by Jennifer McKelvey of The Gold Patrol
Aaron Hernandez’s trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd started on January 25, 2015. As with most high profile cases, we've heard all about Aaron, his accomplishments on the football field, his troubled teen years after the sudden death of his father, his college career at the University of Florida, and how he was a 4th round draft pick due to teams' hesitations to take on a player with amazing talent who was also seen as a liability due to past behavior. We know about the $40 million contract extension he signed to carry him into 2018 with the New England Patriots. We know he has a young daughter and a fiancé. And, of course, we also know that he is accused of murdering Odin Lloyd on June 17, 2013.
But who was his alleged victim, Odin Lloyd? Odin came from a different world than Aaron. Odin was born Sr. Croix, US Virgin Islands, moved to Antigua, eventually settling in Dorchester, Mass., a rough side of Boston. Lloyd seemed like a bright young man with the hopes of playing college football one day. He could have been a Division 1 prospect given his natural athletic ability on the field, but his grades in high school prevented that. After high school, he was admitted to Delaware State University, but financial problems prevented him from attending classes. He eventually took classes at Bunker Hill Community College and earned a degree in the electrical field.
Lloyd began working. He often worked more than one job at a time and rode a bicycle for miles daily back and forth to and from those jobs. One employer later recalled that when applying for his laborer job at a fertilizing company, Odin showed up in a shirt and tie with resume in hand. That is the kind of impression Odin Lloyd would make.
Odin also tried out for and made a local semi-pro football team, The Boston Bandits. He wasn't a starter on the team according to his coach, Oliver Bustin, but he was hard working and dedicated, even mentoring a younger player. There was no pay for the players. With no money to pay the $75 dues, Lloyd wore jerseys with someone else's name on them.
Odin would ride his bike or ride with a teammate to knowing that this semi-pro team would likely never amount to a lucrative contract or a chance to play in the NFL, but it did not stop Lloyd's love or enthusiasm for the game. A teammate of Lloyd's said he was the team's comedian and always made others feel good about themselves.
Unlike many in his part of town, Odin had no criminal record of conviction. (He had been charged twice with offenses that were later dropped.)
About 18 months prior to his murder, he began dating Shaneah Jenkins, whose sister was engaged to Aaron Hernandez. Odin and Shaneah met at the hotel that Shaneah worked at on the night shift. Lloyd was in town for work, and that job kept him at the hotel regularly for several weeks. They began seeing one another and the relationship deepened. Eventually he was introduced to Aaron Hernandez.
It wasn't your typical friendship. Aaron Hernandez lived in a mansion about 40 miles away from Lloyd. Aaron had a multi-million dollar NFL contract, endorsements, and money to spare. Odin Lloyd was a laborer who couldn't afford a car according to his mother. When Odin met Aaron, they had one thing in common according to a teammate of Lloyd's - football. Odin enjoyed being associated with a well-known NFL player. Another teammate of Lloyd's said that it took Lloyd a while to tell Aaron he played semi-pro football. He didn't want to seem like a groupie.
It is alleged that Odin became a source for Aaron obtaining marijuana and, they would often smoke together in the basement of Aaron's home or break away from the group they were with to get high. In an attenmpt to characterize the victim in negative light, defense calls Odin the "Bluntmaster”. The defense appears to be ready to point to mysterious drug connections that could be the source of Odin’s demise, rather than Hernandez and his friends.
On June 14, 2013 , two nights before the murder, Aaron and Odin went to Rumors, a nightclub in Boston. At one point on surveillance, Aaron can be seen looking agitated. A valet attendant said he saw Hernandez with a gun in his waistband. It later was revealed that Hernandez was upset that Lloyd was talking to men that Hernandez disliked. Ultimately, Lloyd left with Aaron and ended up at his condo along with two women
Aaron Hernandez reached out to Odin Lloyd at 9:05 PM on June 17, 2013, via text a few hours before he was killed asking Lloyd if he wanted to get together. Below is a transcript of the texts between the two prior to Lloyd getting into the car with Hernandez and the co-defendants:
Hernandez (9:05 PM): "I'm coming to grab that tonight u gon b around I need dat and we could step for a little again"
(Lloyd did not answer the text)
Hernandez(9:34 PM): "Waddup."
Lloyd (9:37 PM): "Aite, where."
Hernandez (9:39 PM): "ikd it don't matter but imma hit u when I'm dat way like Las time if my phone dies imma hit u when I charge it which will be in a lil."
Lloyd (10:00 PM): "Aite idk anything going on."
Hernandez (10:13 PM): "I'll figure it out I'll hit u on way."
Lloyd (12:22 AM): "We still on."
Hernandez: (2:33 AM): "We're Here"
At the same time he was texting Lloyd to make arrangements to pick him up (in a Suburban SUV Hernandez rented the week before) Aaron was also texting his friends, Carlos Oritz, and Ernest Wallace, the two other men who have been charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd. The pair were in Connecticut at the time the texts were sent by Hernandez:
Hernandez (9:02 PM): "Please make it back."
Hernandez (9:35 PM): "Get your ass up here."
Hernandez (10:23 PM): "Hurry your ass up."
Hernandez, Oritz, and Wallace eventually arrive for Lloyd up at 2:33 AM on June 17. The co-defendant, Oritz, admitted that Hernandez confronted Lloyd about "chilling" with people Hernandez had a problem with. Lloyd reassured him there was no problem, and according to Oritz, Hernandez and Lloyd shook hands as a sign of the dispute being settled. Lloyd, apparently paranoid about the situation, texted his sister:
Lloyd (3:07 AM): "Did you see who I am with?"
Lloyd (3:11 AM): "Hello?"
Sister (3:19 AM): "My phone was dead. Who?"
Lloyd (3:22 AM): "NFL."
Lloyd (3:23 AM): "Just so you know."
Within a very short time, Odin Lloyd was dead.
The motive that prosecutors insist on is that Aaron Hernandez felt disrespected by Odin Lloyd at the nightclub a few nights earlier.
The last memory that Odin’s mother, Ursula Ward, has of her son, was seeing him with a huge smile as he walked up to her that last day of his life. Early that next morning, he was found dead on the hard gravel by a teenage jogger.
Aaron Hernandez’s trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd started on January 25, 2015. As with most high profile cases, we've heard all about Aaron, his accomplishments on the football field, his troubled teen years after the sudden death of his father, his college career at the University of Florida, and how he was a 4th round draft pick due to teams' hesitations to take on a player with amazing talent who was also seen as a liability due to past behavior. We know about the $40 million contract extension he signed to carry him into 2018 with the New England Patriots. We know he has a young daughter and a fiancé. And, of course, we also know that he is accused of murdering Odin Lloyd on June 17, 2013.
But who was his alleged victim, Odin Lloyd? Odin came from a different world than Aaron. Odin was born Sr. Croix, US Virgin Islands, moved to Antigua, eventually settling in Dorchester, Mass., a rough side of Boston. Lloyd seemed like a bright young man with the hopes of playing college football one day. He could have been a Division 1 prospect given his natural athletic ability on the field, but his grades in high school prevented that. After high school, he was admitted to Delaware State University, but financial problems prevented him from attending classes. He eventually took classes at Bunker Hill Community College and earned a degree in the electrical field.
Lloyd began working. He often worked more than one job at a time and rode a bicycle for miles daily back and forth to and from those jobs. One employer later recalled that when applying for his laborer job at a fertilizing company, Odin showed up in a shirt and tie with resume in hand. That is the kind of impression Odin Lloyd would make.
Odin also tried out for and made a local semi-pro football team, The Boston Bandits. He wasn't a starter on the team according to his coach, Oliver Bustin, but he was hard working and dedicated, even mentoring a younger player. There was no pay for the players. With no money to pay the $75 dues, Lloyd wore jerseys with someone else's name on them.
Odin would ride his bike or ride with a teammate to knowing that this semi-pro team would likely never amount to a lucrative contract or a chance to play in the NFL, but it did not stop Lloyd's love or enthusiasm for the game. A teammate of Lloyd's said he was the team's comedian and always made others feel good about themselves.
Unlike many in his part of town, Odin had no criminal record of conviction. (He had been charged twice with offenses that were later dropped.)
About 18 months prior to his murder, he began dating Shaneah Jenkins, whose sister was engaged to Aaron Hernandez. Odin and Shaneah met at the hotel that Shaneah worked at on the night shift. Lloyd was in town for work, and that job kept him at the hotel regularly for several weeks. They began seeing one another and the relationship deepened. Eventually he was introduced to Aaron Hernandez.
It wasn't your typical friendship. Aaron Hernandez lived in a mansion about 40 miles away from Lloyd. Aaron had a multi-million dollar NFL contract, endorsements, and money to spare. Odin Lloyd was a laborer who couldn't afford a car according to his mother. When Odin met Aaron, they had one thing in common according to a teammate of Lloyd's - football. Odin enjoyed being associated with a well-known NFL player. Another teammate of Lloyd's said that it took Lloyd a while to tell Aaron he played semi-pro football. He didn't want to seem like a groupie.
It is alleged that Odin became a source for Aaron obtaining marijuana and, they would often smoke together in the basement of Aaron's home or break away from the group they were with to get high. In an attenmpt to characterize the victim in negative light, defense calls Odin the "Bluntmaster”. The defense appears to be ready to point to mysterious drug connections that could be the source of Odin’s demise, rather than Hernandez and his friends.
On June 14, 2013 , two nights before the murder, Aaron and Odin went to Rumors, a nightclub in Boston. At one point on surveillance, Aaron can be seen looking agitated. A valet attendant said he saw Hernandez with a gun in his waistband. It later was revealed that Hernandez was upset that Lloyd was talking to men that Hernandez disliked. Ultimately, Lloyd left with Aaron and ended up at his condo along with two women
Aaron Hernandez reached out to Odin Lloyd at 9:05 PM on June 17, 2013, via text a few hours before he was killed asking Lloyd if he wanted to get together. Below is a transcript of the texts between the two prior to Lloyd getting into the car with Hernandez and the co-defendants:
Hernandez (9:05 PM): "I'm coming to grab that tonight u gon b around I need dat and we could step for a little again"
(Lloyd did not answer the text)
Hernandez(9:34 PM): "Waddup."
Lloyd (9:37 PM): "Aite, where."
Hernandez (9:39 PM): "ikd it don't matter but imma hit u when I'm dat way like Las time if my phone dies imma hit u when I charge it which will be in a lil."
Lloyd (10:00 PM): "Aite idk anything going on."
Hernandez (10:13 PM): "I'll figure it out I'll hit u on way."
Lloyd (12:22 AM): "We still on."
Hernandez: (2:33 AM): "We're Here"
At the same time he was texting Lloyd to make arrangements to pick him up (in a Suburban SUV Hernandez rented the week before) Aaron was also texting his friends, Carlos Oritz, and Ernest Wallace, the two other men who have been charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd. The pair were in Connecticut at the time the texts were sent by Hernandez:
Hernandez (9:02 PM): "Please make it back."
Hernandez (9:35 PM): "Get your ass up here."
Hernandez (10:23 PM): "Hurry your ass up."
Hernandez, Oritz, and Wallace eventually arrive for Lloyd up at 2:33 AM on June 17. The co-defendant, Oritz, admitted that Hernandez confronted Lloyd about "chilling" with people Hernandez had a problem with. Lloyd reassured him there was no problem, and according to Oritz, Hernandez and Lloyd shook hands as a sign of the dispute being settled. Lloyd, apparently paranoid about the situation, texted his sister:
Lloyd (3:07 AM): "Did you see who I am with?"
Lloyd (3:11 AM): "Hello?"
Sister (3:19 AM): "My phone was dead. Who?"
Lloyd (3:22 AM): "NFL."
Lloyd (3:23 AM): "Just so you know."
Within a very short time, Odin Lloyd was dead.
The motive that prosecutors insist on is that Aaron Hernandez felt disrespected by Odin Lloyd at the nightclub a few nights earlier.
The last memory that Odin’s mother, Ursula Ward, has of her son, was seeing him with a huge smile as he walked up to her that last day of his life. Early that next morning, he was found dead on the hard gravel by a teenage jogger.
