was he railroaded as the defense claims, or did he, as the jury concluded, commit these heinous crimes in 2004, sharon rocha played a key role in getting laci and conner's law passed, known as the unborn victims of violence act, the federal law makes it a crime against a pregnant woman, a crime against two separate people. i'm hill harper. thanks for watching.

>> you can't come here and act reckless and do your own stuff, and you get changed by the patriot way. and now that i'm a patriot, i have to start living like one and and making the right decisions for them. >> welcome to how it really happened. i'm hill harper at the beginning of 2013, nfl star aaron hernandez is living the american dream. he has a $40 million contract with the new england patriots. a devoted fiancee and a brand new baby girl at home. but his seemingly perfect life is shattered when a brutal murder takes place and hernandez is the prime suspect. could the nfl superstar, with everything to lose, really be the killer? was there another explanation? the answer, as it turns out, was far more complicated and tragic than anyone could have imagined. this is how it really happened

a teenage boy is running through an industrial park in north attleboro. >> he was training for track. as he's running through the park, he sees a body lying face up, riddled with bullets. >> the kid came up, knocked on the window, said he saw somebody laying down, not moving them. my boss and i went down there and i saw a guy dead there. he was not buried. he was just lying there as if he was either dropped there or killed there. it was just a shocking scene turned on him and shot five times. >> the police get called in. >> he's wearing a boston red sox cap. he also still has his

wallet. so right away, they know that this is not a robbery. this is something else. >> investigators pretty quickly determined who it was. a guy named odin lloyd odin lloyd was a 27 year old man living pretty, unassuming life with his mother. >> he had a girlfriend he was very close to. he was very close to his family. he was a semiprofessional football player. >> i took the phone and he says, um. are you ursula? and i said, yes. i said to my son, okay, there's people i know, people i know that this could have happened to and it would have been like i seen it coming, you know? >> odin never seen anything like this happening ever.

>> he still has his phone. and he also has two sets of keys. they went about trying to figure out who these keys belonged to, because there was a body and two sets of keys, but no car, and they very quickly were able to track down the keys to a rental car. >> the car was registered to aaron hernandez. so that was like, whoa, you know what's going on here aaron hernandez, the football player. >> tight end for the patriots at 23 playing as a tight end. >> he has a contract reportedly worth $40 million. >> the guy who played in the super bowl and has this whole

career ahead of him aaron hernandez was special. >> every once in a while you get this player every ten years, every 20 years, every 25. and aaron was that every 25 year player. >> the family is well known in bristol that his dad was a high school star athlete. >> when aaron and his brother came along, he basically tried to live his athletic career through them. he pushed them to be good athletes and that was his dream. and they followed along that path. they adored their father, you know, they were the kinds of kids who did whatever he told them to do. >> aaron's dad was always at the game, somebody you knew and he would like, you know, put his arm around me and, you know, give me advice and everything. >> not only did dennis want them to be good athletes, but they wanted he wanted them to

do well in school. as aaron and d.j. both did. he wanted to be, you know, well respected people. >> and then aaron, as it turned out, probably the best of the hernandez clan. >> and the fact that he was so big yet he could still was like faster than everybody and just agile. it was just ridiculous. he didn't spend his time, you know, messing around. he was working hard every day. >> he was one of the best players that connecticut has ever seen as a senior, the connecticut state player of the year broke all kinds of state records. >> he was clearly talented enough to play college football. he was heavily recruited half your family wanted to go here. >> half my family told me to go to notre dame, michigan, miami, florida is just, you know, a top five college football program. >> and if you want to exceed your

expectations and reach the nfl, that's that's the place to go. i just had heard from a friend that he was going to be leaving school early. he was going to the university of florida. >> it was pretty surreal seeing him on tv playing a plane with these guys. >> he won the john mackey award after a dominant junior year at the university of florida, and that award goes to the nation's best collegiate tight end. >> his future is kind of limitless at this point. >> a pats fan growing up, hernandez came out of the university of florida a year early to enter the draft. >> the patriots invested in him, giving him a long term, lucrative contract. >> it's a lifelong dream and still kind of surreal, but, um, take it in over the next few days, months, years and, uh, just it's a blessing. and, uh, hopefully i make the right decisions with it and have a good life. >> news of aaron hernandez even being questioned in connection with this case was obviously

huge. >> detectives were met with a strange reaction from the former star tight end after discovering odin lloyd's body. >> and that was the the wow moment. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross. once in a lifetime. >> he was a boss from the beginning. luther said, i have a sound in my head. i got to get it out. you are my shining star. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life had extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> if we were to be able to talk to luther as fans, we'd be able to say. we just love you. >> luther. never too much new year's day at eight on cnn i feel like new sunglasses, like a brand new pair of jeans. >> i feel like taking chances. i feel a lot brand new.

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nothing like welcome to the white lotus in thailand. >> this is very exciting. >> aren't you a brave girl? there's nothing like it. >> where's the money you can't heal something unless you say it out loud. >> it's not the light. >> not the light there's nothing like it. >> it's the most. wonderful time with verizon trading any phone, any condition. >> it's your last chance to get iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence. get four on us only on verizon. >> aaron hernandez is keeping a very low profile as investigators search for answers to a mysterious murder. >> police sift through the woods for clues, clues that could shed some light on what

happened to 27 year old odin lloyd, a victim of homicide found dead in this industrial park less than a mile away from the 23 year old star football player's home so when police first found odin lloyd's body, they found keys to a car that aaron hernandez had rented in his pocket. >> so, naturally, they go to his house to speak with him. and what they find there is a pretty uncooperative person. >> detectives were met with a strange reaction from the former star tight end after discovering odin lloyd's body. mr. hernandez became argumentative. the documents read, and asked, what's with all the questions? >> police learned that odin lloyd had the keys to the car that hernandez had rented, because hernandez had loaned him the car to let him use it so one of the first questions in the investigation was, how did these two men know each

other? >> that lloyd was dating the sister of hernandez's fiance? >> so odin lloyd and aaron hernandez met through the sisters. at the very least, they had a casual friendship. >> according to police, officers told him it was a death investigation and, quote, mr. hernandez slammed the door. >> you would think that he might have some questions or it might be a higher level of concern news of aaron hernandez even being questioned in connection with this case was obviously huge. >> media. neighbors and tourists flood the streets outside his north attleboro home. you had probably 25 cameras that were stationed in this nice neighborhood position, looking right at his house, just waiting for any type of activity. >> i think people thought that, hey, maybe this was just some sort of mistake and this was just some weird connection. >> this is the first time we're seeing the new england patriots

tight end aaron hernandez, outside his massachusetts home. >> the public didn't know exactly why hernandez was being questioned. they did know that a dead body had been found not far from his house the biggest piece of information that we had was from a law enforcement source who told us that hernandez was driving this nissan altima that he had rented the night, that odin lloyd was killed. >> four guys were in this car, including odin lloyd. that car's out for a couple of hours. when it returns to aaron hernandez's home, only three guys are in that car. and odin lloyd isn't one of them. that piece of information really got everyone thinking, okay, what's going on here? what happened in this time frame where odin lloyd was with these guys? then all of a sudden, he's not there people were

very careful because he was a member of the revered new england patriots. not to start making him a criminal or a suspect. >> no one was thinking that he was the murderer. >> but then another twist sometime the next day was when aaron hernandez returns the rental car to this enterprise dealership near his house. >> police learned after talking to the employee at enterprise who had cleaned out the car. after hernandez returned it, that she had found some items in the car that perhaps were cause for concern, items that the woman at enterprise had subsequently thrown in the dumpster authorities were able to go dumpster diving, found a bullet casing. >> the bullet had traces of blue bubblicious gum on it the shell casing matched the shell casings that were found at at the murder scene near odin.

>> lloyd's body so the police was piecing together what may have happened. and then it was one wednesday morning that several police cars came up. a lot of officers, all in business attire, knocked on the door and hernandez opened the door and did not appear to be expecting them, had just rolled out of bed. they went inside the house, cuffed him then within ten minutes, aaron's coming out in that picture. >> you know you can't forget in the white t shirt and the handcuffs behind his back. that was the the wow moment he was at the top of the world. >> really? so all of a sudden the suspect and a murderer i

think for a lot of people, it was it was pretty surprising. >> within hours of his arrest, the patriots released him. >> it's really a sad day on so many levels. having someone in your organization that's involved in a murder investigation is a terrible thing. after consultation with ownership, we acted swiftly and decisively aaron's fiancée, shayanna jenkins, was seen carrying a big, heavy trash bag. >> and did he indicate to you what was inside? no the freestyle libre three plus sensor tracks your glucose in real time, and over time, it can help lower your a-1c. >> this is progress. learn more and try for free at freestylelibre.us this is no

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to you by skechers. hands free. slip ins. >> this tiny home trend. now, this is more like it. the same goes for my footwork. so i went hands free with wide fit skechers slip ins. try wide fit skechers slip ins. >> the story we're following tonight. aaron hernandez is being held without bail. charged with first-degree murder. >> it wasn't an accessory charge. they were saying no. aaron is the guy that pulled the trigger. he's the murderer. >> hernandez remains here in the county jail, locked up in a cell similar to this one. >> aaron hernandez, when he came into our facility, could interact with anybody to a point where you go, hey, i want to go out and grab a beer with this guy. >> and within a matter of a day, he acclimated and transitioned seamlessly as though it weren't a big deal. >> police had id'd the other

two guys who were in the car with aaron hernandez that night, and they were also charged with odin lloyd's murder. >> carlos ortiz and ernest wallace were friends of hernandez. >> both of these guys had criminal records from various charges back in connecticut, where they had met hernandez that was back in his high school days when then 16 year old hernandez was hit with this unexpected family tragedy. >> hernandez was very close to his father. >> as a father, dennis was the best. there was a special closeness they had because dad was a football player also. >> his father had gone into the hospital for a routine surgery. there were complications. he bled to death and shockingly died. >> and all of a sudden, he loses his father, who had been his guiding light and his mentor, and the person he looked up to most. all of a

sudden, he was gone. that was the one thing that really impacted his life in a very difficult way. >> everyone was sad for aaron and dj and the rest of their family, and it was just heartbreaking. >> that's a pivotal point in your life. 16 in high school and your dad there for support and guidance. and he lost that. his mother remarried maybe a year later. >> you might expect when the father passed away, that she would grow closer to aaron, but they actually began to grow apart. >> then hernandez started staying at this cousin's house in bristol, and it was there that he met carlos ortiz and ernest wallace. >> some of his friends were, you know, not not guys you want a potential professional football player hanging around with. there were some that had been arrested on drug charges. >> and now is this former nfl

team prepares to attend the super bowl. aaron hernandez goes on trial for murder. opening statements are scheduled for today we are here because the police and the prosecutors targeted aaron from the very beginning. >> as soon as they found out that aaron hernandez, the celebrity football player for the new england patriot, was a friend of odin lloyd's. aaron never had a chance. in june of 2013. aaron mendez had the. world at his feet. aaron hernandez was planning a future not a murder. >> in this day and age, there are surveillance cameras everywhere. and that was extremely evident in this trial. >> investigators say they built their case against hernandez using cell phone tower, tracking text messages and surveillance tapes at

hernandez's home and elsewhere. >> the prosecutors strategy was very painstaking, very thorough. they put each piece of the puzzle together for the jury and thread this timeline to prove that hernandez was the one that killed lloyd. >> first. aaron texts his two friends to come to his house in north attleboro. >> there were friends from back in the bristol area. it was not unusual for them to come, you know, just spur of the moment. >> then he sends odin lloyd, a text telling him he's going to come pick him up. >> the three of them get into the rental car. it's all on the video from the security cameras on his house. they were leaving to go pick up odin lloyd on the way to pick up lloyd. hernandez had stopped to get gas at a gas station not too far from lloyd's house. hernandez is seen filling up the car revise the gum. the same kind of bubblicious gum

that was found in the dumpster and on a piece of the bullet. >> there was a camera that caught a car going down the street, picking up odin lloyd up in the wee hours of the morning. >> investigators say lloyd was last seen leaving his boston home with hernandez in a silver nissan altima so they could put lloyd with hernandez. >> within hours of his murder. they also had surveillance from cameras around the industrial park, footage that showed headlights going into the industrial park. >> where where lloyd was found. but you couldn't identify the car itself from the headlights. but that was where other crime scene evidence came in. tire tracks that they found in the industrial park where odin lloyd's body was found. and through the crime scene analysis, they managed to match those tire tracks to the nissan altima that hernandez was

driving that night. >> and then there's video of the car leaving about four minutes after it had gone into the industrial park. >> and then picks up again when aaron returns home. and that's when you see him walk into his house with wallace and ortiz. no, odin lloyd. >> the evidence that aaron was at the scene. it's not enough to prove mere presence is not enough in our system. we cannot be convicted of a crime just because we hang with the wrong people, or we're in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> so to prove first degree murder, prosecutors had to show that hernandez actually participated in the crime, not solely that he was just there. and so they had to introduce evidence that he probably got out of the car. >> there was a marijuana blunt

found close to the victim, and hernandez's dna was identified on that blunt. >> the police already had very compelling evidence, but what, ironically, ended up helping them the most was the evidence found inside aaron hernandez's home. >> so through a search warrant, investigators were able to obtain footage from surveillance videos that were located throughout hernandez's home. >> minutes later, surveillance video from hernandez's home security system shows the former nfl player arriving back at his house with two other people, where he walks into his house and you can clearly see he's holding something. >> you will see ladies and gentlemen. the defendant standing outside of the entrance to the basement holding a gun the defense tried to say that it might have been an iphone. >> it might have been a remote

control for a tv iphone or an ipad or a blackberry or a tv remote or a gun or something else. >> and then subsequently, aaron's fiancée, shayanna jenkins, was seen carrying a big, heavy trash bag out of the house. >> police think that the murder weapon was in the trash bag because the gun used in the murder has never been found. >> he told me to go downstairs. um, in our storage room and, um, remove a box from our home. >> and did he indicate to you what was inside the box? no. did you look inside? >> i did not. >> what prosecutors said was that that was when she carried the murder weapon out of the house we know four guys went in to that industrial park, and only three guys came out. >> so somebody pulled the

trigger. >> if he beats the case. >> america loves a comeback. >> andy anderson, take a seat. look at this. >> you're wet. disheveled. there's debris hitting you. why do you have that on your phone? i watch it all the time. hey, listen, we need to be ready for new year's eve. there could be an ice storm or a hurricane and obviously, confetti. maybe you are ready. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight on cnn and streaming live on max. >> known for pursuing your passions? no one wants to be known for cancer, but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to treat cancer. fda approved for 17 types of cancer, including certain early stage and advanced cancers. one of those cancers is early stage non-small cell lung cancer. keytruda may be used with certain chemotherapies before

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available now on the apple app store, android and m taylor. com luther never too much new year's day at eight on cnn. >> welcome back to how it really happened. i'm hill harper. investigators had plenty of circumstantial evidence suggesting aaron hernandez was with odin lloyd the night he was killed. but did they have enough to prove that he was guilty of murder? so many questions remained. why

was hernandez there that night, and why would he want his good friend dead well, from a legal standpoint, there were questions about the prosecution's case. >> one was why? why would aaron hernandez execute him? someone who defense lawyers argued was a friend of aaron hernandez. >> here's how the prosecutor describes it. he said that aaron hernandez was upset, angry about something that the the victim in this case had said when he was at a nightclub just a few nights ago, where they were in boston. and this angered aaron hernandez so much that he told people he couldn't trust the victim anymore. that apparently is the motive. according to prosecutors. >> the defense tried to establish that, hey, odin lloyd was a part of the family. these guys spent time in the man cave. they were buddies. >> odin lloyd stayed over

aaron's house several times. odin lloyd was aaron's friend. >> how could aaron go ahead and kill this guy? isn't that possible? aaron hernandez defense team felt that they had a pretty good case he showed no signs of real nervousness. >> he seemed pretty confident. just sort of. okay, i'm in a in a different place and saying i'm not really in jail. i'm in training camp. i'm going to be back playing with the patriots because they're going to find out i didn't have anything to do with this. >> if he beats the case, america loves a comeback and there will be nothing to stop him from doing that. >> but then something really unexpected happens. and aaron hernandez name gets tied to another criminal investigation.

>> in july 2012. there's this drive by shooting in boston's south end, where two guys, safiro furtado and daniel de abreu. had been shot in a car. >> the men had been at a club and with their friends. the only real evidence that the police had was footage of a car that had pulled up alongside the vehicle, driven by abreu and furtado, and they knew that that was the car where the bullets had come from. that was really all they had. >> there were no immediate suspects. >> it was just one of those cases that was going to be very hard, if not impossible, to solve so then investigators get this big break while they're investigating aaron hernandez connection to the odin lloyd murder. >> investigators find this car. it matched the make model and color of the getaway car that witnesses say they'd seen.

fire the shots that killed those two guys in south boston. and it was owned by none other than aaron hernandez. police impounded a silver suv that's registered and owned by aaron hernandez. boston police believe the car could be linked to an unsolved murder. >> the boston detectives went and pulled the surveillance video from the club. the night that these two were killed. aaron hernandez is seen going into this nightclub. >> investigators in the south end murders realize, oh, my god, aaron hernandez was there that night. >> finding out that aaron hernandez was connected to more than one murder was shocking. but as it turns out, if you look at his track record of violent behavior, it goes all the way back to his college days. >> there was also a shooting incident of two men in gainesville, florida, in 2007 while hernandez was playing for the university of florida. gainesville police confirm

hernandez was questioned for information, but they say it was only briefly and he was not a suspect and never charged with anything. >> so while on the field, he was clearly a brilliant player and were signs of issues off the field in florida when he was in florida, several of his coaches have said that they were wary when he went back home to connecticut, because then he wouldn't go back home and hang out with these guys who had drug arrests, or they had had problems with the cops. they were afraid that something bad would happen but the jury wasn't allowed to hear about any of his potential crimes because he wasn't convicted of anything yet. >> it could have swayed their judgment in what he was accused of doing here. >> the judge will block any mention that hernandez was indicted for two other murders in boston when the verdict came back, people had been waiting for a

week. >> it was a very high stress moment for all parties involved. >> what say you, madam foreperson? is the defendant not guilty? guilty of murder in the first degree. or guilty of murder in the second degree. >> guilty of murder in the first degree. >> hernandez shook his head and sat down and i think mouthed you're wrong. to the jurors. his mother and shayanna jenkins were in the front row and started sobbing. odin lloyd's family was crying as well the verdict is in for nfl star aaron hernandez guilty of cold blooded murder. >> the sentence? life without parole. >> you're committed to the mci cedar junction for the term of your natural life without the possibility of parole. >> it's a shocking ending for a one time superstar but then something really unexpected happened that added a whole

nother dimension to this story. >> authorities are now investigating whether aaron hernandez might have been involved in an unsolved double murder in boston last summer that relative quiet would be shattered suddenly by the crackle of gunfire what's up now? >> and he started firing shots wow. we do this real. >> look at this. what i do for my art. >> hey, that's good man. >> more salsa. we do this for real hey come to me.

>> he is coming. >> he is coming he is coming to us he's coming. >> who's coming to my child? >> nosferatu. >> but it are only in theaters this wednesday. special engagements in dolby and imax. >> everyone's running to subway for three. all new spicy footlongs. wait. subway did what? that's right. they're bringing the heat with creamy sriracha, jalapenos and all new ghost pepper bread. but hurry, these subs are only here for a limited time. >> what took you so long? >> i'm sorry. there was a long line at the thai place. >> can you get the sauce i like, of course. >> you're the man.

>> i wish the future isn't scary. >> not investing in it is. >> nasdaq 100 innovators one etf. >> before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco. com. >> from creating memories to finding the perfect gift. let us make this holiday season a little easier. right now. save up to $60 on select a's battery sets. happy holidays from steel. >> lowe's knows the best holiday tradition is taking your tradition to the next level. so if you find a lower price on the things you want need, we'll match it. plus, with milo's rewards, you can earn points when you shop to make the holidays even more sweet. lowe's knows how to help you holiday. today, my friend, you did it. >> you did it. >> pursue a better you with

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>> i want to be the greatest player that i could possibly become. >> hurry hurry hurry. >> authorities are now investigating whether aaron hernandez might have been involved in an unsolved double murder in boston last summer. >> this is a separate incident from what he's been charged with already. for murder in the shooting death of his friend, odin lloyd. we are following every lead, as we always do in these cases. >> eventually, the district attorney's office gathered enough evidence to prosecute aaron hernandez with the charges in this double homicide. >> when this case came about, i was asked to join as counsel. >> so my first thought was, how is aaron going to get a fair trial when virtually everyone in the state has formed an opinion about aaron?

monday. >> july 16th, the year 2012 was a warm summer night in downtown boston. the theater district and it was relatively quiet that night. that relative quiet would be shattered. suddenly by the crackle of gunfire. >> the night of the south end shootings. aaron hernandez was with a man named alexander bradley. alexander bradley would be the star witness of the case. >> alexander bradley was always described as hernandez's right hand guy. >> was a lot like many of the other men in aaron hernandez life. he's a drug dealer. he has a criminal background, and he knew aaron from the old neighborhood, and the two of them liked to party together. >> the basic theory of the case involved alexander bradley testifying that while they were

in the bath, one of the deceased bumped into aaron and spilled a drink on aaron, and as a result of that spilled drink, aaron went into a rage. >> he was agitated. i mean, it just it was heightened. we left right away. >> that was a motive that aaron felt insulted and slighted, and he just went off if somebody he felt disrespected him. >> insulted him in some kind of way when things didn't go his way, he could become angry. >> what happened next? >> i rolled the window down, recline the seat, and he leaned. he leaned across me and extended his body out the window with the firearm in his hand. he was like, what's up now? and he started firing shots.

>> so bradley takes you inside the car when the shooting happens. and unlike the first trial where you didn't have an eyewitness, you had bradley with every single detail of how these guys were killed. but the defense had another theory. and that theory put the gun in alexander bradley's hands. >> ladies and gentlemen, this did not happen over a spilled drink. this happened over a drug deal alexander bradley had issues with daniel de abreu, and that's why we're all sitting here today. alexander bradley is not just the drug dealer. he's a legitimate drug trafficker. stealing drugs is a violent, dangerous business. >> now, allegedly, you had these two people and allegedly one of the two committed the crime. >> it was hernandez versus bradley. yes. and it was one hell of a fight jurors had to believe alexander

bradley in order to convict aaron hernandez. >> and it was a very tense moment when he walked into the courtroom. everybody knew if he was found guilty in the boston homicide, his appeal in the case was basically useless. >> do you find the defendant not guilty? guilty of murder in the first degree or guilty of murder in the second degree? >> not guilty. >> he literally broke down and cried. it was emotional for all of us. >> maybe in that moment, he forgot that he was already serving a life sentence. and now you had 12 people who believed that you hadn't done something horrible and needed to say. >> he was elated. but i think more he was relieved. he was thanking us all profusely. >> once they won the acquittal, all systems were go on the appeal. in the odin lloyd case,

and we told him we looked forward to taking on the appeal. >> on his first conviction, he was very hopeful. >> so for the first time in quite a while, it would appear that things on some level are looking up for hernandez. >> the guard is making his rounds. he gets to cell number 57, notices that he can't look in, that there's a curtain blocking the view. >> it was surreal. it was so shocking. i just remember thinking, how could this possibly be? >> they say things take time and effort, but it's worth the wait. i can tell some stories. >> i'm so excited. i don't believe twitter brought the world together and the world was not ready to see itself. >> you read the comments. yeah, i might recommend that you don't. yeah, that's how i get by. >> i've never backed away. he never stepped down. how?

that's how i get down. >> i feel at home here. >> lord. that's how i get by. >> everyone's running to subway for three. all new spicy footlongs. wait. subway did what? that's right. they're bringing the heat with creamy sriracha, jalapenos and all new ghost pepper bread. but hurry! these subs are only here for a limited time. >> hi, susan. >> honey. yeah, i respect that, but that cough looks pretty bad. try this. robitussin, honey. >> the real honey you love. plus the powerful cough relief you need. >> mind if i root through your trash? >> robitussin with real honey and elderberry. >> not again. your cold is coming. >> your cold is coming thanks, revere. >> we really need to keep zicam in the house. >> only if you want to shorten your cold. >> when you feel a cold coming, shorten it with zicam. >> i've got this. >> hey, susan. toothbrush. big interview, huh? nice new suit, new haircut, ancient bristle

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anderson and andy. >> live coverage starts at eight on cnn. >> ex nfl star aaron hernandez wiped away tears when a jury acquitted him of two more counts of murder. he was accused of killing two men in a drive by shooting in 2012. >> so after his acquittal in the boston double murder case, hernandez planned to appeal his conviction in the odin lloyd case. hernandez. >> there was a chance that aaron would regain his freedom, so everything was upbeat. early that morning, a guard is making his rounds. he gets to cell number 57. notices that he can't look in, that there's a curtain blocking the view. he

knocks on the door, knows it's aaron's cell, gets no response, tries to open the door, and it's jammed. several correctional people come. finally come and assist him opening the door. they see aaron naked, hanging from a rope that he had wrapped around one of the bars in his window. there's a gurney brought in. they get him into the ambulance, close the door and he's off. off to the hospital. and they tried to do everything they could. the medical personnel to save his life this is cnn breaking news. >> all right. the massachusetts department of corrections confirming to cnn that former new england patriots tight end aaron hernandez committed suicide in prison just hours ago. >> hernandez was found in his

massachusetts jail cell early wednesday morning, hanging from a bed sheet tied to a window. >> it was surreal. it was so shocking. >> five days after a verdict of not guilty. >> oh, i just remember thinking, how could this possibly be aaron's fiancée, shayanna jenkins, told doctor phil that she was probably the last person to speak to hernandez. >> and the last words he said to you were. what? >> i remember him saying, babe, i've got to go. they're shutting the doors, and i honestly don't think that we said, i love you to each other. um, and that was it. >> basically, he must have decided at some point that life wasn't worth living. he also left a note to shea expressing his love for shea and how she had always

been. you know, his his girl. to the note to his daughter. he talked about that he would always be there for her, even though he might not be there physically we'll never know why he committed suicide. >> his his letters don't explicitly state a motive. >> when you have just had a client acquitted of a double murder, and for the first time in several years, he had the potential of seeing the possibility of his conviction overturned. it is difficult to rationalize how that could occur. >> but obviously, one of the things that people are trying to figure out is why one theory is that aaron hernandez killed himself because he had severe brain damage after years of playing football. >> and football. >> every play is sort of like a car crash, right? >> you always see in one game

of football, about 60 blows to your head. >> and these blows to the head can cause cte. and that is the form of brain damage that was discovered by doctor bennet omalu. and it can radically alter your behavior and your way of thinking. >> once damage is done, it's permanent. >> aaron's family made arrangements to donate aaron's brain to boston university to have his brain researched. >> the cte center at boston university is recognized as the top in the world. >> what they found was what they described as the worst case of cte they'd ever seen in somebody so young. >> this would be the first case we've ever seen of that kind of damage in such a young individual. >> this was a man whose brain was profoundly damaged. >> with cte. you begin to lose your ability to control

yourself. you are more likely to engage in violent behavior and more likely to commit suicide. >> a lot of nfl players, dave duerson, junior seau, andre waters, they all committed suicide and they all had cte if his brain was not exposed to thousands of violent blows of his head i guarantee you aaron himself would have been alive today. >> and there was also speculation at the time that aaron hernandez sexuality could have played some role in his decision to take his own life. >> there had been rumors of aaron hernandez's sexuality. it's only recently that that's been confirmed by people close to aaron hernandez. >> aaron was gay. he said he was gay. he's told other people that he was gay.

>> we didn't want people to know. >> and that's why it's hard for me to come out today and do this the bottom line is that he was a gay man who was uncomfortable with his sexuality, but frankly, beginning to deal with it was he secretly gay? >> the aaron that i now know, i had no indication or any feeling that he was such. he was very much a man to me. >> there was going to be publicized reports that he was gay, and that hadn't really been out there before. he might have been terrified about that. maybe he wanted the pressure of not having to hide that. >> and it does make you wonder about how much that played into what happened inside that jail cell i think that one of the things

that's happened since a lot of this information has come out, at least people are beginning to see aaron in a multi-dimensional way. >> he had lost his fortune. he had lost his career. he had lost his freedom. just the the realization of of the waste that your life had become had to have been profound no one will ever know exactly why aaron hernandez ended his life when he did. >> but those closest to him placed some of the blame for his suicide and his erratic behavior on the brain damage he clearly suffered from the game of football. and here's an ironic twist in massachusetts, if a convicted felon dies before his appeal has been heard, then his original conviction is thrown out. so, in the eyes of the law, aaron hernandez died. an innocent