Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - The Worst Crime in NFL History - The Aaron Hernandez story

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

Aaron Hernandez, a former NFL star tight end for the New England Patriots, experienced a dramatic fall from grace following his arrest in 2013 for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player and the boyfriend of Hernandez's fiancée's sister. Convicted in 2015, Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole. While incarcerated, he was acquitted in 2017 of a separate 2012 double homicide.

Why did the secretly gay pro football player murder a bunch of people? Now his name is Aaron and Aaron's 20 years old during this time and he's playing football in college and the dude is really good. I mean, he dominates at this. And one day in 2010 his whole life changes because he gets drafted into the NFL to play for the Patriots. And this is a huge deal for him. And over the next couple of years, Aaron totally kicks ass as a tight end for this team. And in 2012, they even make it all the way to the Super Bowl. And so now, bro is balling. He ultimately signs a five-year, $40 million contract extension with the Patriots, and he gets a $12.5 million signing bonus. So he's suddenly rich, and he's a celebrity in the pro athlete world. However,

in spite of all his success, it just isn't enough for Aaron. Because he's also kind of a turd. Like he often misses important stuff like workouts or sessions with the trainer. He surrounds himself with a bunch of criminals and people who are always getting into trouble. He also parties a lot and he does a lot of drugs. Mostly smokes a lot of zaza and he takes painkillers. But that's not even his biggest problem. His biggest problem is that over time he starts getting really paranoid. Like he's increasingly worried that dangerous people from the rough circles he's running around in might come after him.

him. And so he starts carrying a pew-poo everywhere with him. Then one night in 2012, it gets really crazy because Aaron goes out clubbing with this guy, Alexander. And Alexander is Aaron's friend. And so they're out at this club drinking and, you know, having a good time. And at some point, a random guy, boom, accidentally bumps into Aaron and it makes him spill his drink on himself. And instead of shrugging this off as an accident, Aaron sees this as a huge, dis and he gets pissed at this random guy and he is not going to let this go. And so Alexander takes him outside to calm him down and I guess he does calm down a little bit. But when they walk back to the parking garage, Aaron sees the guy who bumped into him and his friend leaving the club. And Aaron

just snaps again and he's like, fuck those guys. Let's follow them and teach them a lesson. And Alexander's like, all right. And so they get in their car and they follow them. And they follow them. them and they eventually pull up next to them. And that is when, allegedly, Aaron pulls out that pew-poo he always carries with him now and he aims it at the guy's car and bam, bam, bam, bam, he fires five shots at the guys and then skir-d, they speed away. And unfortunately, the two guys don't survive the shooting. But apparently no one saw Aaron himself do it and so no one suspects it was him. I mean, he's a pro football player. Why would they suspect him of a drive-by shooting. And so he gets away with murder, allegedly. Now, you would think that after something that

intense, that maybe bro would chill out for a little bit. However, no. Because over time, Aaron's behavior actually gets worse, and he gets more and more paranoid, and he acts more and more erratic. And so, the next year in 2013, he's in Florida at a strip club hanging out with Alexander again. And after they leave the club, they're driving home. And Alexander, and Alexander Alexander realizes he forgot his phone back inside. And for whatever reason, Aaron refuses to go back to get Alexander's phone. I guess he's just like being a dick. And so they get into an argument.

And allegedly, during this argument, Alexander brings up Aaron on aliving those two guys that night after the club. And so boom, Aaron starts flipping the fuck out. But instead of doing anything right then, he waits. And eventually, Alexander falls aside. sleep in the car. And that is when Aaron pulls over to a parking lot and he takes out his pew-poo and blam, he shoots Alexander right in the face. Then he drags him out of the car and he dumps him in the parking lot. Now, somehow Alexander actually survives, but he loses his eye and ultimately he doesn't report who shot him to the police because I guess he's like a real gangster and

he doesn't want to be considered a snitch. I don't know. These people are weird. And if that isn't bad enough, Aaron isn't done. Because he continues to act more and more erratic. It's like he's determined to get caught. And so one night, that same year, Aaron and a buddy and a couple of women that are with them, they're partying in Aaron's apartment. And Aaron's buddy is this guy, Odin. And so they're at the apartment and Odin sees that Aaron has a bunch of pew-pues and ammo stashed there. And I guess he asks them about them. Like no one actually really knows what was said in this conversation. But whatever it is, it really sets off Aaron's paranoia. Plus, apparently, Odin knows that Aaron unalive those two guys back in 2012. And so Aaron

suddenly gets really nervous that Odin knows too much about him and he isn't going to let this slide. And so over the next few days, Aaron obsesses over this and he gets crazy worked up over it. And finally, he decides that he's going to do something about it. And he comes up with a plan to unalive Odin. And so one night I guess they all make plans to hang out and Aaron joins up with two friends and they all drive to go pick up Odin. And so they pick him up and Aaron drives the four of them about a mile over to an industrial park. And there I guess they decide to smoke a little Zaza and so they're like hitting this blunt. And that is when suddenly Aaron takes out his pew-poo and he points it at Odin and blam, blam! He shoots him several times and Odin, and Odin, he shoots him several times. And Odin, dies immediately. Then they dump his body near a construction pile and they flee the scene and Aaron and his buddies drive back to his house. And no one saw anything, no outside witnesses or anything like that. So it seems like Aaron is about to get away with murder again. Until. Later that morning, a jogger is taking a shortcut home and he runs by the industrial park.

And this jogger just happens to spot Odin's body lying there, unalive. And so he reports it to the police. Now the police, they immediately start investigating. And they come out and they find a footprint at the scene and a bunch of other evidence, including a piece of a blunt from some of that zaza they were smoking. And on that blunt is a little DNA, Aaron's DNA. And so police get a warrant and they search Aaron's house where they find a bunch more evidence. And so, bam, they have.

arrest him. Here's some actual footage of the arrest. And also, here's his mugshot. Now, while police are investigating Odin's murder, they also find a car at Aaron's cousin's house that's linked to the shooting he did of those two guys back in 2012. And so he gets charged with those murders too. And ultimately, both the goons that he murdered Odin with, they get convicted and their sentence to four to seven years in prison, while Aaron ultimately he actually gets acquitted for the murders done in 2012. Although it's widely believed that he actually did, in fact, murder those guys. However, regarding the other murder he's actually accused of, Odin's murder, he actually is convicted of that, and for that he's sentenced to life in prison.

And about two years later, he unalives himself in his prison cell with a bed sheet. And afterwards, his family donated his brain to science, where researchers of Boston University found that he had a severe case of CTE, which is, of course, the brain disease that a lot of football players get from being hit in the head so many times, which explains a lot of his paranoia and erratic behavior. Also, he was apparently secretly gay? Like, if you care about that aspect of his life? I don't know. A lot of people do.