Aaron Hernandez’s fiancee Shayanna Jenkins reportedly tried to hide evidence
If Aaron Hernandez’s fiancee Shayanna Jenkins was somehow involved with what happened in the days and hours leading up to and after the night Odin Lloyd was murdered, we have yet to figure out how. Hernandez called Jenkins the day he was arrested to tell her to stop speaking with authorities. Prior to that, she told investigators that she was unfamiliar with Lloyd but began crying when she was informed he had been killed.
Jenkins likely stopped talking to police to avoid giving up information that could incriminate Hernandez, but has she gone further than that? According to the Hartford Courant, investigators recently searched a Bristol storage unit that was rented in Jenkins’ name because they believe she made “overt attempts to hide evidence … and to hinder and mislead.”
New court documents that were released on Friday included surveillance video, text messages, and an interview with Jenkins’ sister Shaneah that has led investigators to believe Shayanna may have knowledge of what happened to the murder weapon that was used to kill Lloyd. The documents also stated that Hernandez is believed to have called Jenkins the day after Lloyd’s body was found to ask her to dispose of weapons in his house.
[Related: Sheriff will try to prevent Aaron Hernandez from marrying in jail]
On June 18, the day after Lloyd’s body was found, Jenkins was reportedly seen on surveillance footage from Hernandez’s home carrying a trash bag out of the basement that contained a “rigid object” which authorities believe resembled a lock box or safe. She returned 35 minutes later and opened the trunk of her car, which allegedly showed that the trash bag was no longer there.
Shaneah Jenkins reportedly told police that she had a conversation with her uncle Azia Jenkins, during which he told her that Hernandez called Shayanna on June 18 to ask her to remove weapons from the house. Shaneah said she was told the weapons were later “disposed of in the woods.” Investigators also claim Shayanna and Hernandez exchanged cryptic texts which made mention of a box in the basement.
Jenkins has not been charged in connection with the investigation. Authorities have reportedly searched a stretch of highway and a lake in Hernandez’s hometown in an attempt to recover the murder weapon, but they have had no luck.
See all the LBS coverage of the Aaron Hernandez murder case
H/T Deadspin