# Aaron Hernandez found dead in cell. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784 "2017-04-19T12:06:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/21 "2017-04-19T21:28:03Z")
Apparently, according to Massachusetts law, Hernandez’s [conviction is now voided](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/19/hernandezdismiss/BvCcJQ1Ubg3mJAze0ttpvJ/story.html). Does this mean his fiancé and daughter would now be entitled to benefits from an NFL pension or life insurance? ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/22 "2017-04-19T21:31:54Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Apparently, according to Massachusetts law, Hernandez’s [conviction is now voided](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/19/hernandezdismiss/BvCcJQ1Ubg3mJAze0ttpvJ/story.html). Does this mean his fiancé and daughter would now be entitled to benefits from an NFL pension or life insurance? There is speculation that now they would be free from paying any civil lawsuit awards. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/23 "2017-04-19T21:45:02Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Aaron’s troubled life transcended sports. Stand out career in college, but he always had a violent side. > > Interesting timeline of his life spiraling out of control. The one bright moment was his acquittal on a double murder charge April 14. > > [Who was Aaron Hernandez? Timeline of troubled NFL star's violent life | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/19/who-was-aaron-hernandez-timeline-troubled-nfl-stars-violent-life.html) > > It ended with him hanging himself in his cell. > [Aaron Hernandez, former NFL player, found dead in prison cell, officials say | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/19/aaron-hernandez-former-nfl-player-found-dead-in-prison-cell-officials-say.html) > > Sometimes you just can’t save people from themselves. It’s such a tragedy. It’s far from a tragedy. He just saved the taxpayers a small fortune for his upkeep. ---
**Author:** ![FavreCo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a698b9/32.png) [@FavreCo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FavreCo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/24 "2017-04-19T22:22:32Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Let’s just remind ourselves that if this guy didn’t play a popular sport, he would probably be regarded as a monster, just like the Cleveland man who killed a man and posted it to Facebook. I regard him as a POS. Good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![FavreCo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a698b9/32.png) [@FavreCo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FavreCo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/25 "2017-04-19T22:25:34Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Apparently, according to Massachusetts law, Hernandez’s [conviction is now voided](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/19/hernandezdismiss/BvCcJQ1Ubg3mJAze0ttpvJ/story.html). Does this mean his fiancé and daughter would now be entitled to benefits from an NFL pension or life insurance? ‘Hey Aaron, now that your dead, we rescind the murder conviction, you are freed to go’. ‘…cleanup in cell 81’ 😃 Beautiful slap in his dead face. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/26 "2017-04-19T22:33:55Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Let’s just remind ourselves that if this guy didn’t play a popular sport, he would probably be regarded as a monster, just like the Cleveland man who killed a man and posted it to Facebook. Pretty much every high school has at least one person on their football team who could be described this way. Almost 40 years ago when I was in high school, the ones at my school had drug- and alcohol-soaked orgies which included the gang rape of special ed girls who were invited to the parties for this purpose :eek: :mad: and I found out about it from a GIRL I worked with who hung with that crowd and attended those parties. No, there wasn’t social media but there were Polaroids, which were taken and passed around. Back then, people didn’t realize just how wrong this kind of thing was. They also got free passes in class; they could turn in a blank sheet of paper on test day and still get a C so they could stay on the team. :smack: It wasn’t like our team won, either. p.s. That girl engaged in other high-risk behaviors, and died in the late 1990s from AIDS. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/27 "2017-04-20T00:17:54Z")
Can some one please explain how one hangs them-self with bed sheets in a prison cell? This is not that uncommon an occurrence. Isn’t there some way to make “non hang your self able” type bed sheets? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/28 "2017-04-20T00:25:04Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Can some one please explain how one hangs them-self with bed sheets in a prison cell? Its a lot easier if you deflate them. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/29 "2017-04-20T00:32:57Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Can some one please explain how one hangs them-self with bed sheets in a prison cell? > > This is not that uncommon an occurrence. Isn’t there some way to make “non hang your self able” type bed sheets? I don’t know about prisons, but at the psych hospital I see patients at the mattresses don’t have sheets. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/30 "2017-04-20T00:39:42Z")
People can get VERY innovative when it comes to killing themselves. I’ve attended more than a few ‘cut downs’ of folks found hanging in prisons. And I’ve seen paper products get turned into cord strong enough to strangle. Then use such ligatures to off themselves, sometimes via using the edge of a bunk to cause hyperflexion of the knees, looping the ligature around their ankles and around their neck, then rolling away from the bunk. The knees extend and strangulation begins. And the person cannot voluntarily flex them enough to relieve the pressure. It’s not pretty. The degree of ingenuity is amazing, and scary. If they’d been half as clever in a positive way, their lives would have been much better. ---
**Author:** ![Beren\_Erchamion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/90ced4/32.png) [@Beren\_Erchamion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beren_Erchamion)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/31 "2017-04-20T00:47:31Z")
It appears that Hernandez’s conviction will, rightfully, be vacated. I say “rightfully” because I happen to think that it’s important that people have the opportunity to fully participate in their own defense and exhaust every opportunity available to them when charged with crimes, and you can’t do that when you’re dead. Sometimes it results in outcomes that maybe don’t feel right, and this is probably one of those times, but it’s worth it to not have the state be able to drag your name through the mud, via the criminal justice system, without any resistance after you’re dead. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/32 "2017-04-20T01:02:51Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Can some one please explain how one hangs them-self with bed sheets in a prison cell? > > This is not that uncommon an occurrence. Isn’t there some way to make “non hang your self able” type bed sheets? You just fold the sheet together so it is something like a rope. But to hang yourself you need something to tie the other end onto (in Aaron’s case prison bars). But if don’t have something to tie the other end to how would you hang yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/33 "2017-04-20T01:09:57Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > You just fold the sheet together so it is something like a rope. > > But to hang yourself you need something to tie the other end onto (in Aaron’s case prison bars). But if don’t have something to tie the other end to how would you hang yourself? See post #30 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/34 "2017-04-21T06:16:25Z")
Good fucking riddance to that human trash. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/35 "2017-04-21T12:01:01Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > RIP Aaron Hernandez, but I wouldn’t use him as a fine example of a life well lived. Right. He was given the chance to make it one, but could or would not or maybe had no idea what one looked like to even try. As a commentator wrote, not a tragedy: a waste. Of what multiple lives and families could have been. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/36 "2017-04-21T13:14:35Z")
The family is donating Aaron’s brain to CTE research. It’s an opportunity to see how much brain trauma a player receives after only three years in the NFL. [https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/storyline/aaron-hernandez/amp/aaron-hernandez-s-brain-being-held-illegally-medical-examiner-lawyer-n749011](https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/storyline/aaron-hernandez/amp/aaron-hernandez-s-brain-being-held-illegally-medical-examiner-lawyer-n749011) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/37 "2017-04-21T14:55:42Z")
His mental illness was in place long earlier. [His scouting report](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/06/21/drafting-hernandez-was-always-risk-reward-proposition-for-patriots/3HWjGvTSTOOOs5BtpvFDcJ/story.html) was interesting: > [@](#): > > An NFL scout revealed his team’s pre-draft file on Hernandez on Thursday, and one section stood out: > > “Self-esteem is quite low; not well-adjusted emotionally, not happy, moods unpredictable, not stable, doesn’t take much to set him off, but not an especially jumpy guy,” the scout said. It’s baffling how a guy who could dedicate himself, and all that focused time, to a goal and to subsuming himself in a team atmosphere to the level he achieved could still show so little self-discipline and so little regard for human life off the field. But it’s hard to understand anyone else’s mental illness if you don’t share it. As for why he did it now, maybe it was because he had his second trial to focus his attentions, and with that over, he saw nothing ahead but years and years with no reason to endure them. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/38 "2017-04-21T15:14:56Z")
Hernandez to his lawyer: “Do you think I can get released on appeal?” Hernandez’ lawyer: “Well, I wouldn’t hold my breath.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/39 "2017-04-22T01:41:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Clearly he didn’t think his chance of winning the appeals were all that great. He may not have any grounds to appeal at all. It’s my understanding that in Mass all life sentences are automatically appealed. It could have gone to the appeals court and get a “Nah looks good” from the judges. > [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > There is speculation that now they would be free from paying any civil lawsuit awards. Not free from paying. It just makes it more difficult. The civil suit was basically on hold while the criminal part was going on. A criminal conviction beyond a reasonable doubt would make a civil case a slum dunk. As it stands now the criminal trial can not be used in the civil trial. All the testimony and evidence can still be presented but it must be presented fresh as if there was no other trial. It makes the civil case more difficult but not impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784/40 "2017-04-22T14:27:34Z")
Proof once again that talent, luck, fame and fortune don’t transcend being an asshole. The Patriots have had quite a year so far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaron-hernandez-found-dead-in-cell/784784.md?page=3)