Aaron Hernandez Death Ruled Suicide

Originally published April 20, 2017

The death of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was a suicide, state police announced Thursday.

An autopsy on Hernandez performed by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Henry N. Nields concluded today that the manner of death was suicide and the cause asphyxia by hanging. Police say there was no sign of a struggle and Hernandez was alone at the time of his death.

Hernandez was found hanging in his jail cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correction Center at 3:03 a.m. Wednesday morning. Officers at the prison found the door jammed with cardboard and had to force their way though to get to Hernandez. He was taken to UMass-Memorial Health Alliance Hospital in Leominster where he was pronounced dead at about 4 a.m.

Inside the cell, investigators found three hand-written notes next to a Bible.

With the cause of death determined, Hernandez's brain will now be donated to Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center as requested by his family. The center studies a progressive degenerative brain disease found in some athletes who have experienced repetitive brain trauma.

Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the 2013 death of Odin Lloyd.