Who Gets Aaron Hernandez's Money?
Aaron Hernandez’s suicide – combined with a little-known legal provision that clears him off all his charges in the 2013 Odin Lloyd murder case for which he had been serving life in prison – could mean the New England Patriots owes the ex-NFL player an estimated $6.5 million.
While the legal process surrounding Hernandez continues, his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins addressed the question of who gets his money in an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw on Tuesday’s episode of "Dr. Phil."
“Did he leave a will?” McGraw asks Jenkins in a preview clip for Tuesday's episode obtained by People magazine. “He did not, to my knowledge,” she replies. The host later asked if the couple’s 4-year daughter, Avielle Janelle Jenkins-Hernandez was "entitled to that estate, in your opinion?”
Jenkins answered, "My thought is that she should be," adding that "as her mother" she should serve as the trustee of the estate because “I don’t think there’s anyone better.”
Read: Shayanna Jenkins Raises Doubts Over Aaron Hernandez's Suicide Notes After Hinting At Foul Play
Later, McGraw asked: “Did Aaron kill himself so you could collect $6.5 million from the New England Patriots?”
The exclusive two-part interview on Dr. Phil will continue Tuesday where Jenkins is expected to answer the lingering question surrounding Hernandez's money and also the mystery behind his suicide death.
Hernandez was found hanging from his prison cell window April 19 at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts. His suicide came just days after he was acquitted of the 2012 double murder of Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
Before he was arrested in June 2013, Hernandez had signed a $40 million contract with the Patriots in 2012. His net worth before his arrest was estimated at $8 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, but perhaps due to legal fees, Hernandez left behind little to no money for his fiancee and daughter when he died.
In April, attorney William Kennedy told Boston's CBS affiliate that the Patriots might need to hand over the $3.5 million in bonus money that Hernandez lost after his 2013 arrest, along with an additional $2.5 million in base salary also lost at the time.
During the first public appearance since Hernandez death, Jenkins raised doubts over the circumstances surrounding his suicide, hinting at foul play despite authorities confirming the cause of death.
Read: Aaron Hernandez Cited For 78 Disciplinary Offenses In Prison, Records Reveal
During her Dr. Phil appearance, Jenkins said she believed the letter left behind by Hernandez "was a note of love," but the way he addressed her in his final letter was unusual.
"I did see that it was addressed to Shay instead of you know babe or bae, the way he would refer me as - that was a little odd to me. But as far as the content, he seemed to be his loving self," she said. When asked if the handwriting on the note belonged to Hernandez, Jenkins said: "(It) was similar, but I feel like, again, you have nothing but time in there so I feel like it's easily duplicated or could be."
After Hernandez's death, three handwritten notes were found next to a Bible in his cell. The notes were written to his fiancée Jenkins, his daughter Avielle and the last to his attorney Jose Baez.
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