Mark Fuhrman, former LAPD detective integral to OJ Simpson case, dies from throat cancer

Mark Fuhrman, the former Los Angeles Police Department detective who became a central figure of the murder case against OJ Simpson, died at 74.

He died from throat cancer on May 12, according to his representative Lynda Bensky.

Fuhrman entered the spotlight during the 1995 murder trial after he discovered a bloody glove that prosecutors linked to the killings of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman outside of the former NFL running back's Brentwood home. 

Simpson's defense attorneys challenged Fuhrman's credibility as a witness after racially-charged audio recordings of the former detective describing his experience as an LAPD officer surfaced. He testified that he hadn't used a racial epithet in the previous decade.

Simpson's lawyers argued that the recordings showed that Fuhrman had a racial bias and questioned whether he planted the evidence.

He retired from the LAPD in August 1995, while the trial was ongoing. A jury acquitted Simpson after the months-long trial that captured international attention.

In 1996, Fuhrman pleaded no contest to a felony perjury charge stemming from his testimony during Simpson's trial. He later admitted and said he regretted falsely denying using a racial slur during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show the following year. 

"I owe everyone an apology, including you," Fuhrman told Winfrey. "I wish I would have just said yes when I was asked that question."

Bensky said Fuhrman worked as a crime analyst for FOX and became an expert on high-profile homicide cases after Simpson's trial.

"He was a brilliant homicide detective who was thrust into the public eye after finding the bloody glove in the OJ Murder case," she said in a statement.