Aaron Hernandez’s family will receive the three suicide notes he allegedly left in his cell when he was found after killing himself at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, according to the Boston Globe. A judge ordered the notes to be released to the family after attorney George Leontire filed a motion to have them released to the family.
The motion said it was the family’s right to “know their loved one’s final thoughts,” and told reporters that it was important and “necessary as part of the grieving process.” Hernandez’s private funeral was held on Monday afternoon in Bristol, Connecticut. While the motion filed Monday to release the suicide notes to the family was passed through by the judge, there still could be more legal filings after Hernandez’s death.
As reported last week, the Patriots could end up owing the Hernandez estate back pay and signing bonus money totaling over $5 million because Hernandez’s appeal process in the Odin Lloyd case, for which he was serving a life sentence, never was completed. Because his appeals were not exhausted prior to his death, his status could be reverted back to innocent on official records, which means the Patriots, which withheld $5.75 million in 2013 in pay and bonuses to Hernandez due to his murder trial and conviction, could be forced to repay that money if he is found to be “no longer criminally liable,” per Hernandez’s attorneys.
