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It's early in the evening of June 17, 2013, in North Attleboro, a small town in Bristol County, Massachusetts. A high school football player named Matthew Kent is jogging through an upscale suburban neighborhood. It's the last week of classes, but Kent is determined to stay in shape this summer. So after school, he hit the gym for an hour, and now he's capping off his workout with a jog home.
But Kent can see clouds gathering, and he feels the air getting heavy. He knows rain is coming, but he's still two miles from home. So Kent picks up the pace, hoping to beat the impending storm. To save time, he cuts through Corliss Landing, a large industrial park. As his steps quicken, he feels the gravel crunch under his feet. The gravel then turns to dirt as he leaves the park and cuts through an undeveloped clearing.
But as Kent approaches the end of the cliff, he sees something on the ground ahead of him. It looks like an old pile of clothes, but there's something strange about it. Kent slows his pace to a walk. He can see white sneakers, blue jeans, a red checkered shirt, a blue jacket. A red baseball hat lies on the ground nearby. Getting closer, the pile of clothes begins to take a different shape. And then in a sudden flash, Kent realizes what he's looking at.
He swivels his head to check the surroundings. His mind races, wondering if anyone else is around, if he's in danger. Kent looks back to the industrial park he just jogged through and sees that the closest building is an electronics company. As adrenaline races through his veins, Kent sprints over to look for help. Hello? Somebody answer, please, I need help!
After what feels like an eternity, a middle-aged man answers the door. What is it, son? Are you okay? There's somebody out there in the grass. What do you mean? Who's out there? I don't know. Some guy, but he's all splayed out on the ground out there. Please, you gotta get help. Did he do something to you? No, I'm fine. He's the one who needs help. Please help him. All right, all right. Okay, I will. But I need you to slow down and take a deep breath, right? Can you tell me what happened? I don't know what happened. I was just jogging home and I saw someone lying out there.
First I thought he might be sleeping like he's drunk or homeless or something. But then I got closer and there's a lot of blood. Blood? Anyone else out there? I don't know. I didn't see anybody. But I don't think he's breathing. Please, you gotta call the cops. Alright, come on inside. Have a seat. I'll call the police.
Kent makes his way into the manager's office, and together they call 911 to report what he's found. The dispatcher tells them an emergency unit is being sent to the site immediately, and asks Kent to stick around until police have a chance to ask him some questions. Kent agrees, but as he waits for the police to arrive, all he can think about is how little he actually knows. Kent has no idea who the man in the clearing was, or what happened to him, or why.
But within hours of Kent's call to police, a picture will begin to form in the minds of investigators, one that will soon send shockwaves through the world of sports. T-Mobile has home internet on America's largest 5G network. It's how I stream the game. It's how I knock out the shopping list. It's how I level up. Get T-Mobile 5G home internet for only 50 bucks per month with auto pay and any voice line. Plus, there are no exploding bills or annual contracts. T-Mobile, it's how you internet. Check availability today.
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From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American Scandal.
At just 23 years old, Aaron Hernandez was already a star in the world of professional football. After winning a national college championship with the Florida Gators, he played a key role on a New England Patriots team that went to the Super Bowl. In 2012, after just two seasons with the Patriots, Hernandez was rewarded with a contract for more than $40 million, more than enough to provide for his fiancée and baby daughter for life.
But away from the field, Hernandez's life had spiraled into chaos and violence. Gripped by growing paranoia and self-medicating with booze and marijuana, Hernandez had surrounded himself with a crowd of hardened criminals and made a series of inexplicable choices.
Following a double homicide in Boston, Hernandez had a nasty falling out with his friend and one-time personal assistant, Alexander Bradley. Bradley ended up left for dead on the side of a road in Miami with a bullet between his eyes. But somehow, Bradley survived and later started extorting Hernandez for millions of dollars and threatening his life.
Then, just months later, Hernandez soured on another friend, Odin Lloyd. Lloyd's dead body turned up just a mile from Hernandez's home in Massachusetts, following a late-night drive with Hernandez and his associates. Up to this point in his life, Hernandez's rare football talent shielded him from the consequences of his bizarre and violent behavior. But now, the bodies have begun to pile up, and the walls are starting to close in. This is Episode 3, Defense.
It's just after 5.30 p.m. on June 17, 2013, in North Attleboro, Massachusetts.
Joe DiRenzo, a captain with the North Attleboro Police Department, pulls his cruiser into the Corliss Landing Industrial Park. DiRenzo is a stocky, no-nonsense middle-aged man with big shoulders and closely cropped dark hair. He looks every bit the better in cop he is, but right now he's feeling a bit underdressed for the job. He's in shorts and a t-shirt, not the typical outfit for investigating a potential homicide.
DiRenzo clocked out 90 minutes ago and was running errands when he heard a call on the radio about a dead body. North Attleboro is a pleasant, leafy suburb that doesn't get many high-profile crimes, so this was one call DiRenzo wasn't going to ignore. He flipped on his lights and siren and made a beeline to the industrial park.
And now, as DiRenzo steps out of the cruiser, he finds that he's the first officer on the scene. He speaks briefly with the young man who found the body, and then makes his way over to the site of the deceased. He finds a black male, likely in his 20s, lying face up. There are multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, and no weapon nearby, so DiRenzo rules out suicide.
He kneels down to touch the body and can feel that rigor mortis is already setting in, which tells him this poor young man has been here for at least half a day.
As DiRenzo makes an initial examination of the crime scene, he finds it rich with evidence. There are sneaker prints from multiple different shoes in the dirt, as well as fresh tire tracks. And lying near the body are a baseball cap, a white towel, partially smoked blunt, and four spent shell casings. All of these should be extremely helpful in catching the killer.
But there is a problem. A powerful storm is rolling in. And if the rain starts falling on top of this crime scene, all of this evidence will be tainted. Some pieces may even become unusable.
So as a handful of other officers arrive, DiRenzo begins barking out orders, directing his police to take pictures, bag items, and log the evidence as fast as they can. When a fire truck pulls up, he enlists the firefighters to cover every inch of the crime scene with tents and tarps. He is determined not to let Mother Nature ruin his investigation. They take extra care to cover the body, piling rocks onto the edges of a tarp, ensuring the wind doesn't blow it away.
And very soon after, the sky opens up and it begins to rain hard. Terenzo sprints to his cruiser to take cover and prays that all the tents and tarps are enough to keep the scene secure. After about 30 minutes, the storm passes. And as officers remove the tarps, Terenzo is relieved to see that they did the trick and kept key areas dry.
Now the police are free to examine the body more closely. And in the back pocket of the victim's jeans, they find a wallet with about $60 in cash, along with an ID. The young man's name is Odin Lloyd. And to Dorenzo's surprise, they also find Lloyd's cell phone in his front jeans pocket. Thieves don't typically leave behind cash and cell phones, so Dorenzo is beginning to think that this was something other than a robbery.
And then they find something else of interest in Lloyd's other front pocket. Two sets of keys for an Enterprise rental car. After gathering evidence from the scene of Odin Lloyd's killing, police head straight back to the North Attleboro station to dig into the investigation. They have several good leads to build on, perhaps the most interesting of which are the rental car keys found in Lloyd's pocket.
Eric Benson, a Massachusetts state trooper, immediately calls the local Enterprise Rent-A-Car location, while his colleagues listen intently nearby. Benson relays the make, model, and registration of the keys. And when the manager runs the information through the system, Benson is shocked by what they discover. The manager tells police that the keys belong to a car rented to Aaron Hernandez, the star tight end for the New England Patriots.
What's more, when detectives search Lloyd's cell phone, they discover Lloyd texted with Hernandez several times in the hours before his death. The detectives working on the case are avid NFL fans. They know exactly who Hernandez is. But at this point, they have no reason to see him as a suspect. First of all, killers don't usually leave their own rental car keys in the victim's pocket. And second, Hernandez has no serious criminal record. It's hard to imagine him as a vicious killer.
In fact, detectives believe there's a possibility that Hernandez himself might be the next target of whomever murdered Odin Lloyd. So that same night, just hours after Lloyd's body was discovered, Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Shervin and Detective Daniel Arrigi head to Hernandez's home to check in on him.
It's just after 10 p.m. when the investigators pull their car into the driveway of Hernandez's multi-story home. Arrigi is impressed with the size of the house. It must be 8,000 square feet. But he's not really surprised that Hernandez lives like this. He's an NFL star who signed a record-breaking contract only a year ago. Arrigi and Shervin can see lights on throughout the house, so they head to the front door to see if anyone's home. The investigators ring the bell and knock the door. Police! Anyone home?
There's no answer, so Arrighi knocks a few more times, but still no response. He peers inside the front window and sees a large flat-screen TV is on, and there are drinks scattered around the living room. Arrighi's gut tells him someone is in there, and either that person can't answer or they don't want to. He turns to Shervin. Something about this doesn't feel right. Want to look around a little? The detectives find a multi-car garage on the side of the home, with windows six feet off the ground. Hey, Mike, why don't you check in there?
Looks like a Camry inside, some sports equipment, nothing suspicious. Man, this is some setup. That cabana alone costs more than my house. Oh yeah, I'm sure they're looking for slow, middle-aged guys like us.
"None sign of forced entry on the back doors or windows. But I still got a funny feeling. I bet my overtime that there's someone in that house right now. Let's, um, hang around a bit and see what happens." The two investigators head back to their car and unmarked SUV and move it from the driveway to the street across from Hernandez's home. Then they watch and wait. After 30 minutes, Arrigi notices a figure walking toward them down the driveway. "Hey, that looks like Hernandez. At least he's alive.
Took a sweet time answering the door, though. Arigi and Shervin head up the driveway, where Hernandez greets them. Hey, I saw you guys chilling out here on my security cam. What's going on? Well, hello. I'm Detective Arigi, and this is Officer Shervin. We don't mean to alarm you. We just wanted to ask a few questions.
Hernandez heads back up the driveway as the detectives follow behind.
But when Hernandez reaches the front door, he steps inside the house and locks it behind him, leaving the investigators alone outside. Arrigui shoots his partner a look. Why would Hernandez lock the front door? But moments later, he returns. Hernandez hands Arrigui a business card from the law firm Ropes and Gray. He tells the detectives to call that number if they have any more questions.
Hernandez's hostile behavior piques Arrigi's suspicions, so he tries an old detective's tactic, provoking the suspect and gauging his response. Arrigi tells Hernandez that they are investigating a death, but Hernandez doesn't say anything. He just closes the door in Arrigi's face and locks it again. But that's interesting, Arrigi thinks. Normally, when you tell a person that someone died, they want to know who and how, unless they already know what happened.
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Hire high-quality, certified pros at Angie.com. Following this encounter with Aaron Hernandez at his home, detectives grapple with the possibility that an NFL star may be involved in the murder of Odin Lloyd. So they make a call to Hernandez's lawyers and arrange for him to come down to the North Attleboro Police Station that same night.
In the parking lot of the station, Hernandez confers with his lawyers. But what they don't realize is that one of the detectives is watching them like a hawk. Mike Elliott, a savvy detective with 25 years under his belt, is set up in the station's dispatch center, where he has a live view of the parking lot on the station's security cameras.
Elliot watches as one of the lawyers opens his driver's side door to let Hernandez inside. And luckily for Elliot, the door is left open. So the car's interior light illuminates Hernandez's every move. Elliot watches as Hernandez takes out his cell phone, removes the battery to disable it, and hands it to the lawyer. Then the lawyer retrieves a fresh cell phone from a briefcase and hands it to Hernandez. This catches Elliot's eye. It doesn't make sense for an innocent man to disable his cell phone.
Soon after, the lawyers head into the station to meet with the detectives. They're informed of the basic facts of the case, the discovery of Lloyd's body, his relationship to Hernandez, and the fact that Hernandez's rental car keys were found in Lloyd's pockets. And when the detectives ask to see Hernandez's cell phone, the lawyers decline to hand it over.
The next morning, Elliot and a partner head to the Enterprise where Hernandez rented the car for Lloyd. That car has yet to be returned. But they learn that Hernandez had also rented an additional car for himself, a white Nissan Altima, and had just returned it the previous day. The Enterprise attendant tells the investigators that the car had been thoroughly cleaned before it was returned, which further raises Elliot's suspicions.
So now that Elliot knows what car Hernandez was driving the night of the killing, he heads straight to the site where the body was found, curious to see if any of the nearby businesses have security cameras that might have picked up a white Altima that night. Reaching his destination, Detective Mike Elliot guides his cruiser into the Corliss Landing Industrial Park in North Attleboro. He's accompanied by one of his colleagues in the Massachusetts State Police, Lieutenant Michael King.
Elliot is hopeful that at least one of the businesses has footage that will aid the investigation. But he's not sure if any of the cameras were pointed in the right direction, or if they've saved footage from the time of Lloyd's death. But Elliot does know exactly where he's going to check first. He parks his cruiser just inside the entrance to the park, by the front door of a company called Metalore. It's a gold refinery operation housed in a building ringed with barbed wire and monitored 24 hours a day by a security guard.
Elliot and King are greeted by the guard and head inside to speak with the manager. In the manager's office, Elliot crosses his fingers as security footage is pulled up onto a large monitor.
The manager begins scrubbing back through grainy black and white video from two nights prior. And then as they fast forward through the footage, Elliot sees various cars coming and going from the park, but none that match what they're looking for. Until a flash of white catches Elliot's eye. He tells the manager to stop and replay that moment again in slow motion.
Sure enough, one of Metalore's cameras caught what Elliot is hoping for. The flash of white is a Nissan Altima. Elliot checks the timestamp on the video and writes it down just after 3 a.m., matching the estimated time of Lloyd's death. Then Elliot has the manager fast forward and they find the same Altima leaving the park just before 3.30. Elliot is thrilled with his discovery. He pats the manager on the back and asks him to send the footage to the station.
But Elliot's work isn't done yet. This is a homicide investigation, and no stone can be left unturned. So Elliot and King head back to the cruiser and continue through the park, stopping at a dozen other businesses to check for additional footage. They find plenty of it. In all, they're able to retrieve security footage from seven different companies from just about every possible angle of the park, and some of it in high resolution.
Heading back to the station to break the good news to his colleagues, Elliot thinks about the implications of what he's just uncovered. He still can't say for certain who killed Odin Lloyd, but he can prove beyond doubt that someone drove a white Altima in and out of the park within minutes of Lloyd's death. And it's looking more and more likely that Aaron Hernandez was the driver. Just hours after investigators review surveillance footage from the Corliss Landing Industrial Park, a search warrant is issued for the home of Aaron Hernandez.
Hernandez, his fiancee, Shayana Jenkins, and their baby daughter are home during the search, along with a few other friends and family members. Investigators go room to room through the massive home, looking for evidence of Hernandez's involvement in the murder of Odin Lloyd. And as they search, they note how nonchalant Hernandez seems about the whole thing. He's just hanging out in the basement, shooting pool with Shayana's uncle.
Investigators also noticed that the home has an unusually large number of surveillance cameras, and some of them appear to have been tampered with. In all, they collect several bags of evidence from the property, including multiple smartphones, iPads, a DVR with surveillance footage from more than a dozen security cameras, and an external hard drive. Then, after hours of searching, investigators leave the home, and Hernandez makes a call to his big brother, DJ.
DJ was a highly touted football player in his day, just not quite good enough to make it to the pros. But football is all DJ knows, and he's desperately trying to latch on to the profession in any way he can. Aaron was recently able to help him get an internship with the Patriots, and that led to an entry-level spot on the coaching staff at the University of Iowa.
It's a low-paying job with long hours, but DJ doesn't mind. He loves the work, and he's determined to make a good impression with the hope of carving out a career for himself as a college football coach.
So it's no surprise that DJ is working late at the office, preparing for the next day's practice when his cell phone rings. On the caller ID, he sees it's his brother Aaron and answers quickly. He's always happy to talk to his little brother, the professional football star. Hey Aaron, good timing. I actually wanted to ask you something about this one pass play I'm working on. Hey yeah, sure, but maybe later. I called because there's something else I need to tell you. Oh, is it bad? Is it something with mom? Nah, she's good. But remember my friend Odin?
I think you met him once at one of my cookouts. Yeah, that's right. I did. Cool guy. Yeah, yeah, he was. I mean, well, he died a couple of days ago. Oh, God, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you okay? You guys were close. I'm fine. But look, DJ, here's the thing. They're looking into how he died. Might be some gang stuff. Oh, dude, that's crazy.
Oh, jeez, Aaron.
Look, you're my brother, and you know I have your back no matter what. But you need to tell me, were you there when Odin died? No, it's just a mix-up. Aaron, swear to me you weren't there. Swear to me you didn't kill him. I swear on my life I didn't do it, D. But hey, I gotta go. The lawyer's calling. Love you, man.
Just as DJ puts his phone down, another coach walks into his office. The colleague asks him if he's doing okay. DJ is shaken by his call with Aaron, but plays it off, telling the coach he's fine. And that's when the colleague tells DJ to turn on ESPN. They're talking about his brother Aaron.
DJ flips on the TV and is horrified by what he sees. The reporter on screen explains that Aaron Hernandez is being investigated in connection with a possible homicide. Odin Lloyd had been found shot to death just a mile from Aaron's home.
DJ feels like he's going to throw up. He loves his brother, but he's witnessed firsthand Aaron's reckless behavior and knows the criminal types he hangs out with. DJ wants to believe Aaron, but deep down, he knows there's a good chance his brother had something to do with Odin Lloyd's death. In the days following the search of Aaron Hernandez's home, the football star is besieged by a swarm of national media.
They set up on the street outside his house with vans full of cameras, lights, and elaborate broadcast equipment. They hurl questions any time Hernandez or his family members step outside. Still, Hernandez is determined to demonstrate his innocence by going about his daily life as normal. So on June 20th, with just two days after the search, he drives his SUV past a throng of reporters and heads to Gillette Stadium for practice with the Patriots.
But this simple attempt to keep doing what he normally does turns into a media circus, reminiscent of the O.J. Simpson car chase 20 years prior. A news helicopter follows Hernandez on his route to the stadium. And then a national audience watches from the sky as Hernandez arrives at the facility, exits his SUV, and jogs toward the building's entrance.
Hernandez hopes to be let inside for practice, but he's met at the door by the Patriots' director of security, Mark Briggs. Briggs tells Hernandez he needs to leave immediately, explaining his presence is bad for business. And after just a few minutes, Hernandez jogs back to the car and drives off. Within hours, the news reports that Hernandez has been barred from all Patriots team facilities. The organization is in full PR crisis mode, and they're washing their hands of their star tight end.
On ESPN and Sports Talk Radio, the Hernandez story is discussed nonstop. But investigators keep a low profile and avoid talking to the press. Their focus is on trying to build a solid case for a likely murder trial. And soon they will uncover a vital piece of evidence.
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Just as Elliot stands from his desk and heads to the break room to refill his mug, the phone rings. It's Kelia Smith, the attendant from the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where Hernandez picked up the white Altima that's been linked to the scene of the crime. Sheepishly, she tells Elliot that she forgot to mention something when the detective interviewed her last week. After Hernandez returned the car, she tidied it up and found something unusual on the floor behind the driver's seat, a bullet.
This revelation gives Elliot a jolt stronger than an entire pot of coffee. He asks where the bullet is now, and Smith says she threw it in a dumpster behind the office, and Elliot's heart sinks. Smith explains that because she had yet to hear of the crime, she had no way to know of the bullet's importance. There's a shooting range nearby, and it's not the first bullet she found in a returned car.
But Smith has some good news. The trash hasn't been collected yet, so the bullet is probably still somewhere in the dumpster. Elliot moves quickly, telling Smith to go to the police station immediately and he'll have someone meet her there. Meanwhile, he's going to try and find the bullet. Elliot hangs up, sprints out to his patrol car, puts on the lights and sirens, and screams over to Enterprise. Elliot pulls his car around back to the Enterprise office, where he finds the dumpster.
He rushes over and opens the lid, finding it three-quarters full of black trash bags and other loose items. Elliot pokes around the trash with the butt of his flashlight, taking an initial assessment. The smell of days-old garbage is overwhelming, and he begins breathing solely through his mouth. Within minutes, Elliot is joined by several of his colleagues, including State Police Sergeant Paul Baker, who volunteers to go into the dumpster.
Elliot watches as Baker rolls up his sleeves, puts on latex gloves, and gingerly climbs in.
Baker balances on a mountain of trash as Elliot stands nearby, ready to assist. Okay, what am I looking for here? Did she toss the bullet in by itself or is it in a bag or something? She said it should be in a small black garbage bag. She also found some chewed up bubble gum and a kid's drawing in the car, so it should be in a bag with those items. Please be careful though. Copy that. But there have to be 30 black trash bags in here. How am I going to know which one it is? Well, here, use this.
Elliot hands Baker a box cutter, and Baker uses it to slice open bags one after the other to check their contents. But fair warning, the lady said they find all types of stuff in those cars. Fast food bags, diapers, condoms. So sorry, buddy. I've seen plenty of condoms in my day. I used to work vice, you know. But diapers? Well, any bag that isn't ours, just hand it off and I'll set it to the side. Copy that.
One by one, Baker slices open each bag, roots around, and tosses it to Elliot. Hey, hey, hey, hold on, there's a drawing in this one. Baker hands Elliot a child's drawing that was evidently used to pick up a wad of chewing gum. And stuck to the gum is not a bullet, but a shell casing, one which seems to match casings found near Lloyd's body. Elliot congratulates Baker for a job well done and drops the items into an evidence bag.
As Elliot helps his colleague out of the dumpster, they share a smile. If this shell casing is a match, Elliot knows they now have enough to arrest Aaron Hernandez for the killing of Odin Lloyd.
Two days later, on June 22nd, Hernandez's home is searched again, and this time investigators come with police dogs. They collect a dozen bags full of possible evidence, including an AK-47, as well as a safe containing ammunition. Officers in wetsuits also search a stream in a wooded area near the home, hoping to find the discarded murder weapon, but they come up empty-handed.
But soon after, a tip comes in from a local probation officer, suggesting there's a man named Carlos Ortiz who may be worth talking to. Ortiz is a close friend of Hernandez, and he also happens to have a long rap sheet. The investigators discover that Ortiz is currently on probation, and that's something they can use to their advantage.
So on June 25th, when Ortiz arrives for a probation meeting, Detective Mike Elliott and Sergeant John Moran are there waiting for him. They bring Ortiz into a conference room in the basement of the probation building to question him about what happened to Odin Lloyd. Elliott begins by reading Ortiz his Miranda rights. Ortiz declines to have a lawyer present and insists he has zero knowledge of the shooting.
But Elliot isn't buying it. He has multiple decades in law enforcement and knows exactly how he wants to play this. He begins by slowly turning up the pressure, laying out some of the facts that investigators already know. He explains that he knows Ortiz went to the Hernandez's home on Sunday night, just hours before the murder, and that they have surveillance footage from the industrial park where Lloyd's body was found. But still Ortiz denies any involvement.
So now the two investigators tag team Ortiz, with Moran playing the good cop. Moran reassures Ortiz that he knows he wasn't the shooter, and he actually feels sorry for Ortiz for getting roped into all of this. But he explains that Ortiz could be the one who gets charged with murder if his buddies decide to turn on him. And he reminds Ortiz that Hernandez has the money to afford the best lawyers in the state. If Hernandez tells his legal team to pin the whole thing on Ortiz, they'll have no trouble persuading a jury of his guilt.
But even under all this pressure, Ortiz still won't budge. He insists he barely knew Lloyd and had never even heard of the industrial park. Ortiz explains he had gotten drunk on the night in question and had crashed at Hernandez's apartment. That's when Elliot pounces. He tells Ortiz he knows he's lying because the police have footage of him with Hernandez on the night of the murder.
Ortiz looks away from Elliot and shifts in his chair. Being caught in a lie seems to have rattled him. Ortiz then starts talking about his four children and how he doesn't know what his kids would do if he went to prison. Elliot can see a crack starting to open. He uses this chance to show Ortiz some surveillance footage from the night of the murder.
He pushes over a laptop, and on screen is Ortiz, with Hernandez and their friend Ernest Wallace at his side, at a gas station in Boston, just moments before they picked up Lloyd at his home. Moran, still playing the good cop, reassures Ortiz that he knows he didn't pull the trigger. He just wants to know why Hernandez did. Now Ortiz is forced to admit that he was there with Hernandez that night, but he still comes short of fingering Hernandez for the crime.
So the interrogation drags on for several more hours before Ortiz finally admits he was in the industrial park that night. But now he insists he was sleeping in the back of the Altima and was only awoken by gunshots, and that's all he remembers. Elliot knows Ortiz is lying about this detail, but he can tell Ortiz is getting close to breaking completely.
So Elliot ratchets things up once again and brings in a polygraph machine. At first, Ortiz declines to be tested. But nine hours into the interrogation, with Ortiz looking mentally and physically drained, he finally consents to the polygraph. When the test concludes, the detectives confront Ortiz with the results. They can see Ortiz was clearly lying. He was not asleep during the shooting, and he knows more than he's letting on.
Then, finally, as the clock approaches midnight, Ortiz gives the investigators what they've been looking for. He tells them that he watched from inside the car as Hernandez and Wallace led Lloyd away into a clearing. Moments later, he heard gunshots.
Then Hernandez and Wallace returned to the car, but without Lloyd. Hernandez was holding a gun. Elliott makes eyes with Moran and cracks a tiny smile. After 10 hours of a grueling interrogation, they've got their biggest breakthrough yet. An eyewitness willing to put Hernandez with a gun at the scene of the crime. From Wondery, this is Episode 3 of Aaron Hernandez, A Football Tragedy for American Scandals.
In our next episode, Aaron Hernandez stands trial for homicide and grapples with his new life behind bars. If you'd like to learn more about Aaron Hernandez, we recommend the books The Truth About Aaron by Jonathan Hernandez and All-American Murder by James Patterson, as well as the Boston Globe series Gladiator, Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.,
This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research.
American Scandal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Christian Paraga. Sound design by Molly Bach. Music editing by Katrina Zemrack. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Corey Metcalf. Edited by Emma Cortland. Our senior producers are Gabe Riven and Andy Herman. Executive producers are Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marsha Louis for Wondery.
It started with a backpack at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. A backpack that contained a bomb. While the authorities focused on the wrong suspect, a serial bomber planned his next attacks. Two abortion clinics and a lesbian bar. But this isn't his story. It's a human story.
One that I've become entangled with. I saw, as soon as I turned the corner, basically someone bleeding out. The victims of these brutal attacks were left to pick up the pieces, forced to explore the gray areas between right and wrong, life and death. Their once ordinary lives, and mine, changed forever. It kind of gave me a feeling of pending doom. And all the while, our country found itself facing down a long and ugly reckoning with a growing threat. Far-right, homegrown religious terrorism.
Listen to Flashpoint on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
