Aaron Hernandez killed himself after suffering from CTE, not over his sexuality as claimed by Netflix: Lawyer
Aaron Hernandez's attorney Jose Baez has slammed Netflix's new documentary on the late NFL player, stating that the football tight end killed himself because he was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and not over fears of being outed as a homosexual as suggested by the streaming giant's latest offering.
Baez, who represented Hernandez and helped him beat a double murder case, in a statement to TMZ said that the recently-released Netflix documentary titled 'Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez' implies that the player was a closeted homosexual, and might have taken his life in fear of the alleged secret getting out.
Hernandez, the youngest National Football League player in 2010, was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 after he shot and killed Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancée’s sister. Two years later, on April 19, 2017, Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell at the age of 27. He was serving a life sentence when he took his life by hanging himself.
Baez refuted Netflix's theory of Hernandez's possible homosexuality playing a part in his suicide, and said that the young player's death was triggered by advanced CTE. The condition is a progressive neurogenerative disease common in athletes. Medical results showed that Hernandez had the worst case of CTE ever seen in someone his age. CTE patients have difficulty controlling their impulses, display aggression, emotional volatility, and rage. The condition also results in a shrunken brain.
The Netflix documentary, which dropped on January 15, emphasizes Hernandez's possible homosexuality and how the player was tormented about keeping it under wraps in a machismo-driven career. Hernandez's friend, his high school quarterback Dennis Sansoucie, was also featured in the film, where he claimed to have had sexual relations with the player as a teenager.
Baez, who also features in the film, told TMZ that he only agreed to speak on camera if the documentary's producers promised not to interview certain people about Hernandez's sexuality. He slammed the entire Netflix production, referring to it as a "money-making scheme" which was found lacking when it came to disseminating quality information.
Baez's law firm also released a statement on Instagram, stating: "I don’t give a damn about what some lame ass documentary has to say about Aaron. I knew him, they did not and while he was far from perfect, they are not even close to the truth. People have no idea how documentaries are made, the truth is usually found on the cutting room floor. These producers lied directly to my face, so I don’t expect their money making scheme to be much better. #ripchico #baezlawfirm #aaronhernandez."