Nicole Brown Simpson's sisters speak out after OJ Simpson's death - "Wreaked havoc on our family"

On April 10, OJ Simpson died, leaving behind a complicated legacy. Once a beloved Hall of Fame running back and later sportscaster, he tarnished his reputation after being accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

Although he was eventually acquitted, Simpson would feel the legal and socioemotional ramifications for the rest of his life, especially from his sisters Tanya, Dominique and Denise. Speaking to PEOPLE on Wednesday, they said:

“It’s very complicated. This is a person who’s been in our life for a very long time, who wreaked havoc on our family. It’s like the end of a chapter.”

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Nicole Brown's sisters recount when and how OJ Simpson became abusive to her

When Nicole Brown first met OJ Simpson in 1977, she was an 18-year-old aspiring photographer and model while Simpson was in his last season with the Buffalo Bills.

Initially, Tanya, Dominique and Denise saw Simpson as merely their sister's boyfriend. Then Nicole invited them to a Bills game, where he scored a touchdown. That changed their perception, and the sisters started to warm up to him more.

However, they also got a first glimpse of his negative traits - when Nicole saw her kissing a male friend on the cheek and "flipped out", as they would recall in the same interview:

“All hell broke loose when we came home that night. He had her upstairs in the bathroom crying. He said, ‘You embarrassed me.’”

Eventually. Brown became pregnant with their daughter Sydney. But while she was elated at becoming a mother for the first time in her life, Simpson was not:

“She was pregnant, and he was calling her a fat pig.”

Still, they eventually married. Shortly after their son Justin was born in 1988, they went to Hawaii for a family vacation. There, a gay customer at a restaurant kissed Justin's forehead, leading OJ Simpson to assault Brown.

Tanya, Dominique and Denise initially thought that they were just "isolated incidences"; but as they began accumulating, Brown had enough and filed for divorce in 1992. Two years later. she was dead.

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Nicole Brown's children learned of their mother's death from their grandmother

When OJ Simpson allegedly killed Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman at their Brentwood condo unit on the night of June 12, 1994 (their cadavers were found at midnight the next day), their children Sydney and Justin were sleeping. According to Dominique, it was their grandmother who relayed the tragic news:

"She goes, ‘Mommy's in heaven.’”

Denise, meanwhile, instinctively felt that her brother-in-law was responsible:

“The moment my mom got the phone call, I heard this screaming from my parents’ bedroom. It was gut-wrenching. I grabbed the phone, and the detective said, ‘Your sister’s been killed.’ I said, ‘Oh my God, he did it, he finally did it.’ I knew in my heart [it was O.J.].”

Four days after the murders, OJ Simpson's notorious car chase around Los Angeles occurred. While his friend and former teammate Al Cowlings was driving, he had a gun to his head, threatening suicide unless he was returned to his Brentwood estate. The rest would be history.

Sydney, 38, and Justin, 35, are said to be parents working in real estate and keeping a low profile.