Shayanna Jenkins, the fiancee of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, revealed for the first time Monday she suspects marijuana was in a box she was instructed to remove from the couple’s home the day after the slaying of Odin Lloyd in 2013.
Hernandez has been charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating the death of Lloyd, the boyfriend of Shayanna Jenkins’ sister and semipro football player who was found dead June 17, 2013.
Hernandez has also pleaded not guilty to a gun and ammunition charge. His co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, have also pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately.
‘Skunky smell’
For the first time, Shayanna Jenkins told jurors on Monday the box smelled “skunky,” making her think it was marijuana. Her new description came during cross-examination.
Earlier, she told prosecutors during direct examination that she didn’t know what was in the box, said Hernandez never told her, nor did she look.
Jenkins testified Friday that on the day after Lloyd’s slaying, her fiance called her with instructions that it was important to discard the box. On Monday, she described his tone as “normal” when he made the request and said she had never been asked by prosecutors what she thought the box smelled like.
“Were you ever asked what you thought was in the box?” asked Hernandez lawyer Charles Rankin about her previous testimony to the grand jury.
“Never,” said Jenkins.
“Were you ever asked if it had any smell to it?” he asked.
“Never,” she replied.
Jenkins’ revelation contradicts the prosecution’s previous suspicion that the weapon used in the slaying was in the box. No weapon in the case has been recovered.
Possible evidence removed
Home surveillance video played inside the courtroom Monday showed Shayanna Jenkins hoisting a black garbage bag from her home and putting it in a trunk of her sister’s car. At the time, Shaneah Jenkins had been at her home grieving over the death of her boyfriend.
Shaneah Jenkins was present in court on Monday and cried while listening to the testimony and watching the video of her sister Shayanna carrying the trash bag.
The two sisters now barely speak to each other. Shaneah Jenkins sits next to Lloyd’s mother in the courtroom on the opposite side of Hernandez’s defense team.
After concealing the box with her daughter’s clothing, Shayanna Jenkins said she disposed of it at a location she cannot remember.
“I found a random dumpster, and put it in there,” she told Bristol County District Attorney William McCauley.
When questioned about her inability to remember the dumpster’s location and other details, Shayanna Jenkins said she had been unsettled at the time.
“I was nervous. I had to comfort my sister. Everyone’s emotions were on me, and it was a form of breaking down at that point,” she said.
High school sweethearts
On Monday, Shayanna Jenkins was asked about what she called an “on-again, off-again” relationship with Hernandez, her high school sweetheart. She recalled spending time apart from Hernandez after discovering evidence of infidelity on Hernandez’s phone.
She told the court that before getting back together with him, she had to make a difficult choice about her future with the football star.
“I made a decision that if I was going to move back in with Aaron, I would need to compromise with his behavior, including his infidelity,” she told the courtroom and then started to cry.
After Hernandez proposed in October 2012, Jenkins said she continued to tolerate his infidelity.
Jenkins admitted giving some different answers during her grand jury testimony, in part, she said because of confusing questions by prosecutors.
She faces possible jail time if found guilty of perjury charges. Jenkins has pleaded not guilty.
Later this week
This week, the jury is expected to hear from Alexander Bradley, Hernandez’s former right hand man, who has accused Hernandez of shooting him in the face in February of 2013.
However, a judge has barred him from discussing that. Bradley is jailed in an unrelated shooting.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
