Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez reportedly had the words “John 3:16” scribbled on his forehead when he was found dead in a prison cell early Wednesday.
WBZ-TV in Boston reports that the former NFL star also appeared to have red marks on his hands and feet. According to prison officials, “Hernandez hanged himself himself utilizing a bed sheet that he attached to his cell window.”
Hernandez was being detained in the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center. According to the media outlet, investigators are reportedly looking into the possibility that he smoked synthetic marijuana known as K2 Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old former New England Patriots tight end was discovered by guards at the Shirley, Mass., facility around 3 a.m., Wednesday. He was pronounced dead an hour later at UMass Memorial-Health Alliance Hospital. He was in a single inmate cell and left no suicide note. He used a bed sheet that was attached to a cell window, Massachusetts Department of Correction spokesman Christopher Fallon said in a statement.
Prison officials say they had no indication that Hernandez was suicidal, and if he were they would have moved him to a mental health unit, according to the Associated Press.
Last Friday, Hernandez was acquitted of murder charges in the shooting deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in July 2012. Before his death, which has been ruled a suicide, Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.
