Originally appeared on E! Online
Nicole Brown Simpson‘s family is speaking out.
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of her murder, her sisters Denise Brown, Dominique Brown and Tanya Brown shared their reaction to the death of her ex-husband O.J. Simpson, who was accused of killing Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, last month.
“This is a person who’s been in our life for a very long time, who wreaked havoc on our family,” Tanya Brown told People in an article published May 22. “It’s like the end of a chapter.”
As she put it, “It’s very complicated.”
Brown Simpson—who along with Goldman was found stabbed to death in June 1994 outside her Brentwood, Calif. home—divorced Simpson in 1992 following an allegedly physically and emotionally abusive seven-year marriage. And for her sisters, they found some peace in knowing how different her life was after their split.
“What no one knows she experienced before her death is freedom,” Dominique Brown reflected. “There was this levity about her. She was glowing.”
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And Tanya Brown couldn’t agree more. “I’m so glad that she had a good time the last two years of her life,” she added. “I can’t bring her back, so why not try to look at it like that?”
When they first met O.J.—with whom Brown Simpson shared children Sydney, 38, and Justin, 35 —Dominique Brown explained that he was “just her boyfriend to us.” But when the aspiring model invited them to see him play for the Buffalo Bills, she admitted, “I was like, ‘Wow, look at this guy. He’s amazing.'”
But things eventually took a dark turn. And Brown Simpson’s sisters further share insight into the alleged abuse she faced at the hands of Simpson, who died at 76 in April of prostate cancer, in the docuseries—”The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson“—set to air June 1 and 2—Brown Simpson’s loved ones recalled her living in fear of him, even allegedly keeping track of the times he harmed her.
“She always thought he was going to hurt her,” one of her sisters noted in the clip. “She always knew it.”
The upcoming project is meant to retell Brown Simpson’s story, which her family believes was overlooked amid O.J.’s infamous trial, which saw him acquitted of murder. (He was later found responsible for Brown Simpson and Goldman’s deaths in a civil trial.)
“Her life was stolen from her and while her abuser is finally gone, it doesn’t take away the anguish we feel or the pain of her children who lost their mother,” the Brown sisters told The Hollywood Reporter May 2. “We hope that by sharing Nicole’s story, it will help others recognize the signs and get the help they need and her legacy will continue to live on.”