Six days after Aaron Hernandez was acquitted of double murder charges for the 2012 death of two immigrant men shot on a Boston street, the former New England Patriots star committed suicide on Wednesday morning. The 27-year-old athlete used a bedsheet which he attached to his cell window.
To ensure that a prison guard would not stop his suicide attempt, Hernandez blocked his door from the inside by jamming it with different items, New York Daily News reported. He was confined in a cell in Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts.
Reports said that Hernandez was rushed to a nearby hospital after his suicide attempt was discovered. However, he was declared dead at 4:07 a.m. Massachusetts police are investigating the incident.
Life sentence
Although he was acquitted of the double slay charges caused by the sportsman allegedly getting angry over a spilled drink, Hernandez was already serving a life sentence for the 2013 death of Odin Lloyd. He killed Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who dated the sister of his fiancée.
Lloyd was shot on June 17, 2013, in an industrial park one mile away from the house of Hernandez. The night before Lloyd was shot, Hernandez texted two friends and asked them to come to Massachusetts. Prosecutors said that the two sportsmen were in contact 10 hours before Lloyd’s death over a bag of marijuana which could have led to a loss of trust which served as his alleged motive to murder his friend.
The court actually found Hernandez guilty of unlawful gun possession for the 2012 case and sentenced him to four to five years prison term. One of the two victims spilled a drink on him at a bar. The incident is the reason which he was accused of double murder, but the jury, after a 35-hour deliberation, declared Hernandez “not guilty.”
Questionable key witness’ credibility
Hernandez was acquitted of the double murder charges because the credibility of the prosecution’s key witness was questioned.
Alexander Bradley is a drug dealer and close friend of the athlete. Ronald Sullivan, the defense lawyer of Hernandez, portrayed the former NFL player as a very good man who opted to hang out with bad guys like Bradley.
His conviction ended Hernandez’s promising NFL career. Raised in Bristol, Connecticut, he played three seasons with the Patriots, including the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI game when his team lost to the Giants. He had a game record of almost 2,000 yards and scored 18 touchdowns. His former team was scheduled to visit the White House on Wednesday.
