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Former New England Patriots
star Aaron Hernandez hanged himself in his jail cell before dawn on Wednesday
Aaron Hernandez 'murdered
his friend Odin Lloyd to keep his bisexuality a secret after the victim teased
him about being a "schmoocher"'
Aaron Hernandez gets LIFE in prison without parole: Former NFL star guilty of murder as his fiancée and her sister - the victim's girlfriend - sob at opposite sides of the courtroom
- .The former NFL star, 25, remained impassive then sank into his chair as the verdict was read in the Massachusetts courtroom
- .Hernandez found guilty of all charges including murder by extreme atrocity or cruelty and will spend the rest of his life in maximum-security prison
- .His mother, Terri, and his fiancée, Shayanna, sobbed while Hernandez looked back at them and mouthed 'be strong'
- .Terri Hernandez and Shayanna Jenkins left court before victim's family made their statements
- .Victim Odin Lloyd's mother told court: 'I forgive the people who had a hand in my son's murder both before and after'
Aaron Hernandez will spend the rest of his life in prison without chance of release after being found guilty of first-degree murder today.The former NFL star appeared stunned at the verdict, sinking into his chair and shaking his head amid audible gasps around the Massachusetts courtroom on Wednesday morning.Hernandez's mother, Terri, and fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, broke down in sobs and rocked each other back and forth as each juror pronounced the former Pats player guilty on all charges, including murder by extreme atrocity or cruelty. The mother of victim Odin Lloyd, Ursula Ward, sobbed and pumped her fist. Lloyd's girlfriend and Shayanna's sister, Shaneah Jenkins, wept beside the victim's mother, just feet away across the aisle from her estranged sister.Hernandez also has another murder trial ahead of him in Boston, where he is accused of shooting two Cape Verdean men dead after a dispute at a nightclub in 2012.
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Former NFL star, Aaron Hernandez, sank into his seat and appeared stunned as he was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday which will send him to prison for the rest of his life
The 25-year-old former Pats player stared straight ahead and received a comforting pat from his defense attorney after he was found guilty of all charges in the murder of Odin Lloyd in the Massachusetts courtroom
Hernandez's mother, Terri and fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins broke down in sobs and clutched at each other as each juror pronounced the former Pats player guilty on all charges
When I laid my son Odin to rest, I felt my heart stop beating. I wanted to go into the hole with Odin... I forgive the people who had a hand in my son's murder both before and after. I pray and hope that someday that everyone out there will forgive them also.
Odin Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, during her victim impact statement
The murderer's eyes swiveled around the room as he gaped and wiped his mouth.
Terri Hernandez and Shayanna Jenkins left court immediately after the guilty verdict was returned on Wednesday morning.
Following a short recess on Wednesday, Lloyd's family made their victim impact statements before the court.
Hernandez refused to stand for the statements and was encircled by his defense team so that he was blocked from view.
Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, was the first to make her statement facing the judge.
Ms Ward said: 'Odin Lloyd was my only son... he was the backbone of the family. Odin was my first, best gift I ever received.'
Mrs Lloyd said that she has worn purple to court every day because it was Odin's favorite color.
She broke down as she said: 'I thank God for every second of my son's life that I spent with him.
'When I laid my son Odin to rest, I felt my heart stop beating. I wanted to go into the hole with Odin.
'I miss my baby boy Odin so much but I know I will see him again some day and that has given me strength.
Ms Ward continued: 'I forgive the people who had a hand in my son's murder both before and after. I pray and hope that someday that everyone out there will forgive them also.'
Lloyd's uncle, sister and cousin also made emotional statements to the court but his girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins, did not speak before the court.
A court officer places handcuffs on the tattooed hands of Hernandez who looked stunned after the guilty verdict was read during his murder trial at the Bristol County Superior Court
Ursula Ward, mother of Odin Lloyd, speaks to the media following the end of the trial on Wednesday. She was comforted by her daughter, Olivia Thibou (third from left) and her son's girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins (second left) along with other relatives
The jury spent 35 hours weighing whether Hernandez, a player with sponsorship deals and a $41million dollar Patriots contract, was guilty of murdering semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd in June 2013.
Hernandez, a 25-year-old former tight-end for the Patriots, was accused of first- and second-degree murder in Lloyd's death, as well as firearms charges.
The killer was also convicted of several lesser charges - mostly related to the weapon he used in the murder - a .40-caliber Glock pistol which has never been found.
Hernandez was found guilty of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of carrying a large capacity firearm, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card and possession of ammunition without an identification card.
The prosecution said the player and two friends drove Lloyd to an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough mansion and shot him to death, execution-style.
Hernandez's attorneys countered that Hernandez was a witness to, not a participant in, the killing.
Odin Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, broke down as the guilty verdict was read out in the Fall River courtroom and then pumped her fist
Shaneah Jenkins, left, girlfriend of victim Odin Lloyd, comforts a cousin of Odin Lloyd in the courtroom
Together in happier times: Shayanna Jenkins (pictured right) and her younger sister Shaneah (left) in their senior yearbook photo from 2007 at Bristol Central High School, Connecticut
The Patriots cut Hernandez hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013, nine days after a teenage jogger found Lloyd's body.
During four months of testimony, the jury heard from more than 130 witnesses who testified that Hernandez, a native of Bristol, Connecticut, was a regular user of marijuana and sometimes of the stimulant PCP, that he owned guns and at times acted paranoid and that he said he felt his friends did not appreciate the things he did for them.
The witnesses included Alexander Bradley, a former friend of Hernandez who charged in a civil lawsuit that the former NFL player shot him in the face in February 2013, costing him an eye.
Hernandez and two friends drove Odin Lloyd (pictured) to an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough home and shot him to death, execution-style in June 2013
Odin Lloyd's girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins (left), alongside Lloyd's sister Olivia (right) speak to the media following the guilty verdict for Hernandez on Wednesday. Pictured right, a document released by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, shows the jury's verdict of first degree murder
Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, fled the court on Wednesday morning after Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder
Bradley, who never pursued criminal charges over the incident, testified that he saw Hernandez handle a gun similar to the one used to kill Lloyd but was not allowed to tell the jury about the shooting.
Investigators never recovered the .45-caliber Glock pistol that was used to pump six bullets into Lloyd, 27, who had been a semiprofessional football player.
Robert Kraft, the Patriots' billionaire owner, was also called to the stand. Kraft testified that Hernandez said he was innocent and claimed to have been at a nightclub at the time of the killing.
Prosecutors contended that two friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, were with Hernandez at the time of the killing.
Those two men will be tried separately.
Defense lawyers closed their case by saying Hernandez had been present at the time of Lloyd's slaying, but had been a witness not a participant.
'He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed ... a shocking killing committed by somebody he knew,' said defense attorney James Sultan.
'He really didn't know what to do. So he just put one foot in front of the other.
Prosecutors countered that Hernandez had plotted and controlled every detail of the slaying.
'He believed he could kill Odin Lloyd and nobody would ever believe that he was involved,' said Assistant District Attorney William McCauley.
Hernandez was also found guilty of two firearms charges for illegally possessing the handgun used in the crime and illegally possessing .22-caliber ammunition found at his Massachusetts home.
Hernandez faces another trial beginning later this year in Boston, where he is charged with fatally shooting Cape Verdean nationals Daniel Abreu and Safirdo Furtado outside a nightclub after one of them spilled a drink.
The jury that rendered the Lloyd verdict was not told about that case.
Hernandez was led out of his mansion in handcuffs on June 26, 2013 - nine days after Odin Lloyd was found shot execution-style in an industrial park a mile away.
Lloyd, 27, was a semi professional football player for the Boston Bandits.
He had also been dating Shaneah Jenkins - the sister of Hernandez's fiancée and mother of his child, Shayanna Jenkins.
Separate surveillance videos show Hernandez outside Lloyd's home about an hour before the murder, and then walking into his own $1.3million mansion after shots were heard.
It also emerged that the NFL star destroyed surveillance video at his home. When he handed over his cell phone, it had been smashed to pieces.
Despite several hours-long searches of Hernandez's home, police never found the .45-caliber Glock pistol that prosecutors believe Hernandez used in the murder.
Before Lloyd left his home to go out with Hernandez and his crew, Lloyd texted his sister with ominous messages: 'Did you see who I am with? NFL.'
His last text read: 'Just so you know.'
Shaneah Jenkins, girlfriend of Odin Lloyd and sister of Hernandez's fiancée Shayanna, reacts as former NFL player Aaron Hernandez was found guilty during his murder trial on Wednesday
NFL STAR TO CONVICTED MURDERER: TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS IN HERNANDEZ CASE
April 28, 2007 - Police called after Hernandez, a University of Florida football player, punches a waiter at a bar
September 2007 - Hernandez questioned after two men shot in drive-by shooting in Florida after fight with Hernandez at club
June 8, 2010 - Hernandez signs deal with New England Patriots after being picked in the fourth round of the NFL draft
July 16, 2012 - Two immigrants from Cape Verde are shot dead in the car in South Boston. Hernandez suspected
August 27, 2012 - Patriots sign Hernandez to five-year, $37.5million contract extension
November 2012 - Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, gives birth to their daughter, Avielle Janelle
February 13, 2013 - Hernandez allegedly shoots friend in the eye outside Miami strip club after argument
June 17, 2013 - Odin Lloyd gunned down in an industrial lot near Hernandez's home
June 26, 2013 - Hernandez arrested and charged with Lloyd's murder and kicked off Patriots team
May 5, 2014 - Hernandez charged with beating fellow inmate and threatening a jail guard
May 15, 2014 - Hernandez indicted for double-murder in South Boston
January 29, 2015 - Odin Lloyd murder trial begins
April 15, 2015 - Sentenced to life in prison without parole after conviction on murder and weapons charges in Lloyd's death
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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, left, congratulates Aaron Hernandez after their AFC Championship NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens on January 22, 2012. Months later he executed his friend, Odin Lloyd |
FROM A COLLEGE FOOTBALL BAD BOY TO A KILLER IN THE NFL: AARON HERNANDEZ'S HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Aaron Hernandez was a star high school player from a bad neighborhood in Bristol, Connecticut.
He made it out, thanks to football - playing for the University of Florida Gators in college. In 2009, he helped lead the team to a national championship.
But problems began to emerge as well. In 2007 as a 17-year-old freshman, Hernandez ordered two drinks at a Gainesville, Florida, bar then refused to pay.
When a waiter escorted him outside, the football star waited until his head was turned then punched him in the face, bursting his eardrum.
Police were called and recommended that Hernandez be charged with felony assault. Urban Meyer, Florida's legendary football coach, intervened and no arrest was ever made.
That same year he was also questioned in connection with a drive-by shooting in which two men were shot, one in the head, following a fight over a gold necklace with Florida Gators football players at a nightclub. He was never charged.
In 2008, he was suspended from the first game of the year for testing positive for marijuana.
Following those incidents, he seemed to turn a corner. He was drafted in 2010 in the fourth-round by the Patriots. Many scouts said his talent merited a first-round pick, but teams were so concerned about his off-the-field behavior and connections to street gangs that they refused to draft him.
His return to New England after being drafted by the Patriots allowed him to reconnect with the bad influences from his childhood, friends have said.
On the Patriots, he made massive impact on the field. He quickly became one of quarterback Tom Brady's favorite targets. In three seasons, he scored 18 touchdowns and had nearly 2,000 yards receiving.
In 2012, the Patriots signed their star to a 5-year, $37.5million contact that included more than $12.5million in signing bonuses.
On July 16, 2012 Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Teixeira Furtado, 28, who immigrants from Cape Verde, were found murdered in their car in South Boston following a drive-by shooting.
They had reportedly gotten into a fight with Hernandez and his crew at a night club prior to their murders. In May 2014, prosecutors indicted Hernandez for both killings. He still faces trial on those murders.
On the same month that Lloyd was murdered, a former friend filed a lawsuit against Hernandez claiming the NFL star had shot him in the mouth in February 2013 following a fight at a Miami strip club. The man, Alexander Bradley, lost his eye in the shooting and subsequently testified against Hernandez at his murder trial.
In February 2014 - following his arrest for murder - he was allegedly involved in a jailhouse fight and for threatening a jail guard. He was later indicted on those charges and faces trial for them, as well.
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UPDATE
April 22, 2017
Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez hanged himself in his jail cell before dawn on Wednesday
Aaron Hernandez 'murdered his friend Odin Lloyd to keep his bisexuality a secret after the victim teased him about being a "schmoocher"'
Former New
England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez hanged himself in his jail cell before
dawn on Wednesday
Hernandez was
serving a life sentence for the 2013 shooting death of his friend, Odin Lloyd
Investigators are
now examining whether Hernandez killed Lloyd because Lloyd knew that he was
bisexual
Lloyd was dating
the sister of Hernandez's fiancee at the time he was killed
Investigators
probing Hernandez's suicide found three handwritten notes in his cell next to a
Bible that was open to John 3:16
One of the notes
was to fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, who was seen leaving her mother's
Connecticut home Thursday
The second note
was to his four-year-old daughter Avielle
Third letter was written to
the former football star's gay prison lover
That unidentified man is currently under 'eyeball to eyeball' suicide
watch
Former football star Aaron Hernandez may have killed Odin Lloyd in order to keep secret the fact that he was bisexual, according to a report which appeared Friday in Newsweek.
Investigators are now examining whether Hernandez, who hanged himself in his jail cell before dawn on Wednesday at Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, was taunted by Lloyd just before he killed him. In April 2015, Hernandez was convicted for shooting and killing Lloyd, a semi-professional football player, on June 17, 2013. According to Newsweek, Lloyd may have known that Hernandez was carrying on an affair with a male friend who was forced to testify before the grand jury in the Lloyd case. At the time of his death, Lloyd, 27, was dating Shaneah Jenkins, the sister of Aaron Hernandez's fiancee.
According to Newsweek, Lloyd (above) may have known that Hernandez was carrying on an affair with a male friend who was forced to testify before the grand jury in the Lloyd case
Investigators now reportedly want to know if Hernandez killed Lloyd so as to prevent him from revealing details of the Patriot star's sex life to his girlfriend, who might then pass the information to Hernandez's fiancee.
Ernest Wallace, a co-defendant in the Lloyd murder case, told police that Lloyd had called Hernandez 'schmoocher,' which he interpreted as a gay slur. Wallace is now serving at least four years in prison for helping Hernandez get rid of the murder weapon used to kill Lloyd.
He was overheard telling Hernandez's cousin that he would not have helped the football star hide the gun if he knew beforehand that he was a 'limp wrist.' 'Limp wrist' is known as a disparaging term used for homosexuals. The revelations about a possible motive for the Lloyd murder came as news emerged that Hernandez left three handwritten notes in the cell where he hanged himself.
One note each was written to his fiancée, his daughter and his gay jailhouse lover. Two of the notes were written to Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez and the couple's four-year-old daughter Avielle. Both were seen leaving her mother's Connecticut home Thursday. Sources close to the investigation tell DailyMail.com that the third letter was written to Hernandez's gay prison lover, who has not been identified but was believed to be the last person Hernandez spoke to before he took his own life. Now that man is currently under 'eyeball to eyeball' suicide watch.
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God is not
Mocked!!
|
The notes were discovered next to a Bible opened to John 3:16, the same verse that Hernandez had written across his forehead in marker.
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| Investigators are now examining whether Hernandez, who hanged himself in his jail cell (similar to the one in the above stock image) before dawn on Wednesday at Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, was taunted by Lloyd just before he killed him |
'Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Henry N. Nields performed an autopsy on Mr. Hernandez on Wednesday and concluded today that the manner of death was suicide and the cause asphyxia by hanging,' stated Massachusetts District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. in a statement on Thursday.
'An investigation into the death by the State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney's Office and Department of Correction investigators found cardboard jammed into the door tracks of his single-inmate cell to impede entry into the cell.' The report went on to state: 'There were no signs of a struggle, and investigators determined that Mr. Hernandez was alone at the time of the hanging. 'Mr. Hernandez was locked in his cell about 8 p.m. and no one entered the cell until a correction officer observed him at 3:03 a.m. and forced his way through the impeded door to render aid.' Hernandez's death came less than a week after he was acquitted of the murders of two Boston men in 2012.
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