Speculation surrounding the timing of Aaron Hernandez’s prison suicide has become increasingly focused on his sexual orientation as a new report has emerged that appears to confirm Daily Mail’s earlier report that Hernandez left a third suicide note to his prison boyfriend.

A Newsweek report claims that multiple law enforcement sources confirmed Hernandez left a suicide note for a fellow inmate who is now on suicide watch himself. The report also revealed that Hernandez’s sexuality, apparently a closely guarded secret, was a possible motive for the murder of Odin Lloyd.

Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the 2013 shooting death of Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee Shayanna Jenkins at the time of his death. According to the Newsweek report, a law enforcement source said Hernandez may have shot Lloyd to death because he knew the former NFL star was bisexual, and that he had reportedly been in a long-term relationship with a high school friend. The report indicates that Hernandez was concerned Lloyd would reveal his secret to Jenkins.

Hernandez reportedly transferred large sums of money before his arrest for Lloyd’s murder — which took place nine days after the shooting. According to Newsweek, he made deposits to accounts belonging to his fiancee and his daughter, but made the largest transfer to the high school friend in question.

That man reportedly testified at Hernandez’s first murder trial, in 2015. If the purportedly romantic relationship was a motive for Lloyd’s murder, it is unclear why this was not reported until after Hernandez’s death.

On April 14, Hernandez was acquitted of the 2012 double murder of Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu. The conclusion of the trial meant that his pending appeal for his 2015 murder conviction was set to go forward. His lawyer, Jose Baez, said after last week’s acquittal that the defense team was looking forward to overturning the conviction.

On Friday, a lawyer for Hernandez’s fiancee Jenkins appeared in court to demand that the prison where Hernandez died preserve all evidence connected to his apparent suicide, and criticized prison officials for leaving Hernandez’s cell unattended continuously for several hours before he died. The attorney claimed that Hernandez’s family has not seen any of the purported suicide notes, and said investigators did not inform the family such notes existed before the media reported about them.

Photo: Associated Press