Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez sounded as if he thought he would soon be freed in his last conversation with his fiancée before he killed himself.
Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez says in an interview on "Dr. Phil" scheduled to air next week that he said "Daddy's going to be home ... I can't wait to hold you and love you" in a telephone conversation hours before he was found hanged in his prison cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, on April 19.
He had been acquitted in a double murder trial days before, but was still serving a life sentence in another murder case. Hernandez was appealing his conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player, in 2013.
The show's host, Dr. Phillip McGraw told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that Jenkins-Hernandez does not believe the former New England Patriots player killed himself, despite the evidence. His official cause of death was ruled a suicide by authorities.
"I felt like we were looking so bright," Jenkins-Hernandez said. "We were going up a ladder to a positive direction."
According to the show, Jenkins-Hernandez also "sets the record straight" on rumors about his "purported secret romantic life" in the two-part interview set to air Monday and Tuesday.
McGraw also said Jenkins-Hernandez is not expecting any financial benefit from the death.
