Judge Rules Hernandez Family Can Read Suicide Notes

(AP)—A Massachusetts judge has ordered a district attorney to hand over copies of three suicide notes left by ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez by the time he is buried.

George Leontire, an attorney for Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins Hernandez, made the request in court Monday morning, hours before Hernandez's funeral in Bristol, Connecticut.

Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence in a 2013 murder, took his own life last week, just days after being acquitted in a 2012 double slaying.

Hernandez left three notes next to a Bible.

Leontire said Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.'s office had refused to share the contents of the notes until the investigation into Hernandez's death is complete.

The judge said Early's office can redact information from the notes to protect the ongoing investigation.