Expecting to Go Home: Aaron Hernandez’s Handwritten Jail Letter, Written Before His Murder Conviction

Few careers in NFL history ended as abruptly as Aaron Hernandez’s. He was an All-American at Florida and a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 2010, and he became a Pro Bowl tight end considered one of the best at his position. He played in Super Bowl XLVI and signed a five-year, $40 million contract. Then, on June 17, 2013, 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée, was found shot to death in an industrial park near Hernandez’s home. Hernandez was arrested on June 26, 2013, and the Patriots released him less than two hours later. He spent the next two years in the Bristol County Jail, where he was held awaiting trial, which began on January 29, 2015.

This handwritten letter comes from that stretch of time. Written on yellow legal pad paper and signed by Hernandez, it is addressed to someone he calls “Jue Jue,” thanking him for bringing food and describing a daily routine of reading, sudoku, working out, and writing letters. The most striking passage is what he says about the case: he writes that he is excited to prove his innocence in court and expects to be home with his family soon. That isn’t what happened. In April 2015 a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life without parole. He died in prison in April 2017, and in 2019 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reinstated the conviction. The letter is an unguarded document from a man who fully expected a different ending, in his own handwriting and with nothing prepared for an audience. It captures one of the most shocking falls in sports history, and the human cost of the case, including to Odin Lloyd’s family, is part of the story it belongs to.