What did Aaron Hernandez do?
Aaron Hernandez was a murderer who originally rose to prominence as an NFL American football player and played for the New England Patriots for 3 seasons until he was arrested and convicted of the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating Aaron Hernandez’s fiancée’s sister.
On the 17th of June 2013, Lloyd was shot and killed in an industrial park which was located 1 mile away from Hernandez’s house. He was arrested on the 26th of June and later charged with the murder. Soon after his arrest, Hernandez was released by the New England Patriots. Police also arrested 2 other men on suspicion of murder: Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace who were with Hernandez when he drove to the location of the murder. On the 22nd August 2013, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd. 8 months later, Ortiz and Wallace were also indicted for the semi-professional football player’s murder.
Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Double Homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado
While Hernandez stood trial for Lloyd’s brutal murder, he was also indicted for the double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in 2012. They were killed by gunshots, which were fired into their car. Witnesses claimed they saw Hernandez’s silver SUV pull up to the car and execute the pair with a total of 5 shots. However, he was acquitted after a trial in 2017.
Where is Aaron Hernandez now?
Aaron Hernandez was serving his sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Centre. Just days after being acquitted of the de Abreu and Furtado murders, Hernandez was found dead in his cell, and his death was later ruled a suicide. He was 27 years old when he died.
Hernandez was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after his death. CTE is a brain condition that is linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head. There have been many cases of this disease in American football players due to the constant trauma they suffer during their careers. Many people have speculated that this could’ve affected how Hernandez behaved and how it might’ve led to the murders. However, many people have suffered from CTE and haven’t gone on to kill anybody.
Netflix released a 3-part documentary series called Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez in 2020, and it delved into the murders and what led to them.
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