Lawyer for Aaron Hernandez denies reports about letter to gay prison lover
The lawyer for late former NFL star Aaron Hernandez has denied that he wrote a suicide note to a gay lover in prison.
Hernandez was found hanged in his jail cell last Wednesday before daylight at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Massachusetts.
He was convicted of shooting an killing Odin Lloyd, who was a semi-professional football player, back in 2013.
Reports last week suggested authorities were looking into whether Hernandez had been taunted by Lloyd about having an affair with a male acquaintance who testified before the grand jury in the case.
The reports, originating with Newsweek, said police were looking into whether Hernandez killed Lloyd in order to hide his bisexuality from his girlfriend.
According to a co-defendant in the Lloyd murder case, Hernandez had been called a “schmoocher” by Lloyd, which he had interpreted as an anti-gay slur.
Wallace is serving at least four years in jail for helping Hernandez dispose of the murder weapon used to kill Lloyd.
He was also heard speaking to Hernandez’s cousin to say he would not have helped him hide the gun if he had known that he was a “limp wrist”.
The reports suggested that Hernandez left three notes before he killed himself.
One was written to his fiancée, one to his daughter and another to a lover he met in jail, said the report.
But Hernandez’s lawyer has denied the report that a suicide note was left to a gay lover in prison.
Jose Baez, attorney for the former footballer and his family said: “Rumours of letters to a gay lover, in or out of prison, are false.
“These are malicious leaks used to tarnish someone who is dead. . . . Notwithstanding my unambiguous statement that there were no such letters, representatives, on behalf of an individual named Kyle Kennedy, continues to advise the media such a gay love letter exists. Accordingly, on behalf of the family of Aaron Hernandez, I am reaffirming, unequivocally, no such letter to Mr. Kennedy, or any other individual, in or out of prison, exists. I urge anyone continuing to spread these malicious untruths to cease immediately.”
According to DailyMail.com, Hernandez was found with a Bible left open on John 3:16, which he had also written across his forehead in a marker.
The verse reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
According to the website Hernandez had been planning to kill himself for weeks.
“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 adds: “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.”
If you have been affected by issues in this article, and live in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116 123. If you are a young person in the US in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgment-free place to talk, call the Trevor Lifeline now at866-488-7386. If you are an adult in need of support in the US, please call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-8255. If you are in Australia, contact the Australian Samaritans.
