Stolen O.J. Simpson Heisman Trophy Recovered After Twenty Years

Twenty years after O.J. Simpson’s 1968 Heisman Trophy was stolen from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Police Department art theft detectives announced on Tuesday that they recovered it on December 16.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the LAPD offered no further details because the theft that took place on July 28, 1994 remains an ongoing investigation.

The prized trophy, along with a jersey of the infamous running back, was stolen from a display case in Heritage Hall one month after Simpson’s wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered. The former Heisman Trophy-winner stood trial for the murders, but was acquitted with the help from a “Dream Team” of high profile lawyers who proved to the jury that there was not enough evidence to convict him.

The iconic 32 jersey heisted by the thieves has not been recovered.

A news release by the LAPD stated that the recovered trophy is a duplicate given to USC and not the one given to O.J. Simpson himself.

Simpson, 66, now bides his time at the Lovelock Correctional Center near Reno, Nevada, after a 2008 kidnapping and armed robbery conviction.

This is not USC’s only controversy involving a Heisman Trophy. Running back Reggie Bush returned his 2005 Heisman Trophy after violating NCAA rules for receiving gifts and money from outside sources during his playing days at the university.

When the NCAA sanctioned USC in 2010 for the events regarding Bush the university returned their duplicate of the trophy. Moreover, the Trojans removed all items bearing Bush’s name from Heritage Hall and took down his jersey from the bleachers at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.