Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots looks on during an NFL game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field in 2012. Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd in 2013. Photo / Getty
Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots looks on during an NFL game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field in 2012. Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd in 2013. Photo / Getty
The fiance of late NFL star Aaron Hernandez has revealed she still believes he was not guilty of murder despite having been convicted of the crime.
Shayanna Jenkins broke her silence in a tearful interview with Good Morning America, which aired Wednesday morning US time.
Hernandez was a star player for the New England Patriots when he was charged in June 2013 and then convicted of the murder of Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of Jenkins' sister.
The fiancee of the late Aaron Hernandez is speaking out for the first time since the release of a Netflix new docuseries on the life of the football-star turned-convicted killer. @arobach reports. https://t.co/fu296hhrc3pic.twitter.com/KuQtG0ctWI
He took his own life in 2017 as allegations about his sexuality surfaced shortly after being acquitted of murdering Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu outside a nightclub in 2012.
Asked if she still believed her fiance was innocent, Jenkins responded: "Yes of course I do".
"I'd be a cold person to leave somebody that had nobody at all," she added.
Former New England Patriots Aaron Hernandez during his double murder trial at Suffolk Superior Court in Boston on March 2, 2017. He was acquitted days before he died. Photo / Getty
Jenkins appeared on the programme after an explosive Netflix documentary aired allegations about his sexuality and mental state.
According to her, she previously had no idea Hernandez was sexually involved with other men and was bitterly disappointed the revelation was included in the series.
"You can't describe someone's sexuality without them being here," she said. "Although I've had a child with Aaron, I still can't tell you how he was feeling inside. No one can."
Jenkins told the program that whatever he felt, she wishes that she "was told".
"I wish that he would have told me because I wouldn't, I would not have loved him any differently," she said.
Terri Hernandez, left, mother of Aaron, with his fiancee Shayanna Jenkins, right, at his arraignment in September2013. Hernandez was charge at the time with the murder of Odin Lloyd. Photo / Getty
"I would have understood. It's not shameful, and I don't think anybody should feel shameful on who they are inside, regardless of who they love. I think it's a beautiful thing. I just wish I was able to tell him that."
Three part Netflix documentary Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez looks at the troubled life of the NFL star as well as the role a traumatic brain injury from the sport could have played in his increasingly violent behaviour.
When Killer Inside was first released, Ms Jenkins announced on Instagram that she would be taking a break from social media.
Jenkins has since returned to social media, sharing a cryptic post last week with a quote about making "broken look beautiful".
Hernandez and Jenkins met as teenagers and became engaged in 2012, with the NFL player calling her his "soulmate" in his suicide note.
Jenkins sensationally stood by Hernandez during his trial for the slaying of Mr Lloyd despite him being her sister Shaneah's partner.
She took Hernandez's last name even though the pair - who share daughter Avielle Janelle, now 7, never married.
Shayanna Jenkins sits in the courtroom with her daughter in April 2017, for the double murder trial of her fiancee Aaron Hernandez. Jenkins claims Hernandez is innocent of murder. Photo / Getty
Jenkins is now engaged to football player and boxer Dino Guilmette, whom she has a second daughter with.
Hernandez is alleged to have had sexual relationships with several men, including a fellow prisoner and a former high school classmate.
In Killer Inside, Dan Sansoucie detailed his five-year sexual relationship with Hernandez, which he said began when they were in year 7.
Sansoucie claimed that Hernandez was "terrified of his father finding out" about them.
"Mr Hernandez was a man's man who would slap the fa**ot right out of you," he said. "We had to hide what we were."
WHERE TO GET HELP:
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