Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister speaks on domestic violence

Tanya Brown is all too familiar with domestic violence.

Not only did she experience it firsthand, but she lost her older sister, Nicole Brown Simpson, to domestic violence, Brown said Thursday. Simpson, 35, was the ex-wife of football player O.J. Simpson, who was accused of stabbing Nicole and waiter Ron Goldman to death in June 1994. He was acquitted of the criminal charges in in October 1995 but was found civilly liable for the killings in 1997.

Brown was 24 when her sister was killed. Now, at 53, Brown is an author and motivational speaker who advocates for mental health and support for domestic violence survivors. She visited Methodist University on Thursday to speak to an Introduction to Criminal Justice class and participate in a candlelight vigil for domestic violence victims.

Nicole’s battle

Brown spoke in detail to the small class of students about her sister’s battle with domestic violence at Simpson’s hands. Simpson was convicted in 1989 of misdemeanor spousal abuse, punching and kicking Nicole and threatening to kill her, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1994.

Brown said Thursday that Simpson targeted everything her sister loved, even throwing her beloved cat out of their car as they traveled on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Tactics like those are common with abusers, Brown said.

“They will hurt, they kill anything that means the most to you,” she said. “It’s all about power and control.”

Brown described the cycle of violence common with abusive partners. The first phase is the “tension phase,” she said, during which there are no threats, but tension builds between the abuser and the future victim. Next comes the explosion of anger, followed by a “honeymoon period” in which the abuser promises to do better and showers their victim with affection and gifts, Brown said.

Throughout her talk, Brown emphasized the commonality of domestic violence.

“If you walk the face of this earth, it can happen to you,” she said firmly.

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In her sister’s case, Brown said, she was too young to recognize the abuse Nicole suffered but faced the truth after her death. She didn’t believe Simpson was responsible for the killings until DNA evidence from the crime scene was tied to him, she said.

Brown provided the students with handouts describing the “sneaky seven characters,” representing the seven…