Aaron Hernandez was arrested on Wednesday, formally charged with the first-degree murder of an acquaintance whose body was found in an industrial park about a mile from the National Football League's (NFL) tight end's home.
Hernandez is accused of driving Odin Lloyd to a remote spot and overlooking the execution of the semi-pro player, who family members say was dating the sister of the tight end's fiancée. Police believe that the two men, who are believed to be friends, went out together the night of the murder, with Lloyd ending up shot multiple times in the back and chest.
"As (Lloyd) tried to turn, he was shot in the back," said First Assistant District Attorney William McCauley during the Attleboro District Court hearing. "He orchestrated the crime from the beginning and took steps to conceal and destroy evidence."
Police used surveillance camera video, cellphone pings, text messages, and evidence collected from the car used in the crime as well as evidence from two separate searches of his home and surrounding area, to piece a timeline of the events that led to Lloyd's murder.
Police believe that Hernandez set Lloyd up after having issues with the fact that Lloyd was friendly with people that Hernandez was not fond of. Investigators say that surveillance footage from outside Hernandez's home show the tight end leaving with a gun, tracking his vehicles movement to Lloyd's home, where the victim was picked up at 2:35 AM.
Footage from the industrial park's surveillance camera show the same silver Nissan that Lloyd had climbed into earlier in the night, with night-crew workers telling authorities that they heard gunshots between 3:23 and 3:27 a.m.
Police recovered five .45-caliber shell casings at the scene of the crime and in the vehicle rented by Hernandez, as well as chewed bubblegum left behind in the car - the same brand of gum investigators say Hernandez bought prior to picking up Lloyd. Police also have surveillance footage of Hernandez walking around his home with a pistol in hand. Authorities stated that there are six to eight hours of footage missing from Hernandez's home security system as well as two weapons caught on the surveillance video that have disappeared.
Hernandez also faces one count of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of possessing a large-capacity firearm, and two counts of possessing a firearm without an Firearms Identification Card (FID) - which allows the holder to possess non-large-capacity rifles and shotguns their home. He faces life without parole, if convicted.
ABC News is also reporting that Hernandez is a suspect in an 2012 unsolved double-homicide in which the victims were ambushed and shot up at the corner of Shawmut Avenue and Herald Street in Boston's South End. According to a Boston Police report, officers responded to a call in which three individuals were suffering from gunshot wounds, with two of the victims - Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Teixeira Furtado, 28, both of Dorchester - dead at the scene of the crime. Witnesses told police that a grey SUV-style motor vehicle with Rhode Island plates was seen fleeing the scene, with the drive-by shooting occuring hours after Hernandez was witnessed in a nightclub altercation, ABC News has learned
The New England Patriots, who drafted the former Florida Gator in 2010 and recently re-signed Hernandez to a five-year contract worth $40 million, have cut ties with him, taking a $7.5 million salary cap hit for the 2014 season after consolidating his signing bonus rather than spreading the pain over the next three seasons.
Hernandez is one of 29 NFL players arrested since this year's Super Bowl on Feb. 3, according to a database maintained by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Cleveland Browns' rookie linebacker Ausar Walcott was charged with attempted murder, second-degree aggravated assault, and third degree endangerment after getting into an altercation outside The Palace Gentleman's Club, Sunday night. Walcott turned himself into Passiac, N.J. Walcott was cut by the Browns shortly after turning himself into police custody.
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