The fiancée of former football star Aaron Hernandez lied to a grand jury at least 29 times, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the perjury case she faces.
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The lies allegedly told by Shayanna Jenkins, 24, included her claim that she could not remember multiple conversations with Hernandez or details of the day prosecutors have suggested that she spirited a murder weapon out of the home the two of them shared in North Attleboro, Mass.
Hernandez, 24, faces murder and weapons charges in the June 17 slaying of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player. According to prosecutors, Hernandez summoned two buddies to his home, then lured Lloyd into a meeting with him under the guise of going out on the town. After driving from the Dorchester section of Boston to a secluded field less than a mile from Hernandez’s home, Lloyd was gunned down.
The New England Patriots cut Hernandez hours after his June 26 arrest.
Jenkins, whose sister was dating Lloyd, allegedly took a box out of the home she shared with Hernandez the next day and disposed of it – then, according to the new court filing, lied repeatedly about the sequence of events while under oath before the grand jury.
Prosecutors have suggested that box contained the .45-caliber handgun they believe was used to shoot Lloyd.
She also was accused in the papers of lying when she said she did not know what happened to a white sweatshirt belonging to Hernandez. Previously released court documents have said Hernandez was wearing a “very light-colored or white hooded sweatshirt” at the time Lloyd was killed.
Jenkins’ attorney, Janice Bassil, could not be reached Tuesday.
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The assertions about Jenkins’ testimony before the grand jury were contained in what is known as a “Bill of Particulars” – a formal list of allegations made by prosecutors. The judge hearing the case, E. Susan Garsh, had ordered prosecutors to file the document after Bassil argued that the perjury charge was “overreaching” and that Jenkins should not be punished simply because she could not remember specific details about events.
The document was obtained Tuesday by the Herald News of Fall River and provided to FOX Sports.
In the filing, prosecutor William McCauley alleged that Jenkins “testified falsely in substance and effect.”
Among the statements that constituted perjury, McCauley wrote, were “her claimed lack of memory about multiple conversations with Aaron Hernandez,” her testimony that she did not speak with Hernandez about a February incident in Florida in which he was accused of shooting a longtime friend in the face, and that she had no discussions about the murder of Lloyd – even though his body was found near their home and she knew Hernandez was with him that morning.
McCauley also wrote that she lied when she was questioned about a phone call she received from Hernandez the day after the killing while he was at his attorney’s office. It was during that phone call, prosecutors have suggested, that Hernandez allegedly told her to get guns out of the house.
According to previously filed court papers, prosecutors suspect that Hernandez told Jenkins that the guns should be tossed in the woods.
The area where Hernandez’s home is located is adjacent to numerous areas that are forested.
Jenkins has been allowed to remain free on bail.
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Police searched Aaron Hernandez's house and surrounding areas. See photos.
The two men allegedly with Hernandez at the time of the killing, Ernest Wallace Jr., 41, and Carlos Ortiz, 27, both face charges of being accessories after the fact.
In addition, Hernandez’s cousin, Tanya Singleton, 38, has been charged with contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury and with conspiracy to commit accessory after the fact. She is accused of helping Wallace flee to Florida after Lloyd’s killing.
Prosecutors have built a case against Hernandez based on numerous surveillance camera images – including some captured inside his home – as well as cell phone records and physical evidence. The rental car that prosecutors allege was used to drive Lloyd from Boston to the field where he was killed had his fingerprints inside it, according to court documents.
In addition, Hernandez has been linked to two other shootings.
Alexander Bradley, who was shot in the face in Florida in February, filed a federal lawsuit accusing Hernandez of pulling the trigger after a dispute at a nightclub.
And a Boston grand jury is probing whether Hernandez could have been involved in a July 2012 drive-by shooting that left two men dead and another wounded. A vehicle matching the description of the one involved in that incident was found in Bristol, Conn., parked in the garage of a home owned by Hernandez’s uncle.
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