Case File: Aaron Hernandez

Born in Connecticut to a working-class family, Aaron Hernandez experienced a tumultuous childhood. His father was a tough disciplinarian who was abusive to his family. Despite Dennis Hernandez’s violent outbursts, Aaron was devoted to his father and was devastated by Dennis’s sudden death when Hernandez was in his teens. Hernandez’s brother would later claim that the football pro had suffered sexual abuse as well, which would leave him with lingering guilt about his sexuality. 

Hernandez found solace on the football field, earning a scholarship to the University of Florida and winning a national championship. But his stint was marred by reports of drug use and Hernandez’s possible involvement in several violent altercations, which may have been covered up by school officials eager to protect a star player. 

Despite his talents, Hernandez’s personal issues saw him drafted only in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. Hernandez helped lead the team to a Super Bowl win, but he was unpopular with many teammates and staff, who were put off by his off-field actions and brash personality. The team’s Massachusetts location also meant Hernandez was able to spend much of his time with hometown friends, many of whom partook in criminal activities. Hernandez’s drug use escalated, and he became increasingly paranoid, surrounding himself with unsavory characters and guns.

On July 16, 2012, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were killed in Boston. The two men, Cape Verdean immigrants, had just left the Cure Lounge nightclub and were shot in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting that left another passenger wounded. Surveillance showed a silver SUV similar to Hernandez’s car at the time at the scene, and video depicted Hernandez inside the club at the same time as the victims. However, law enforcement made no connection to Hernandez at that time, likely unwilling to believe that a star NFL player would be involved. 

The case remained unsolved, and later that summer, Hernandez signed a massive new contract with the Patriots. But his personal life continued to unravel. In February 2013, he traveled to Florida with friend Alexander Bradley. A known drug seller, Bradley had been at the nightclub with Hernandez on the night of the murders and was shot several times during their February trip. Bradley survived the shooting but lost an eye, and he refused to cooperate with local cops. 

On the morning of June 17, 2013, the body of Odin Lloyd was discovered in a remote area of an industrial park just one mile from Hernandez’s house. He had been shot six times. Lloyd, a semi-pro football player, was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée, and the two had appeared to be friends. But prosecutors would later state that the men had had a falling out, likely fueled by Hernandez’s increasing paranoia and suspicion of nearly everyone around him. 

Police began quickly building a case against Hernandez. Surveillance footage from his home showed him leaving with two other friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, shortly before the time of Lloyd’s murder. The group returned home later that night, with footage showing Hernandez holding what appeared to be a gun. Text messages between Lloyd and his sister indicated he was scared of Hernandez, and texts between Lloyd and Hernandez showed that the men were scheduled to meet on the night of the murder.

Police revealed that Hernandez had destroyed some of the home surveillance video from this period as well as his cell phone, and hired a cleaning crew for his home in the days after the murder. Cell phone tower records placed Hernandez’s rental car at the industrial park at the time of the murder. Police believed that Lloyd had been shot inside Hernandez’s car. Shell casings inside the vehicle matched those at the crime scene, and Lloyd’s DNA was also found on a piece of chewing gum inside of the car. 

Though the murder weapon was never recovered, the matching casings strengthened the case that the same gun had been used both at the scene and inside the vehicle. Nine days after the murder, on June 26, 2013, Hernandez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Later that day, he was released from the New England Patriots.

Following his arrest, law enforcement reopened the double homicide case involving de Abreu and Furtado, largely based on evidence given by Bradley. In June 2013, investigators located the silver SUV seen at the scene of the crime, which was being stored in a garage owned by Hernandez’s cousin. Forensic testing on the SUV revealed that ballistic evidence inside the vehicle matched shell casings found at the 2012 murder scene. In May 2014, while awaiting trial in the Lloyd case, Hernandez was indicted for the 2012 double homicide.

Hernandez’s trial for Lloyd’s murder began in January 2015. The prosecution argued that Hernandez orchestrated Lloyd’s murder because he felt disrespected or mistrusted Lloyd’s associations with people Hernandez disliked. While there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting and the murder weapon was never recovered, the jury was presented with a detailed sequence of events supported by digital and physical evidence.

The defense admitted that Hernandez was present the night Lloyd was killed but argued that he was not the shooter. However, the jury found the evidence sufficient to convict him. On April 15, 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Hernandez’s second trial began in February 2017. Prosecutors portrayed Hernandez as impulsive, volatile and deeply paranoid, someone who responded violently to perceived slights. They theorized that the murders were an act of retaliation by Hernandez after de Abreu accidentally spilled a drink on him at the nightclub earlier that night and failed to apologize. The case hinged on the credibility of Bradley, who alleged Hernandez confessed to the 2012 murders and later attempted to silence him by shooting him in the face in 2013 because he feared Bradley might tip off law enforcement about the double murders.

​​The defense painted Bradley as a revenge-seeking criminal with a motive to lie. Despite the significant ballistic evidence and vehicle links, the jury acquitted Hernandez on both murder charges on April 14, 2017.

Just five days later, Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell. His death shocked the public, particularly given its timing so soon after his acquittal in the double murder case. Authorities ruled Hernandez’s death a suicide by hanging. He left behind three handwritten notes. 

In the days leading up to his death, a local news station had aired an investigative report exploring Hernandez’s sexuality, and some investigators believe Hernandez, who’d kept his sexuality a secret from most of his family and friends, may have feared further exploitation of this topic in the public. He was also reportedly taking the dangerous synthetic drug K2 in the days before his death, which likely impaired his mental state.

Following Hernandez’s death, his legal team pursued a legal doctrine known as abatement ab initio, which, under Massachusetts law at the time, vacated his conviction because his appeal had not been heard before his death. That ruling was later reversed, and his conviction was reinstated in 2019.

Following his death, Hernandez’s family donated his brain to researchers at Boston University who found he had severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated head trauma. According to the researchers, Hernandez’s brain showed one of the most advanced cases of CTE ever seen in someone his age. The discovery reignited debate around the long-term effects of playing professional football and raised questions about whether the disease may have influenced his behavior.

The Hernandez case reverberated far beyond sports. It raised difficult questions about how someone with so much promise could become involved in such a violent crime. The case brought scrutiny to the NFL and its handling of off-field behavior, particularly regarding mental health and violence. It also accelerated public and scientific interest in CTE, contributing to broader conversations about player safety in football and other contact sports.