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Aaron Hernandez: Murder, suicide & wasted life · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Breaking news, very sad and very strange. The former NFL
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: player Aaron Hernandez has killed himself inside his prison cell
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in Massachusetts this morning. Hernandez was found hanged with a
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: bed sheet on the window area of his cell. That
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: twenty seven year old former Patriots player was just acquinted
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: of a double murder last week, but he was serving
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: a life sentence for a separate murder. Prosecutors had argued
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: that Hernandez felt he was disrespected after one of the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: men spilled a drink on him at a nightclub. This
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: is current Stories with Nancy Grace. Hernandez a New England Patriot,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: former Florida Gator drafted out of Florida by the Patriots
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: before that. He's from Bristol, Connecticut. Once a star tight
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: end for the New England Patriots, Hernandez has already served
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: two years of a life sentence in the two thousand
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  Speaker 1: thirteen killing of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez was found hanged with
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: a bed sheet on the window area of his cell.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: He was a football star. He was one of the
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: brightest and the best, and now Erin Hernandez is dead.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: But not only was he a football star, he was
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: a murderer, I believe many times over. Erin Hernandez reportedly
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: hung himself behind bars on the very same day he
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: was scheduled to go to the White House with all
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: of his team members. Had he been on the team
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: that won the Super Bowl? But no, he didn't make it.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: And this after a not guilty in court on two
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: of the murders. This is crime stories. I Nancy Grace,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: thank you for being with us. How could such a
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: bright future have gone so badly wrong? How could it
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: all go so sideways for Erin Hernandez. What we are
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: learning is that Erin Hernandez committed suicide immediately following to
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: not guilty verdicts on double murders with a sheet in
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: his cell by using the window. There was a window
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: in his cell. And we are learning that he had
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: written John three sixteen across his forehead, which we all
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: know is for God, so love the world. He gave
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: not perish, but have everlasting life. That's what John three
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: sixteen says. I believe it does anyway, I'm doing that
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: off the top of my head. Alan, have you researched it?
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Are you sure that's what it says it does? You
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: and I both being Methodists from Georgia, we used the
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: King James version back when we were kids, and that's
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: exactly the version that I that I memorized. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: this guy, had he not taken a path of crime
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: and murder and brutality in his life, would have been
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: at the White House today meeting with the President and
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: the rest of his team members. But everything went so wrong.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Let me first address the suicide. Okay, what do we
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: know about that, Alan, Well, we know he used a
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: bed sheet, of course, tied around his neck and then
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: tied the other end to something of a window in
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: his cell. He also used whatever possessions he had in
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the small single bed cell to block the doorway, perhaps
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: to give him a little bit more time to die.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: It was about three fifteen this morning when a guard
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: doing a check noticed that he was in there in
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: that situation. They took him to a hospital and an
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: hour later, Aaron Hernandez was pronounced dead. He was discovered
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: in his cell by correctional officers at the SUSA Baronowski
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Correctional Center that since Shirley, Massachusetts. As Alan just said,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: around three am and it was just another twist and
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: turn and shock in the life and the story that
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: was Aaron Hernandez a guy that was incredibly talented, and
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: along with his father, he really pushed him. He would
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: make him practice football hours and hours before he could
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  Speaker 1: go out with friends or do anything else. Aaron Hernandez
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: was set to be a success, but then when his
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: father died unexpectedly from complications from a routine surgery, everything
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: went sideways. The first thing he did was he got
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: to college and he was embroiled in a drama there.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: There was a an incident where somebody was sucker punched
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: and he was part of that. Then there was another
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: incident where a gun was pulled. He was part of that.
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  Speaker 1: He managed to get through college without ever having a
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: felony record, but then man alan what happened after that.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: He was at the University of Florida, a Gator playing
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: with Tim Tebow. Got into plenty of trouble there, but
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: he managed to survive it long enough to go to
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: the NFL. But before the NFL would take him, the
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Patriots had some conditions. They were a little bit reluctant.
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  Speaker 1: They knew he was talented and knew he could be
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  Speaker 1: a star, but they didn't know if he could behave
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  Speaker 1: well enough to be on their team. And he swore
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: that he would. He swore that he wouldn't even agree
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: to buy. Was it bi monthly or bi weekly? Pot tests? Regularly? Yes,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: regular regular drug tests to make sure that he wasn't
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: using although now we know in hindsight he was a
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: regular smoker of marijuana, had it in his house, had
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: a lot of it apparently. And now just before he
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: commits suicide, he's found not guilty on two counts of
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: murder for killing two men in a drive by shooting
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: outside of Boston nightclub. Now that was in two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and twelve. Now it's kind of you need a flow
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  Speaker 1: chart for Aaron Hernandez. Yeah, the two thousand twelve double murders.
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  Speaker 1: And then you have the murder of own Lloyd, his friend.
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  Speaker 1: Now Lloyd murder, as I recall, was in two thousand
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  Speaker 1: thirteen June two. Many people believe, including police, that he
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: really killed own Lloyd because Lloyd knew about these two
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  Speaker 1: thousand twelve murders. He faced eight counts in all, two
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  Speaker 1: of murder, three of armed assault, charges of witness intimidation
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  Speaker 1: for allegedly shooting his former friend in the face in
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: an attempt to silence him. He was only found guilty
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  Speaker 1: of one count of illegal possession of a firearm, and
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  Speaker 1: as he died, he is dying an innocent man, believe
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: it or not, due to a twist in the law
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: that says, if you are not alive at the time
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: your case, even though it's a murder case, is appealed,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: then it's vacated and you are innocent. So under the law,
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  Speaker 1: he died an innocent man. So the two thousand thirteen
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  Speaker 1: killing are Odin Lloyd, who was Erin Hernandez's fiance's sister boyfriend.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: In other words, a potential brother in law. I mean,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: that's kind of the connection there, because Aaron Hernandez and
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: oh Lloyd were dating sisters. That's how he became friendly
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: with Lloyd. It's just to say it was always the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: same m O with her Nandez. He would go out
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: to a nightclub, get a few drinks in and pull
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  Speaker 1: a gun and pal shoot. Now, the night of this scenario,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: the two shootings, prosecutor's case was light on forensics, that's true,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: and they relied heavily on testimony from a guy named
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Bradley who was with her Nandez during the last two shootings.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Not Lloyd, Okay, Bradley had immunity juries, never like that.
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  Speaker 1: But based on what was put together, they had been
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: in a nightclub, two guys passed him, and one accidentally
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: not to drink out of his hand onto the dance
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  Speaker 1: floor and did not apologize, just smiled and didn't apologize,
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  Speaker 1: and that made her Nandez so mad that he goes
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: out to the car and gets a gun out of
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: the engine block. Come on, now, that's some gangster right there, Alan,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: When you hide a gun in your engine block. Hello,
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  Speaker 1: I mean I've never even done I've never even done that. Well,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: of course you haven't. Okay, you're not in a gang
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  Speaker 1: and you're living the good lies in your fancy luxury
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  Speaker 1: high rise in Hollywood. Okay, So no, you do not
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: have your gun hidden in your engine block. Even my
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: redneck thug days back in Georgia, I never hit my
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: gun in the engine block. I used to wear them
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: maybe on a holster, in the leg or in the
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: small amount. That's just so you okay, Well, yeah, so
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Aaron Nandez hides his gun, his engine block and Bradley
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  Speaker 1: describes him taking it out. They pull up beside the victims.
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  Speaker 1: The testimony is he took pleasure in what he did
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: that night. The lead prosecutor said he wanted his victims
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  Speaker 1: to see it coming. They were in her nandez vehicle.
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  Speaker 1: It was her Nandez's gun, and Bradley says that he
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: reached out and shot. It was essentially a drive by.
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  Speaker 1: They were actually on the street and pulled up alongside
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  Speaker 1: the car, then out. In a February night two thousand thirteen,
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  Speaker 1: Hernandez then shoots Bradley between the eyes and leaves him
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: in a parking lot to die. Bradley testified he survived,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: and he lost his right eye. With friends like that,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: who needs enemies, And of course it came back to
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: haunt Hernandez at least somewhat because of course Alexander Bradley
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: then testified against his former friend. Now, so we've got
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: him dead and the rights on killing Odin Lloyd. She
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: taking him out and shooting him dead. Okay, now you've
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: got Bradley. He shot Bradley in the face and he
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: lost his eye after a night drinking at a club.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: So is there any reason I should not believe he
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: shot the last two people after drinking at a club.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's any reason. But there's this lawyer,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you know well, Jose Bias, who was able to convince
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: a jury in Boston that the prosecution hadn't proven that
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: he shot them beyond a reasonable doubt. The main way
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: he did that was his cross examination of Alexander Bradley.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: They also prosecutors also point to her Nana as his
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: tattoos as confessions because one of his tattoos was a
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: gun similar to the murder weapon with exactly five bullets.
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  Speaker 1: That's the same number as we're used in the two
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  Speaker 1: thousand twelve shootings. He got a tattoo of an Alan.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: He got a tattoo. It occurs to me the anthropologist
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  Speaker 1: in the future, if they dig up Hernandez crypt in
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: his grave and look at the he's got a roadmap
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  Speaker 1: to all of his crimes on his body, down to
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  Speaker 1: the forehead where he wrote John three. You know what's amazing.
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  Speaker 1: It just reminds me so much of my days prosecuting Alan.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Believe it or not, I mean, I was shocked when
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: I heard her Nandez had committed suicide. Ironically on the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: day his team was meeting the President in the White
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: House for winning the Super Bowl. And I guess it
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  Speaker 1: reminded me of all the years I prosecuted, because yes,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I hated what the defendants did, and some of them
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  Speaker 1: I hated, But like Hernandez, when I think of him,
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  Speaker 1: that sixteen year old boy who loved his dad and
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: who was being steered by his dad, and now his
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  Speaker 1: life just went to thuggery after his father passed away,
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  Speaker 1: I look at so many lives that could have been
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  Speaker 1: so awesome and what crime has done to them, not
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: just the victims, but the defendants too. And now I'm
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: not going soft. I'm just being honest about this. It's
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: just well, that little girl, that four year old little
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: child in a courtroom recently, she was there. I guess
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: that's the only time that Aaron Hernandez really could see
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: his daughter, who was born after his arrest, and he
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: blew her a kiss in the courtroom. Now that was touching,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: but in the context you got to remember, it's also
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: kind of bizarre. You know another thing, Alan, I think
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: her Nandez is responsible for more murders I do, and
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: I think they were all alcohol fueled anger related I
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: just don't think he could control his rage. And I
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: just see such a horrible scenario, the way it played out,
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  Speaker 1: of someone that was potentially so great taking a road
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  Speaker 1: of crime that left a wake of pain behind him.
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  Speaker 1: He can't possibly fathom. I mean, I know there's Odin
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Lloyd dead, these two men that he just happened to
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  Speaker 1: me in a nightclub dead. I know what the jury said.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: I disagree. Bradley shot in the face, he's lost in
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: the use of an eye. And now Hernandez commits suicide.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Just all the people that he hurt, that's his legacy.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: But he could have been so great, you know, It's
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: just it's just sad the whole, all the way around.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: It's sad for the victims families, and it's sad for
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  Speaker 1: his family. The girl that will never have a father,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: his own father that would have been so proud of
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: him for doing so well in the NFL. I mean,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: I don't get it, Alan, I just I mean, I'm
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: not a shrink, I'm just a lawyer. A bit. I
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: don't get it. Now, are we supposed to feel sorry
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: for him because he put John three sixteen on his forehead?
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: I can think of a Bible verse that would have
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: been better. Why didn't he put Leviticus seventeen? Nancy, you're
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: a good methodist. Can you quote that one? I don't
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: know what. I'm sure you've got it right in front
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: of you right now, and you're totally cheating. No, you
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: know it's in just it's in my head. Yeah. If
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: a man takes the life of any human being, he
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: shall surely be put to death. You're totally rating. Okay,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: you're rating. Give me, please, forgive me. But okay, I
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: got more. Now you're cheating. I don't think his forehead
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: was big enough for all that. No, please save it.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: I don't think that his forehead was really big enough
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: for all that. No, well, just to write Leviticus. Maybe
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: he could do it on his on his chest or something.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Leviticus seventeen. As a prosecutor, you should know that one
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: isn't Leviticus in the Old Testament? Well, what's wrong with
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament? Nancy? Are we going to get in
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: that methodist read the Old Testament? Well, hold on just
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: a minute, there, just a minute. Sometimes the Old Testament
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: is a little harsh. Yeah, and so saith Nancy Grace,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Why don't we just get back on the case instead
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: of you preaching to me about Leviticus. Just a second,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: I gotta get back to Aaron Hernandez. Could I stop
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: a second and write a notation in my In my
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: diary April nine teen, seventeen, Nancy Gray said, levite is
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: a little harsh. Okay, oh, okay, all right, you went
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: on this, But I still say, you know, I still
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: think it makes me sad to think about how great
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: he could have been, and by choosing a life of crime,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: he has caused so much pain and even in the
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: end causing pain, causing pain to his family. But the
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: thought of being locked away from my children, I don't.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: I don't know if I could have stood that. Apparently
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: he could, they're growing up. He couldn't. I don't know.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: All I can say is God bless his victims. May
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: they all rest in peace. And he's meaning his maker now.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: So that look, I know how to try a chase. Okay.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Other than that, I'm gonna leave that to the Lord. Okay,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I'm out of it. So that's all I can tell you.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: When his trial, the Odin trial was going on, and
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: I was watching it very closely and writing about it.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: I was in touch with people who actually I had
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: a contact inside the jail where he was being held,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: someone who was an inmate there who had just been
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: released from the jail in the middle of the trial.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: I know you're working out to a point, Alan, what
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: is it? This guy had some things that this is
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: this is the human side of Aaron Hernandez. Aaron Hernandez
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: wanted to help this guy that had befriended him in jail.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: He wrote out some things like autographs and letters and
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: everything to give to that guy so that he could
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: then sell them to help his family out. That's what
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Aaron Hernandez did for one of his jail buddies. I
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: don't know if that makes him sympathetic or not. Well,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: it's another side to him. It doesn't erase the murders
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: or the pain he's caused, but there is there was
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: another side to him. All I know is this is
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: a case that has taken one twist after the next.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, when I first heard Aaron Hernandez arrested for murder,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: had no idea that there were going to be so
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: many murders and so many other cases that were never
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: even prosecuted. What do you think about the possibility that
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: some people have raised that Aaron Hernandez himself is a
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: murder victim, that he didn't kill himself. Does that happen
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: in prison? It happens all the time. But given these
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: circumstances where he tried he tried to barricade his door.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: I know they're calling for a murder investigation right now
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: as to whether he really committed suicide, But given that
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: he barricaded his door, I think I don't. I don't
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: see a possibility that anyone else could have done it
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: but him, But I'm anxious to get the answer. I
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: believe this is the end. This is the final chapter
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: on Aaron Hernandez. Can we agree on that? Yes, I
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: would agree on that that it is now in the
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: history books. Okay, then in that case, Nancy Grace with
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories, signing off, goodbye friend,