The new REELZ three-hour limited series, Aaron Hernandez’s Killing Fields, will explore the late NFL star’s career, downfall and his motives for killing. Ahead of its premiere on January 18, homicide detective Michelle Wood — who’s collaborating with undercover investigator Don Jackson and veteran NYC police detective Bo Dietl to shed light on Hernandez’s crimes — says the answers might not be so black and white.
“I think [Aaron was] one of those people that just [acted] out at the moment and it’s one of those situations. It obviously wasn’t planned out because if it was planned out, he wouldn’t have left his body out the way he did,” she told In Touch about Odin Lloyd’s murder on January 16. “I mean, they found his body right away. This wasn’t some big plot of a murder. It seemed like he was reckless and it seemed like it wasn’t planned.”
The former New England Patriot was first convicted of killing Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s then-fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, in 2013. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After being charged and acquitted for the double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, the former tight end died by suicide in his jail cell in April 2017.
In searching for a motive, Wood also examined Hernandez’s drug use and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated head injuries that he likely suffered as a professional athlete. She speculates that this condition caused a bigger role in his “mindset” than many previously believed.
“I think he was paranoid, and I think in addition to whatever crisis he was in because of using drugs … the injuries to his head, the CTE, I heard that it was the worst it was ever seen in anyone his age,” Wood told the publication.
Aaron Hernandez’s Killing Fields premieres on REELZ Saturday, January 18, 8 p.m. ET.
