On Wednesday morning, former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was found dead in his jail cell, the result, authorities said, of a suicide. But, one of the player’s former sports agents finds the claim absurd and is now saying there is “no chance” that the player took his own life.
Once the news broke, NFL agent Brian Murphy, who once represented Hernandez with the agency Athletes First, jumped to his Twitter account to dismiss the official cause of death.
Murphy is hardly alone. Another former associate of the troubled player is speaking out as well, to relate doubt over the claims of suicide.
Former Hernandez lawyer Jose Baez also said that the player would never commit suicide.
According to TMZ Sports, Baez said he believes Hernandez could have been murdered either by another inmate or the people who run the prison. The lawyer had just this week helped get Hernandez a not guilty verdict in the player’s second murder trial.
TMZ Sports added that Hernandez’s family is “devastated” at the news, and don’t believe he was in such despair that he would kill himself.
That isn’t all. One of the convicted murder’s former teammates is also reportedly doubtful about the suicide claim.
ESPN host Josina Anderson spoke to a “former Pats teammate,” who said that he isn’t buying it.
In a second tweet Anderson went on to insist that this unnamed player also said, “I’ll never believe (Aaron Hernandez) went out that way. Yes he has emotions, but he’s not wired like that.”
Despite the not guilty verdict in his recent murder trial, Hernandez was serving a life sentence at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Facility after a previous conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2015.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.