with prostate cancer.
Malcolm LaVergne, who serves as executor of Simpson’s estate, told People.com that Simpson will be cremated, but funeral arrangements have yet to be finalized.
LaVergne emphasized that Simpson’s “entire body” will be cremated.
“His entire body, his brain, everything, his fake hips, his fake knees, everything,” he said in a statement. “That all goes into the crematorium.”
LaVergne told the New York Post that Simpson’s family gave a “hard no” to multiple requests from researchers for Simpson’s brain to be donated.
The lawyer added that scientists wanted to study Simpson’s brain for CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
“With O.J. everything’s wild, but I’ve been getting calls from medical centers that are doing CTE testing asking me for O.J.’s brain … that is not happening,” LaVergne said.
In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of fatally stabbing his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
CTE is a brain disease that is believed to be caused by repeated head blows and trauma, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Football players and boxers have been diagnosed with CTE after their deaths.
LaVergne also backtracked after insisting the Goldman family will not receive a $33.5 million wrongful death payout from Simpson’s estate.
“Fred Goldman’s claim will be accepted. And his claim will be handled in accordance with Nevada law,” LaVergne told The Hollywood Reporter.
LaVergne previously said the Goldmans would “get nothing.”
