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Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez has killed himself in prison, it has been confirmed.
The Massachusetts Department of Corrections revealed Hernandez was discovered in his cell at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley Massachusetts at approximately 3:05 a.m on Wednesday morning.
“Mr. Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population unit,” a statement from Massachusetts prison authorities read, adding that he had attempted to block his door from the inside.
The 27-year-old was charged with the double murder of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado - immigrants from Cape Verde - but on Friday a jury found him not guilty on most of the eight counts he faced, including murder and armed assault.
Sporting deaths in 2017
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Hernandez was a tight end with the New England Patriots from 2010 to 2012 and just weeks after the double murder of Mr Abreu and Mr Furtado, signed a $40 million contract with the team.
They cut him from the roster after he was arrested for Mr Lloyd's murder in 2013.
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