WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for American Sports Story episode 8.

One of the biggest mysteries in American Sports Story episode 8 is what Aaron Hernandez did with the murder weapon that killed Odin Lloyd. Throughout American Sports Story episode 8 titled “Odin”, Hernandez is portrayed as falling into a deep hole of paranoia and emotional instability which ultimately resulted in the murder of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd was a friend of Hernandez and a semi-professional football player who was dating Shayanna’s sister, Shaena, for years before his death. Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for murdering Lloyd in June 2013, although a clear motive was never determined.

In American Sports Story episode 8, Hernandez is portrayed returning to his mansion in North Attleborough, Massachusetts with his friends Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace after murdering Lloyd a mile away from his home. This is consistent with the real-life security footage taken from Hernandez’s home that can be seen in Netflix’s Killer Inside docuseries. As depicted in American Sports Story, Hernandez asks his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins to do him an immediate favor the morning after Lloyd’s death. Shayanna removes a garbage bag concealing a cardboard box from their house and disposes of it in a dumpster.

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The Gun Aaron Hernandez Used To Kill Odin Lloyd Has Never Been Found

Prosecutors did obtain home security footage of Hernandez holding a matching gun

A key piece of evidence that linked Hernandez to Lloyd’s murder was never found by authorities. The murder weapon, which is believed to be a .45 caliber handgun, remains undiscovered to this day. Prosecutors were unable to use the weapon as evidence against Hernandez for this reason. According to CNN, “Despite extensive searches of Hernandez’s home, his apartment, his cars, an uncle’s home, the crime scene, woods, dumpsters, and a lake in Hernandez’s hometown of Bristol, Connecticut, what happened to the alleged murder weapon remains a mystery.” Prosecutors did obtain home security footage of Hernandez holding what they believed to be the murder weapon.

As depicted in American Sports Story, Shayanna Jenkins met Aaron Hernandez in high school in Bristol, Connecticut. The two got engaged and had a child together in November 2012, just months before Hernandez would be convicted for murdering Lloyd. Avielle, who is now 11 years old, is the only daughter of Aaron Hernandez and Shayanna Jenkins. Although Shayanna was never charged as an accomplice in the murder of Odin Lloyd, she was also caught on her home security footage removing a mysterious box from her house, which was recreated in American Sports Story episode 8.

Shayanna Threw Away A Box That Potentially Had The Gun Inside Without Knowing It

Shayanna testified that she assumed the box contained cannabis because it “smelled skunky”

American Sports Story makes it clear that Shayanna obeyed Hernandez’s orders and disposed of a cardboard box the day after Lloyd’s death. The series does not specify whether Shayanna knew exactly what she was doing when she was fulfilling her fiancee’s request to remove the large box from their home. It’s implied in American Sports Story episode 8 that Shayanna did not ask any questions or raise any suspicions about how she could potentially have been disposing of the weapon that killed her sister Shaena’s boyfriend, Odin Lloyd. This is consistent with her actual comments about removing the box for Hernandez in real life.

Shayanna Jenkins testified at Hernandez’s murder trial in March 2015 that she disposed of a cardboard box that was originally in the basement of their North Attleborough home. She stated that Hernandez instructed her to “go downstairs in our storage and remove a box from our home” which Jenkins also noted “smelled skunky“, which made her think it contained cannabis (via ABC News). According to CNN, Hernandez sent a supposedly coded text message to Shayanna with instructions on what to do with the box. It read:

”
Go back in back of the screen in movie room when u (sic) get home an (sic) there is a box…jus (sic) in case u (sic) were looking for it!!! … WAS JUST THINKIN bout that lol wink wink love u TTYL….K
“.

Why Shayanna Didn’t Look Inside The Box

She didn’t want to be haunted by its contents

Jenkins claimed that she didn’t know what was inside the box nor did she look inside before disposing of it in a “random dumpster” as portrayed in American Sports Story episode 8. During a 2017 televised interview on Dr. Phil, Jenkins revealed that she knew she would be better off not knowing what was inside the box Hernandez had asked her to dispose of. “I don’t want to know anything that can haunt me, in a sense. I’d rather be in the dark with a situation like that.” Jenkins maintained this sentiment throughout her testimony in Hernandez’s murder trial, claiming that she kept herself out of Hernandez’s private affairs as seen in American Sports Story.

Sources: CNN, ABC News