OJ Simpson’s former sports agent says the acquitted double-murder suspect confessed to his ex-wife’s murder while high on a cocktail of drugs and drink.

The NFL running back-turned actor, who died on April 10 aged 76 from prostate cancer, avoided jail in 1995 when he was cleared in criminal court of the slaughter of his former partner Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and her 25-year-old waiter friend Ron Goldman the previous year – but was found liable of their deaths in a civil case brought by the tragic pair’s families in 1997, in which he was also ordered to pay $33.5 million in compensation.

Simpson’s ex-sports agent Mike Gilbert opened up about the shamed late athlete’s alleged confession to the murder of Nicole in his 2008 book ‘How I Helped OJ Get Away With Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret and Remorse’ – sections of which have re-emerged in the wake of his late client’s death.

Mike said in the book Simpson confessed to killing Nicole on the night of June 12, 1994, after he had taken a sleeping pill prior to smoking marijuana and drinking beer in his home in Brentwood, California.

He added Simpson mumbled: “If she hadn’t opened that door with a knife in her hand... she’d still be alive.”

Mike went on: “Nothing more needed to be said. O.J. had confessed to me. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Nicole – who was found in the foetal position in a pool of blood – was stabbed so fiercely in the attack that killed her medical examiners said she had almost been decapitated.

Simpson was acquitted after his blockbuster ‘Trial of the Century’ saw his defence lawyer Johnnie Cochrane coin the phrase: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” after Simpson’s hand appeared not to fit into the blood-stained glove found on his property the day he was arrested on suspicion of butchering Nicole and Ron.

Mike says in his book he gave Simpson tips on how to swell his hands so they wouldn’t fit into the infamous bloody gloves.

Simpson was represented by a defence team dubbed the ‘Dream Team’ as it included high-priced lawyers Robert Shapiro, Robert Kardashian and Alan Dershowitz alongside Johnnie Cochran.

They argued DNA evidence in the case wasn’t properly handled by laboratory technicians and claimed the Los Angeles Police Department tainted the investigation.

After less than four hours of deliberation, a majority black jury found Simpson not guilty of two counts of murder amid simmering racial tensions across America.

In 2008, Simpson was arrested on charges of robbery and kidnapping and convicted and imprisoned for 33 years.

He was subsequently released by the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation in 2017.