Early on Wednesday morning, news broke that former New England Patriot tight end and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez had committed suicide while inside a Massachusetts prison. Now, both his former agent and his current lawyer are publicly expressing doubt about the official version of events as cited by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.
Brian Murphy, the president of representation agency Athlete’s First and former agent to Hernandez during his playing days, tweeted out that there “was no chance” that the 27-year-old ended his own life.
Absolutely no chance he took his own life. Chico was not a saint, but my family and I loved him and he would never take his own life.
— Brian Murphy (@A1Murph) April 19, 2017
ESPN reporter Josina Anderson received anonymous comments from some of Hernandez’s former teammates, who also expressed doubt.
Another former teammate of Aaron Hernandez I spoke with this am having a hard time believing he took his own life: "I am not buying it."
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) April 19, 2017
That former Pats teammate added: "I'll never believe (Aaron Hernandez) went out that way. Yes he has emotions, but he's not wired like that"
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) April 19, 2017
Additionally, TMZ is reporting that Hernandez’s lawyer Jose Baez “has launched an investigation on behalf of Hernandez family and they are not buying the suicide story.” The report implies that Hernandez could have been killed by guards or fellow inmates. Last week, Baez helped Hernandez secure a Not Guilty verdict in a double homicide trial. He was still serving a life sentence after being found guilty of the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, although reports suggest that Baez was planning to appeal that conviction.