Aaron Hernandez: Biography, Crimes, CTE and Death

Few stories in sports history have taken as dark a turn as that of Aaron Hernandez. The former New England Patriots tight end went from the NFL’s biggest stage to a prison cell, convicted of murdering his acquaintance Odin Lloyd, and his suicide in 2017 with severe CTE raised questions about football head trauma and violent behavior.

Born: November 6, 1989 · Died: April 19, 2017 · Convicted of: First-degree murder of Odin Lloyd · NFL Team: New England Patriots · College: Florida · NFL Draft: 2010, Round 4, Pick 113

Seven key facts about Hernandez’s life and case:

What was Aaron Hernandez accused of?

Murder of Odin Lloyd

• Hernandez was convicted in 2015 of first-degree murder for the June 2013 death of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd, a semi-professional football player, was found shot multiple times in an industrial park near Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough, Massachusetts (Biography (celebrity biography site)).
• Prosecutors said Hernandez drove Lloyd to a remote location and shot him after an argument over a perceived disrespect. The verdict carried a life sentence without parole (CNN (news organization)).

Double murder of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado

• In 2012, Hernandez was charged with two counts of murder after a drive-by shooting in Boston’s South End killed Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. The prosecution alleged Hernandez fired into their car after a minor confrontation outside a nightclub (WGBH (public media station)).

Acquittal in the double murder case

• A jury found Hernandez not guilty of those charges on April 14, 2017 — just five days before his suicide. The verdict came after a lengthy trial, and Hernandez’s death meant the acquittal could not be appealed (WGBH (public media station)).

The implications: One conviction and two acquittals leave the legal record clear but the psychological picture fragmented.

What did Aaron Hernandez pass away from?

Cause of death

• Hernandez died by suicide on April 19, 2017. He was found hanging from a bedsheet in his single-person cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts (CNN (news organization)).
• Investigators ruled the death a suicide and found no evidence of foul play. The medical examiner listed the cause as asphyxiation due to hanging (Biography (celebrity biography site)).

Circumstances in prison

• Hernandez was housed in the restrictive custody unit and was on the phone with his fiancée minutes before the suicide. He had also placed a Bible beside his suicide note (CNN (news organization)).
• He had been acquitted of the double murder only five days earlier and was reportedly in good spirits, which made the hanging unexpected to those closest to him.

Findings from autopsy and brain studies

• In September 2017, Boston University’s CTE Center announced that Hernandez’s brain showed Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy — severe damage typically seen in older retired athletes (Boston University CTE Center (medical research institution)).
• Dr. Ann McKee, director of the CTE Center, said the hippocampus and frontal lobe were significantly affected — regions responsible for memory, impulse control, judgment, and behavior (ESPN (sports news outlet)).
• McKee described it as the most severe CTE she and her team had ever seen in a brain younger than 46 years old (NPR (public radio news)).

The implication: Hernandez’s brain was physically ravaged by repetitive head impacts, yet whether that pathology directly caused him to commit murder remains a medical and legal open question.

How many people did Aaron Hernandez shoot?

Odin Lloyd murder

• The state convicted Hernandez of fatally shooting Odin Lloyd. Witnesses and cell phone evidence placed Hernandez with Lloyd minutes before the murder. Lloyd was shot multiple times with a .45-caliber pistol (Biography (celebrity biography site)).

2012 double shooting of de Abreu and Furtado

• Hernandez was charged with two counts of murder for the 2012 shooting deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. The prosecution alleged he pulled the trigger after a verbal exchange at a Boston club. A jury acquitted him in April 2017 (WGBH (public media station)).

Other alleged incidents

• Hernandez was linked to a 2013 shooting in Florida that injured a friend, but he was never charged. Police also investigated reports of a shooting in Boston’s Theater District in 2012 that may have involved Hernandez’s vehicle, but those cases never led to charges (CNN (news organization)).

What this means: One conviction, two acquitted deaths, and a handful of unresolved incidents. The official count stands at one life ended by his hand.

How long was Aaron Hernandez locked up before he died?

Arrest and pre-trial detention

• Hernandez was arrested on June 26, 2013, at his home in North Attleborough. He was held without bail while awaiting trial for the Lloyd murder (Biography (celebrity biography site)).

Sentence and incarceration period

• After his conviction on April 15, 2015, Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was transferred to the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum-security facility (CNN (news organization)).

Time served from arrest to suicide

• From his arrest on June 26, 2013, to his death on April 19, 2017, Hernandez spent exactly 1,393 days in custody. That is about three years and ten months of incarceration (WGBH (public media station)).

The pattern: Hernandez was locked up for essentially his entire adult public life — from age 23 to 27 — and died less than two years into a life sentence.

Why did Aaron Hernandez do it?

Potential motives in the Odin Lloyd murder

• Prosecutors argued Hernandez shot Lloyd because he was frustrated with Lloyd’s behavior at a nightclub and believed Lloyd had disrespected him. The state’s case relied on jailhouse informants, surveillance video, and phone records (Biography (celebrity biography site)).

Role of CTE and brain injury

• Defense attorney Jose Baez argued that Hernandez’s severe CTE — Stage 3 out of 4 — impaired his judgment and impulse control. The defense pointed to research showing that CTE can cause mood swings, aggression, and poor decision-making (ESPN (sports news outlet)).
• Dr. Ann McKee later confirmed that the frontal lobe, which governs impulse control and judgment, showed severe tau deposition — the hallmark of CTE (Boston University CTE Center (medical research institution)).

Psychological and social factors

• Reports noted Hernandez grew up in a volatile household, with a father who died suddenly when he was 16. He used marijuana heavily in college and reportedly continued in the NFL. Experts have speculated that a combination of genetic predisposition, childhood trauma, and brain injury may have contributed to his actions (Live Science (science news site)).

The takeaway: Multiple factors may have contributed, but no single cause explains the violence.