FALL RIVER, Mass. — Aaron Hernandez’s fiancee drove her sister out of the courtroom in tears Monday when she told jurors about a 35-pound box she disposed of the day after Odin Lloyd’s body was found.

The sister, Shaneah Jenkins, was the victim’s girlfriend, and had been at Hernandez’s North Attleborough home on June 18, 2013, when the former New England Patriots tight end called his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, and told her to get rid of the box. The night before, police investigating the Lloyd homicide had knocked on Hernandez’s door. Authorities have indicated they believe the box contained the murder weapon.

Shayanna Jenkins told jurors that she drove around for “a while” that day because of “nerves.” She eventually found a Dumpster and threw the box away without looking to see what was inside it. But Monday, Jenkins could not remember the location of the Dumpster, even when pressed by Bristol County Assistant District Attorney William McCauley. Her trouble with recall led the prosecutor to question how she could possibly have no memory of where she tossed the item, which police never recovered.

“At that point, I was nervous,” Jenkins said.

“What were you nervous about?” McCauley asked.

“There were a lot of things going on,” Jenkins said, referring to the day after police first came to her home regarding Lloyd’s murder – and the day after her sister first learned her boyfriend was dead. “I had to play a neutral role as far as trying to comfort my sister. Everyone’s emotions were kind of on me and there was a form of breaking down at that point and I was nervous.”

Advertisement

The prosecutor asked Jenkins if she had a “subsequent conversation with the defendant about what was in this box and why you had to get rid of it.” She said she did not. Prosecutors previously have signaled that she met up with co-defendant Ernest Wallace when she was out of the house getting rid of the box that day. Wallace, a Bristol, Conn., resident who also is charged with murder, fled south to Florida after Lloyd’s shooting.

In her second day of testimony Monday, Jenkins told jurors she received several phone calls from Hernandez on the afternoon of June 18 in which he told her about a box in the basement. She went downstairs and found a cardboard box, which she estimated to be about 2 feet tall by 1 foot wide, weighing between 35 and 40 pounds. Jenkins said the box was open and contained several smaller boxes. When she left the house, she covered the box in baby clothes and put it in a trash bag so that its contents were not exposed.

Jenkins testified that she removed the box during a run to get diapers and baby formula for her 8-month-old daughter. On the same trip, she withdrew $800 from an ATM. She said she could not remember why she took the money out. The previous night, she had taken $500 out of an ATM to give to Wallace. Wallace had asked for more than $500, Jenkins testified last week.

Jenkins, 25, is being forced to testify under a grant of immunity from prosecution. She is accused of perjury by lying to the grand jury that investigated Lloyd’s death. Although she has struggled to recall some details – like the Dumpster’s location and conversations she had with Hernandez – she has been more forthcoming in her testimony at trial than she was when she appeared before the grand jury.

The couple exchanged brief glances Monday as Jenkins concluded her testimony.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.