Aaron Hernandez suicide: Officials reveal new details

April 20, 2017 at 15:37

Hernandez’s death is now being investigated by the Massachusetts state medical examiner’s office

New details are emerging in the Aaron Hernandez suicide story, just one day after the former New England Patriots star apparently took his own life in his prison cell.

Hernandez’s lawyer Jose Baez held a media conference on Thursday to demand the release of his client’s brain from the medical examiner so that it could be tested for CTE. Baez said researchers from Boston University were scheduled to pick up the brain from the medical examiner on Thursday morning, only to be denied at the last minute.

Law enforcement is also looking into the possibility that Hernandez smoked a synthetic marijuana named “K2” before the apparent suicide, CBS Boston reported. Sources also tell the station that the last person to see Hernandez was a close friend and fellow prisoner who is now on suicide watch himself.

Hernandez’s death is now being investigated by the Massachusetts state medical examiner’s office and is being overseen by the Worcester District Attorney and the Department of Corrections, the Boston Globe reported.

Hernandez had been acquitted of murder chargers in the death of two men in 2012 just five days earlier. He was serving life without parole for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013.

Hernandez also had “John 3:16” written on his forehead when his body was found in his prison cell early Wednesday morning, an official tells the Boston Globe.

The passage, which is among the most oft-cited from the Bible, 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.”

Hernandez was no stranger to marking his body with religious references. He had “God forgives” tattooed on one of his arms next to an image of a gun, a tattoo that prosecutors contended was a confession during Hernandez’s double-murder trial earlier this year.

The Globe also reported that Hernandez made a telephone call to his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez about seven hours before his body was found hanging from a bedsheet in his cell. Jenkins-Hernandez has yet to issue a public comment, nor has Hernandez’s brother or mother.

Other things we know right now:

• Hernandez did not appear suicidal and left no note.

• Aaron Hernandez’s former agent is unconvinced it was a suicide.

• TMZ reported that Hernandez was placed on suicide watch in 2015 after being convicted of murdering Lloyd, but that it may have been a procedural move.

• Lloyd’s family spoke to Bleacher Report with Lloyd’s sister saying the news of Hernandez’s suicide brought her to tears.

• One of Hernandez’s attorneys will try to get his murder conviction vacated based on an old legal rule.

• Hernandez’s death actually sparked a morbid surge in the memorabilia market.