Private funeral to take place Monday

BRISTOL » Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez’s body was taken to a funeral home in his Connecticut hometown Saturday, two days before his family holds a private funeral.

The body arrived in the afternoon at O’Brien Funeral Home in Bristol, said Laura Soll, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association.

A private service is scheduled at the funeral home Monday from 1 to 3 p.m. Soll said the burial will be private at an undisclosed location.

The former New England Patriots tight end was found hanged in his cell at a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts early Wednesday. He was serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, and had just been acquitted of a 2012 double murder in Boston. His death was ruled a suicide.

The Funeral Directors Association also released a statement from Hernandez’s family on Saturday.

“The family of Aaron Her-

dez wishes to thank all of you for the thoughtful expressions of condolences,” the statement said. “We wish to say goodbye to Aaron in a private ceremony and thank everyone in advance for affording us a measure of privacy during this difficult time.”

After the Massachusetts medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, Hernandez’s brain was taken to Boston University, where scientists will study it for any signs of repeated trauma suffered during his years of playing football.

A judge on Friday ordered key evidence in the prison suicide preserved, granting a request from Hernandez’s fiancee so the family can investigate the circumstances of his death.

A spokeswoman for the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association said Saturday that the service is set for Monday in Bristol, where Hernandez was a standout football and basketball player in high school.