Mark Fuhrman, the former Los Angeles police detective whose role in the O.J. Simpson murder trial became one of the most controversial chapters in the case, has died at the age of 74.

According to TMZ, which first reported the story, a close friend said Fuhrman passed away on May 12 after battling what was described as an “aggressive form of cancer.”

Fuhrman became a central figure in the highly publicized prosecution of O.J. Simpson after discovering the bloody glove investigators claimed connected Simpson to the 1994 murders of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman outside Brown Simpson’s Los Angeles residence.

At the time, Fuhrman’s testimony was expected to play a major role in securing a conviction against Simpson, once one of America’s most celebrated sports figures.

But the prosecution’s case was severely damaged after Simpson’s defense team introduced audio recordings in which Fuhrman used the N-word, contradicting his sworn testimony in court that he had never used the racial slur.

The revelation transformed Fuhrman into one of the most controversial figures in the trial and became a major issue for the defense as it argued that racism within the Los Angeles Police Department had tainted the investigation.

Fuhrman retired from the Los Angeles Police Department two months before Simpson was acquitted in October 1995 in a verdict that stunned much of the country.

The following year, Fuhrman pleaded no contest to a felony perjury charge after admitting he lied under oath during his testimony in the case.

His conviction ultimately made him the only individual criminally convicted as a direct result of the Simpson trial.

{Matzav.com}