Three handwritten notes found by the body of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez following his suicide in a Massachusetts prison cell last week were handed over to his family on Monday, an official said.
The order by a state judge in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to turn over the notes to the former National Football League player's family came on the same day as Hernandez's funeral, which was held in his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut, a spokesman for the Worcester County district attorney's office said.
The notes, found near a Bible, were handed over in full, the spokesman said. He declined to disclose their contents.
Hernandez was found hanged by a bed sheet in prison last Wednesday in what Massachusetts officials have ruled a suicide.
Hernandez had been a rising star with a $41 million NFL contract when he was arrested in June 2013 and charged with murdering an acquaintance in an industrial park not far from the Patriots' stadium.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
He was serving a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole after being found guilty of that murder when he hanged himself, according to state officials.
Hernandez's death occurred just days after his acquittal of a separate 2012 double murder.
