News of Aaron Hernandez's suicide shocked a lot of people but none more than his fiance, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez. Shayanna will be a guest on the "Dr. Phil Show" next week and she will be sitting down with Dr. Phil to talk about Aaron's death while serving a murder sentence in a Massachusetts prison. Shayanna is clearly still in shock and it has been revealed that initially, she thought news of Aaron Hernandez's suicide was a hoax.
Aaron Hernandez's suicide shocked his fiance
As details from Aaron Hernandez's last days become available, the public has learned that the former NFL star made a phone call just hours prior to his death.
Aaron called his fiance, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, to talk to her one last time before taking his own life. Officials have said that nothing said during that call indicated his plans for later that night despite the suicide note left for his fiance alluding to warning her of his suicide plans.
"I thought it was a hoax, that this was some cruel person playing a trick on me," Shayanna said about learning of Aaron's death. She believed when she first heard the news that someone was trying to hurt her.
No one believed Aaron was suicidal
Those who were closest to Aaron Hernandez, did not believe that he was suicidal. When it was reported that Aaron hanged himself in his jail cell, immediately there was suspicion that he may have been murdered.
Aaron's attorney, Jose Baez, even threatened to perform his own investigation into what happened on the night that Aaron died.
In addition to Jose Baez, Aaron Hernandez's old NFL agent also spoke out and said that Hernandez would never take his own life. As suspicion of foul play mounted, details of Aaron Hernandez's suicide started to get leaked and some of what was revealed was pretty shocking.
As far as everyone knew, Aaron was in good spirits following his acquittal for the double murders of Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu. He had just dodged the possibility of another life sentence and planned to appeal his sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Based on what his lawyers were saying, there was a good chance that Hernandez's murder conviction could get overturned and that he could be a free man much sooner than anyone expected.
It turns out that he may have had other plans.
Did Aaron Hernandez force his conviction to be vacated?
It turns out that Aaron Hernandez may have planned and gone through with his suicide in an effort to save his family. It was reported after his death that the Hernandez estate was worth nothing. What money Aaron had prior to all of his legal problems had been spent on lawyers and he was going broke. Apparently, he did see the light at the end of the tunnel and decided that ending his life might also end the financial struggle for his fiance Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez and their four year old daughter Avielle.
In Massachusetts, there is a longstanding precedent that dates back to the colonial days where an inmate who dies prior to their appeal being heard can ask that the conviction be vacated.
By doing that, Hernandez figured that the New England Patriots, who stopped paying him after his legal troubles began, would be on the hook to pay out the rest of his guaranteed salary to his estate.
It hasn't even been a month since Aaron Herandez's death and the judge has already ruled in favor of vacating his murder conviction, leaving the fallen football star innocent in the eyes of the law. There have been some rumblings that the prosecution intends to appeal the ruling but as far as Massachusetts legal precedent is set, the ruling will likely stick. That means the legal battle is on between Hernandez's estate and the New England Patriots regarding the rest of his guaranteed salary. If the Patriots end up paying out, that means that Aaron Hernandez's estate would be owed around $6 million.
