Robert Kardashian

Robert George Kardashian February 22 1944 September 30 2003 was an American attorney and businessman He gained recognition as O J Simpsons friend and defense attorney during Simpsons 1995 murder trial He and OJ Simpson first met around 1967 while both of them were at USC and became close friends Simpson was the best man at Kardashian and Kris Houghtons wedding in 1978 Following the June 12 1994 murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman Simpson stayed in Kardashians house to avoid the media Kardashian was the man seen carrying Simpsons garment bag the day that Simpson flew back from Chicago Prosecutors speculated that the bag may have contained Simpsons bloody clothes or the murder weapon When Simpson failed to turn himself in at 11 am on June 17 1994 Kardashian read a letter by Simpson to the assembled media This letter was interpreted by many as a suicide note Kardashian had let his license to practice law become inactive before the Simpson case but reactivated it to aid in Simpsons defense as a volunteer assistant on his legal team alongside Simpsons main defense attorneys Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran As one of Simpsons lawyers and a member of the defense Dream Team Kardashian could not be compelled or subpoenaed to testify against Simpson in the case which included Simpsons past history and behavior with his exwife Nicole and as to the contents of Simpsons garment bag He sat by Simpson throughout the trial The New York Times reported that Kardashian said in a 1996 ABC interview with Barbara Walters that he had begun to question Simpsons innocence I have doubts The blood evidence is the biggest thorn in my side that causes me the greatest problems So I struggle with the blood evidence Kardashian and Simpson ultimately stopped speaking to each other Married from 1978 to 1991 he had four children with his first wife Kris Kardashian née Houghton later Jenner Kourtney Kim Khloé and Rob who appeared on their family reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians and its spinoffs He dated Priscilla Presley from 1975 to 1976 The pair were introduced by his sisterinlaw Joan who had previously been married to Joe Esposito road manager for Elvis On an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians his daughter Kim stated that the two were briefly engaged He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003 He died two months later on September 30 2003 at his home in Encino Los Angeles at age 59