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Amy Robock and T.J. Holmes present.

Killer Thriller with your host, Alisa Donovan.

Hey, everyone. Elisa Donovan here, and this is Killer Thriller.

He was one of the biggest young stars in the NFL, a New England Patriots tight end with a massive contract, a Super Bowl appearance, and what looked like an unstoppable future.

Then seemingly overnight, Aaron Hernandez went from football phenom to convicted murderer.

But what makes this story so haunting isn't just the crimes. It's all the questions surrounding them,

the violence, the secrecy, the paranoia, the trauma, the pressure of football culture, the possibility of severe

brain damage, and the unsettling reality that so many people around him saw warning signs

long before everything finally exploded in public. The FX series American sports story,

Aaron Hernandez, revisits the rise and fall of Hernandez

and explores the complicated mix of identity, fame, violence, and CTE that surrounded his life

and death. It is a very compelling series, incredibly well made. And today we are joined by

forensic psychologist, Dr. Rachel Tolls,

whose work focuses on extreme violence, behavioral warning signs, and the pathways that can

lead people towards dangerous behavior. Dr. Rachel, welcome to Killer Thriller. Thank you so much

for being here today. Thank you so much for having me, Lisa. This is great. So excited. Your show is amazing. Oh, I am so excited. There are some guests where I'm like, when are we doing it? When are we doing it? When are we doing it? And this is one of those occasions because I am just so fascinated by the work that you do and how detailed and your expertise.

And so let's just jump right into this.

So for the people that only know the headlines, this really, Aaron Hernandez was, he was at the

absolute top of the sports world, a Patriots star, Super Bowl player, one of the most

dangerous tight ends in football,

...