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NFL Murder Suspect Aaron Hernandez “Clearly Was Gay,” Says Attorney

“[He] acknowledged the immense pain that it caused him."

An attorney for former NFL player Aaron Hernandez says his client’s homosexuality was the main reason prosecutors accused him of the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

Michael DeHoog/Sports Imagery/ Getty Images

JACKSONVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 23: Tight end Aaron Hernandez #81 of the New England Patriots looks on during an NFL game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field on December 23, 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Michael DeHoog/Sports Imagery/ Getty Images)

In Aaron Hernandez Uncovered, which premiered Saturday night on Oxygen, George Leontire said he spoke with Hernandez about being gay before the athlete committed suicide. [“He] acknowledged it. Acknowledged the immense pain that it caused him.”

The 27-year-old tight end “came out of a culture that was so negative about gay people that he exhibited some self-hatred,” Leontire added.

Hernandez was convicted of murdering semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd in 2013, with some claiming it was to keep Lloyd from telling Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, about his sexuality.

John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

FOXBOROUGH, MA - JANUARY 27: New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez after practice. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Hernandez was already imprisoned for killing Lloyd when he was charged with de Abreu’s and Furtado’s deaths. Leontire says prosecutors had little evidence and attempted to use his sexuality to fuel their case.

“As a gay lawyer for 37 years, as a gay man who has been married to another man for over 36 years, I found it outrageous that the government would be trying to use someone's sexuality to prop up a case that they had no business bringing in the first place.”

Also in the special, Alyssa Anderson, Hernandez’s college girlfriend, said she suspected Hernandez was gay and even caught him texting men while they were dating. “Back in college, there were text messages I saw on his phone when he came back from a trip [that were] from a male,” she revealed. “[They] didn't have a name, didn't really say too much, but it was a relationship with somebody and I questioned it.”

Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 4: At the end of the shortened day, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez hugs his defense attorneys, including George Leontire, as his double murder trial continues without the jury present in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston on Apr. 4, 2017. Attorneys redacted evidence and went over the judge's proposed instructions to the jury. Hernandez is accused of killing Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston's South End, on July 16, 2012. (Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

While he denied being gay while they were together, Anderson says he admitted it in letters they exchanged while he was incarcerated. “Please keep between this,” he reportedly wrote. “But it's not a shock, you caught me lol.”

Hernandez took his life in prison in 2017, just five days after being acquitted of the double murders.

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