Aaron Hernandez Funeral Set for Monday

BRISTOL, CONN — The body of former New England Patriot and Florida Gator Aaron Hernandez arrived in his Connecticut hometown on Saturday. A private funeral will be held on Monday. The former tight end was found hanging in his Massachusetts prison cell earlier this week.

Laura R. Soll, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association told Patch that the funeral will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the O'Brien Funeral Home, 24 Lincoln Ave in Bristol, Connecticut.

"It's private. Attendance is by invitation only," Soll said. The visitation and funeral will both take place inside the funeral home.

Hernandez' family also released a statement on Saturday in which they asked for privacy.

"The family of Aaron Hernandez wishes to thank all of you for the thoughtful expressions of condolences," the statement said. "We wish to say goodbye to Aaron in a private ceremony and thank everyone in advance for affording us a measure of privacy during this difficult time."

Prison officials said Hernandez used his bed sheet to hang himself. He had been serving a life sentence without parole for the a 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd though he was acquitted of a 2012 double murder in the past week.

Police said there was no sign of a struggle and Hernandez was alone at the time of his death.

Officers at the Souza-Baranowski Correction Center found the football player's body at 3:03 a.m. Wednesday morning. The cell door had been jammed with cardboard and officers 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.

Hernandez' brain was donated to Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center based on the wishes of his family. The center studies a progressive degenerative brain disease found in some athletes who have experienced repetitive brain trauma.

Photo by Josh Reynolds/The Boston Globe via AP