Ex-Pat’s suicide seen as ‘religious message’
Said death could wipe conviction
Days before he hanged himself in his jail cell, Aaron Hernandez told one of his fellow inmates about a “rumor” — that if a convict with a pending appeal dies in prison they’re acquitted of the charge and considered not guilty in the eyes of the law, according to a report obtained by the Herald.
He also talked about returning to play in the NFL, “even if it wasn’t with the Pats,” the report states.
The revelations, included in a redacted Executive Office of Public Safety report, suggests the 27-year-old former New England Patriot thought that a jailhouse suicide would mean his first-degree murder charge would be wiped from the books. Other inmates told investigators they didn’t notice Hernandez acting strangely in the days and hours leading up to his April 19 suicide.
“Just spoke with him yesterday and he was in a great place,” one inmate told investigators.
Authorities also said Hernandez never indicated he planned on killing himself in the five phone calls he made hours before he died.
Other inmates who said they were “tight” or “real close” with Hernandez said he became increasingly spiritual behind bars and often quoted the Bible and suggested his suicide “had been some sort of religious message.”
Hernandez, who hanged himself with a bed sheet attached to the window of his single-person cell at SouzaBaranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster after spreading shampoo on the floor, was found unresponsive and naked about 3 a.m. with a cut on his finger, a “large circular blood mark” on both of his feet and “John 3:16” written in ink on his forehead, according to a report also released yesterday by state police detectives assigned to Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.’s office.
Investigators also found a blood stain next to John 3:16 on an open Bible in his cell, “several drawings and ‘John 3:16’ written in a substance consistent with blood” and three hand-written notes, according to the report.
The EOPS report noted a prison guard missed his round at 2 a.m., leaving Hernandez unobserved in cell No. 57 until 3:03 a.m., when the guard — who noticed the cell window was blocked — saw Hernandez hanging from a sheet. That guard, a prison official told the Herald, was suspended with pay pending a disciplinary hearing.
A toxicology test showed Hernandez was sober at the time of his death, according to the report, which said his blood came back negative for “all substances tested, including synthetic cannabinoids.”
A few inmates, who described Hernandez as “private,” discussed allegations about his sexuality made after his death, investigators said. One cited a “disrespectful” sports radio broadcast that they said suggested “he deserved what he got” and “may be gay,” according to the report.
The EOPS report also said he left behind a 13-inch TV, an MP3 audio player, a Walkman, a chess game and gym clothes.
In a statement last night, Hernandez’s defense team blasted government officials for leaking “the majority of the information contained in these reports” and vowed to “completely and impartially review all of the evidence.”