Why did Aaron Hernandez shoot and kill his former friend Odin Lloyd in an industrial park near his home back in 2013? Even though the former NFL player was eventually found guilty of murdering Lloyd during a trial in 2015, police were never really able to pinpoint a motive. Some reports suggested Hernandez was upset with Lloyd over an incident that took place at a nightclub, while others suggested Lloyd may have known about Hernandez’s alleged role in a 2012 drive-by shooting. There has been no shortage of motive theories, but none of them has been confirmed.
On Friday afternoon, Newsweek offered up a new one after speaking with several law enforcement sources who told the publication that Hernandez’s sexuality was once probed as a potential motive in the Lloyd case. According to the sources, Hernandez may have been involved in an "intimate relationship" with a male former high school classmate, and Lloyd may have known about it. Furthermore, Ernest Wallace—who was Hernandez’s co-defendant in the Lloyd murder case—reportedly told detectives that Hernandez killed Lloyd shortly after Lloyd called him a "schmoocher," which Hernandez took to be a gay slur. Newsweek also reports that Wallace was recorded speaking with Hernandez’s cousin Tanya Singleton during a jailhouse visit and telling her that he wouldn’t have helped Hernandez make the Lloyd murder weapon disappear if he had know Hernandez was a "limp wrist."
During the Lloyd murder investigation, Newsweek reports that Hernandez’s alleged male lover was interviewed on several occasions by police. Law enforcement officials told Newsweek that his identity came to light after Hernandez allegedly moved a large amount of money into the man’s bank account following the Lloyd murder. Hernandez also reportedly moved money into the accounts of his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez and his daughter Avielle at that time.
There’s a new wrinkle to the theory about Hernandez’s sexuality possibly being the motive behind the Lloyd killing, too. According to Newsweek, investigators found three notes near Hernandez’s body after he hanged himself inside of his jail cell on Wednesday. One of the notes was reportedly addressed to his fiancée, another was reportedly addressed to daughter, and the third was addressed to what Newsweek described as Hernandez’s "prison boyfriend." Law enforcement sources told Newsweek that the man was placed on "24/7 suicide watch" shortly after Hernandez’s death.
An investigation into Hernandez’s death is still ongoing, and for what it's worth, there are many people who are skeptical about the timing of the release of this Newsweek report. But if the report proves anything, it’s that there are probably going to be unanswered questions swirling around Hernandez’s life and death for years to come.
