Dr. Phil didn't hold anything back this week when he interviewed Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez. In her first interview since her fiancé, Aaron Hernandez, committed suicide in a Massachusetts prison, Dr. Phil attempted to get an explanation for several questions that have remained unanswered since Hernandez's death on April 19.
One of the biggest mysteries revolves around the contents of one of the suicide notes that were found with Hernandez's body on the morning he died. Shortly after Hernandez's death, the district attorney's office said that the first two notes were intended for Hernandez's fiancée and his 4-year-old daughter. However, they were mum about the contents of the third note.
According to a report from Newsweek that came out April 21, the final note was intended for Hernandez's prison boyfriend, a 22-year-old man named Kyle Kennedy. However, Jenkins-Hernandez firmly denied that during her interview with Dr. Phil.
"There's nothing for Kyle Kennedy. There's no letter for Kyle Kennedy," Jenkins-Hernandez said. "There's one addressed to our daughter [one for me] and then there was another one to his lawyers."
Kennedy's lawyer, Larry Army, had said that the third note was intended for his client.
Not only did Jenkins-Hernandez shoot that theory down, but she doesn't seem to believe that there was any type of romantic relationship between her fiancé and Kennedy.
'If Kyle Kennedy was such a close friend, and Aaron was telling him he wanted to [commit suicide] he would still be here because Kyle Kennedy should have, you know, poked that lightbulb in somebody's head and been a true friend and stopped it," Jenkins-Hernandez said.
Jenkins-Hernandez also took exception to the fact that Army insisted that Hernandez had left a $50,000 watch for Kennedy before killing himself.
"I think it's very foolish for a man, or his counsel, to come out and talk about a $50,000 watch when he has a child, and offer his condolences to his fiancée and his child, but then asking for such things or saying such things. It's not commendable," Jenkins-Hernandez said.
With Kennedy's lawyer insisting that Hernandez was very close with his client, Dr. Phil asked the obvious follow up question: Was Aaron gay?
"The Aaron that I know? No. I got no indication or any feeling that he was such," Jenkins-Hernandez said. "He was very much a man to me. It's embarrassing in a sense."
On the other hand, Jenkins-Hernandez did concede that just because she didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
"It's hurtful, regardless of if it's true or not," Jenkins-Hernandez said. "It's not something I saw. It's not something I believe. It's just not him.
While Hernandez was still alive, Jenkins-Hernandez said she "asked him if it was true [that he was gay] and he said that it wasn't."
Jenkins-Hernandez also added that Kennedy's name never came up once during her conversations with her fiancé.
"I don't know who this Kyle Kennedy is. I've never heard of him, honestly. Aaron has never mentioned him," Jenkins-Hernandez said.
One thing Jenkins-Hernandez couldn't explain about Aaron's death was the suicide note that he left for her. Near the end of the note, Aaron wrote the words, "You're rich" to Jenkins-Hernandez. When Dr. Phil asked if what that meant, Jenkins-Hernandez admitted she wasn't sure.
"That I don't know," she said. "I think anything's a possibility, but I don't know what this was for."
One theory is that Hernandez killed himself so that his murder conviction for killing Odin Lloyd would be vacated, which is exactly what happened on May 9. The vacated conviction means that Hernandez died without a murder conviction on his record, something that could potentially pave the way for her to collect money from the NFL.
Jenkins-Hernandez's interview with Dr. Phil was recorded on the same day that Hernandez's conviction was thrown out (May 9). The interview aired as a two-part special on Monday and Tuesday this week. During the first part of the interview, Jenkins-Hernandez said she thought Aaron's suicide was a hoax when she first got the call that he had killed himself.
Jenkins-Hernandez also said she has a lot of questions left for Aaron.
"If he was sitting right here, there are tons of stuff I would ask," she said. "I can't speculate on what he was thinking. It's unbelievable to me. I don't believe any of it and I don't believe that was the cause."
