Did Aaron Hernandez's alleged homosexuality, links to two previous shooting deaths lead him to kill Odin Lloyd?
Aaron Hernandez, the youngest star player of the National Football League (NFL) in 2010, shot and killed Odion Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancée’s sister, on June 17, 2013 when he was just 23 years old. Nine days after Lloyd's body was found in an industrial park nearly one mile away from Hernandez's house, the NFL player was arrested. He was let go by the New England Patriots ninety minutes after.
Hernandez, two years later, in April 2015, was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole. Nearly two years after the NFL player took his own life in his prison cell, Reelz documentary 'Autopsy: The Last Hours of… Aaron Hernandez' explores possible reasons that could have led Hernandez to fatally shoot Lloyd.
The film suggests that Lloyd possibly knew of the two alleged murders committed by Hernandez in 2012 and the fear of it becoming public is what drove the NFL player to kill him.
Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were killed by gunshots fired into their vehicle in Boston's South End after they left Cure Nightclub.
According to Hernandez's friend Alexander, the NFL player was partying out in the same nightclub when one of them — either Abreu or Furtado — bumped into him and spilled his drink. The player was enraged but was asked by Alexander to leave the venue instead of instigating a fight. Hernandez and Alexander were driving in their car when they saw Abreu and Furtado at a traffic light. Hernandez allegedly opened fire on them, unloading his weapon. He would not be linked to the deaths until after his conviction for Lloyd's murder. He was indicted for these murders but acquitted at trial in April 2017.
The night before Lloyd's death, Hernandez had reportedly texted two friends from his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut, asking them to come to Massachusetts. He wrote to them: "You can't trust anyone anymore."
Hernandez reportedly picked up Lloyd in his car hours before the latter's death as Lloyd texted his sister from the car, writing: "Did you see who I am with?" and when his sister responded, he replied: "Nfl." His last text to his sister read: "Just do you know." Reports state that his sister at the time thought that Lloyd was just bragging.
"Prosecutors reportedly said that Lloyd and Hernandez were in contact just 10 hours before his death, concerning a bag of marijuana. Furthermore, keys to a car that had been rented by Hernandez were allegedly found in Lloyd's pocket. Prosecutors believe Lloyd recently said something to Hernandez that destroyed his trust, giving Hernandez a motive to kill." The NFL player's DNA was also found at the crime site from a discarded marijuana cigarette.
The documentary also proposes the possibility of Lloyd knowing Hernandez was allegedly gay. He was allegedly in a long-term relationship with his high school classmate, who visited him more often in prison that his fiancee. Prison inmates had allegedly heard him listening to a radio show with links to homosexuality. The film suggests that Lloyd could have known about his sexuality and the fear of being outed could have driven him to kill him. However, close friends disagree with the theory as they say Hernandez made loving bonds with everyone he knew, and they were absolutely certain that he wasn't gay.