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Aaron Hernandez left behind numerous messages in his prison cell, reports say, and the most bizarre were scrawlings in blood that referred to the “Illuminati,” according to WCVB-TV Boston.
Hernandez also drew a Bible verse on his forehead.
Hernandez “wrote ‘John 3:16’ on his forehead and left notes to his 4-year-old daughter and his fiancee beside an open Bible in the prison cell where he hanged himself,” reports the Boston Herald.
The verse reads, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
However, it’s the reports of Illuminati images that are adding a bizarre layer to an already tragic story.
According to WCVB’s Kathy Curran, Hernandez drew images in blood on his cell. “One of the drawings was what’s known as the unfinished pyramid and the all-seeing eye of God. The image is similar to what is found on the back of U.S. currency,” reports WCVB, adding that Hernandez wrote “ILLUMINATI” in capital letters below the image.
“The illuminati is a person or group claiming to have religious enlightenment or knowledge. The illuminati has also been the subject of several theories, including one that claims they control of the world,” reports WCVB, which adds, “Above the pyramid, Hernandez drew an oval with rays coming from the edges.”
CrystalLinks reports that the all-seeing eye symbol or “The Eye of Providence (or the all-seeing eye of God) is a symbol showing an eye often surrounded by rays of light or a glory and usually enclosed by a triangle. It is sometimes interpreted as representing the eye of God watching over humankind (or divine providence). In the modern era, the most notable depiction of the eye is the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, which appears on the United States one-dollar bill.”
The symbol is prevalent in freemasonry and, reports CrystalLinks, “Popular among conspiracy theorists is the claim that the Eye of Providence shown atop an unfinished pyramid on the Great Seal of the United States indicates the influence of Freemasonry in the founding of the United States. This was dramatized in the 2004 film National Treasure.”
A site on the Illuminati describes it as “an elite organization of world leaders, business authorities, innovators, artists, and other influential members of this planet.”
Hernandez sketched the references to the Illuminati on his prison wall in blood, the television station reports.
Weirdly, you can find references to Aaron Hernandez and the Illuminati on Twitter that date back years, such as these posts in 2015:
Due to irresponsible decision making and recent legal issues, we have exiled Aaron Hernandez from The Illuminati.
And from 2013:
@AaronHerrnandez: “@Illuminati_Stop: AARON HERNANDEZ IS INNOCENT. THE ILLUMINATI ARE SETTING HIM UP. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://t.co/f2ZvYNIfvd”@EddyR22” rel=”nofollow”>http://t.co/f2ZvYNIfvd”@EddyR22 y tila?
Aaron Hernandez can get out of this. Join illuminati an sell his soul to the devil.
I bet #AaronHernandez didn’t even do anything it was the illuminati who set him up!! #FreeHernandez
You can find other bizarre Illuminati conspiracy theories online about Hernandez’ former team, the New England Patriots. Slideshows online purport that people believe this celebrity or that is part of the Illuminati, with the goal of controlling the masses.
According to the article Angels & Demons from the Book to the Movie FAQ – Do the Illuminati Really Exist?, the Illuminati “was established on May 1, 1776 at the University of Ingolstadt, then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, in Germany, by a professor of law called Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830). The Illuminati were an interesting organization, with both esoteric rituals and a political aim, based on the Enlightenment philosophy and ultimately aimed at overthrowing the Roman Catholic and politically conservative Kingdom of Bavaria and replacing it with a liberal republic.”
It’s a secret society that’s been tied to the Knights Templar and blamed for the French Revolution and other conspiracy theories.
The Associated Press reported previously that the government – and other experts – have debunked conspiracy theories that the symbols on American money – the unfinished pyramid and all-seeing eye, for example – derive from free mason allegiances among the country’s founders. The AP described those conspiracy theories as arguing that “the Seal proves the domination of the United States by a powerful, quasi-religious cult. The Ancient Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a perennial favorite of conspiracy theorists as some Founding Fathers were Masons and the Seal uses several Masonic symbols” and “that the Seal draws on Satanism or polytheistic ritual to promote a universal new world order under which Earth would be ruled by a single omnipotent government.” The government created an exhibit on the symbols in an attempt to repudiate the myths, AP reports.
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Hernandez’ death was officially ruled a suicide on April 20.
His family now says they want his brain studied by medical experts. The family “had arranged for Boston University researchers looking at brain trauma in athletes to take possession of Hernandez’s brain following the autopsy,” reports ESPN, quoting the Hernandez’ family attorney, Jose Baez.
According to NBC News, the family wants Hernandez’ brain studied for CTE, which is “a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to athletes, including football players, who might suffer concussions and head trauma.” It can only be diagnosed after death and can be linked to suicide, reports NBC.
The family wants the brain to go to Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center. “The center studies a progressive degenerative brain disease found in some athletes who have experienced repetitive brain trauma,” reports People Magazine.
The Hernandez’ family and the medical examiner’s office appeared at odds over the brain – at least according to a family lawyer’s statement. Aaron Hernandez’s family “wants to donate his brain to science, but Massachusetts officials are refusing to release it despite turning over the rest of his body to a funeral home, the former NFL star’s lawyer said Thursday,” according to ESPN. The brain has now been released, and officials say they just needed to await for the official cause of death determination, which has now happened.
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The Hernandez family has indicated it is not satisfied with the official account of Hernandez’ death.
The family has retained former New York medical examiner, Dr. Michael Baden, to perform another autopsy. He completed it, but “won’t discuss his findings until outside labs finish a toxicology report and a study of Hernandez’s brain,” reports The Washington Post.
Baden has “performed autopsies in numerous high-profile cases,” the Post reports.
According to People magazine, the official ruling is that the former Patriots’ tight end “committed suicide just five days after he was acquitted of double murder charges in the deaths of two men outside a Boston nightclub in 2012.”
He was still in prison because he was serving a life sentence for another murder, that of Odin Lloyd, “his fiancée’s sister’s boyfriend,” according to People.
The official account says Hernandez hanged himself with a bed sheet.