Orenthal James Simpson has died of cancer, according to his family … whose members have asked for “privacy and grace” as they mourn his passing.

I am going to express terribly mixed feelings about this news.

We’ve all heard it said that we shouldn’t speak ill of the departed. So, I’ll just declare two things about the former football star.

First, I believe he committed the murders of his former wife and her friend. That’s the extent of the “speaking ill” I will offer.

Second, he hired the best damn legal team imaginable to engineer an acquittal. The trial dragged on for months on TV. Americans such as me were transfixed by the testimony, the theatrics and the melodrama.

The jury got the case and in four hours — just four measly hours! — returned a verdict that sent Simpson home a free man, To be clear, I didn’t necessarily disagree with what the jury decided. Simpson’s defense team planted plenty of seeds of doubt in jurors’ minds. The jurors saw and heard every shred of evidence, which is more than I can say for the rest of the nation watching on TV.

Simpson said he would spend the rest of his life looking for the “real killers” of his ex-wife and her friend., He didn’t need to do so.

Now he’s gone forever. I’m out.