Robert Kardashian

This article is about the American lawyer. For his son, the television personality and model, see Rob Kardashian.

Robert Kardashian
Born	Robert George Kardashian February 22, 1944(1944-02-22) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 30, 2003(2003-09-30) (aged 59) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Esophageal cancer
Education	University of Southern California (undergraduate) University of San Diego School of Law
Occupation	Lawyer, Businessman
Known for	Lawyer in the O. J. Simpson trial
Spouse	Kris Jenner (1978–1990, divorced) Jan Ashley (1998-1999, divorced) Ellen Pierson (2003, his death)
Children	Kourtney Kardashian (1979) Kim Kardashian (1980) Khloé Kardashian (1984) Rob Kardashian (1987)
Parents	Arthur Kardashian Helen Kardashian

Robert George Kardashian (February 22, 1944 – September 30, 2003) was an American attorney and businessman. He gained national recognition as O. J. Simpson's friend and defense attorney during the latter's 1995 murder trial.

Personal life

Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Armenian-American parents Helen (née Arakelian) and Arthur Kardashian. Kardashian earned a law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and practiced for about a decade; after that, he went into business. When he presented the O.J. Simpson case in 1995, it had been over 20 years since Kardashian had last practiced law.

With his former wife, Kris Jenner, he had four children: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Robert, Jr., all of whom have achieved fame after his death, mainly through the E! cable network reality television show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and related programs.

After Kardashian's divorce from his first wife, Kris, was finalized, he married Jan Ashley. That marriage did not last, and he later married his third wife, Ellen, two months before he died.

O. J. Simpson case

Kardashian and Simpson first met in the early 1970s and became close friends.

Simpson stayed in Kardashian's house during the days following the June 12, 1994, murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Kardashian was the man seen carrying Simpson's garment bag the day that Simpson flew back from Chicago. Prosecutors speculated that the bag may have contained Simpson's bloody clothes or the murder weapon.

Simpson failed to turn himself in at 11 a.m. on June 17, 1994, and Kardashian read a letter by Simpson to the collected media. The letter was interpreted by many as a suicide note.

Simpson was charged with the murders and subsequently acquitted of all criminal charges in a controversial criminal trial. Kardashian had let his license to practice law become inactive before the Simpson case. He reactivated his license to aid in Simpson's defense as a volunteer assistant on his legal team. He sat by Simpson throughout the trial.

The New York Times reported that, "Mr. Kardashian said in a 1996 ABC interview that he questioned Mr. Simpson's 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.'"

Death

Kardashian died of esophageal cancer on September 30, 2003 at the age of 59.