Aaron Hernandez’s Tattoo Could Hold Clues to His Murders

If reports are true, the imprisoned NFL star and alleged serial killer would launch to the top of the “Stupid Criminals” list.

Yesterday police in Massachusetts said they’re looking for tattoo artists who did work on former Patriots tight end and current inmate Aaron Hernandez around the time he’s accused of committing a double murder in Boston. Turns out Hernandez might have permanently memorialized the murders on his body. The cops are saying the artists “may have made observations of evidentiary value,” which is what the jargon machine spits out when you insert the phrase “might know something we wanna know.”

If what the police are saying is true and Hernandez’s tattoo implicates him in a double murder, he will immediately rise to the top of every “Stupid Criminals” list ever compiled. Move over, guy who wore his GPS-enabled ankle bracelet to burglaries and guy who robbed a gun store with a baseball bat—you’ve been dethroned. No criminal has ever done anything stupider than getting a tattoo that essentially says, “I did it.” You know how deranged serial killers sometimes keep trophies of their victims? Imagine if they permanently attached those trophies to their bodies. That’s what Hernandez may have done.

Other than sheer stupidity, Hernandez getting a tattoo to commemorate a killing shows just how invincible this guy thought he was. And why wouldn’t he? This is a guy who got into bar fights and failed drug tests in college without any consequences. This is a guy who shot his friend in the face and faced no criminal charges. He got away with everything because he was great at football, but then he tried to get away with too much. 

Photos by Landov