Aaraon Hernandez Indicted on First Degree Murder Charges
Former New England Patriot tight end Aaron Hernandez was formally indicted on first-degree murder charges Thursday for the death of Odin Lloyd.
A six-count jury indicted Hernandez after more than a month long deferment requested by the former NFL player's lawyers for the sake of collecting more evidence. Police have also used that time to collect evidence, hoping to find the weapon used to kill Lloyd.
Hernandez, 23, pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges in June; he is being held without bail at a Bristol county jail. While police have been unsuccessful in finding the murder weapon in the Lloyd case, the weapon for a second crime, which Hernandez may also be linked to, was discovered.
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Reports speculated in June that Hernandez might have had some kind of involvement in a 2012 homicide that left Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado dead following a drive by shooting. Eyewitnesses who recalled that shooting described an SUV with Rhode Island license plates driving up to a Boston club and opening fire before driving away. A similar SUV, matching the description offered by witnesses, was discovered at the home of Hernandez's uncle, who lives in Bristol, Connecticut.
On Tuesday police linked the gun used in the drive by shooting to a weapon uncovered after a June 21st car accident in Springfield, Massachusetts. Jailene Diaz-Ramos, 19, has been identified as the driver. It is unclear at this point if any connection can be made between Diaz-Ramos, who is from Hernandez's hometown of Bristol, and the former New England Patriot tight end. Before the 2012 double homicide, Abreu and Furtado had been involved in a fight with another group at a local nightclub. That group allegedly included Hernandez, according to reports from The Globe
Hernandez was further linked to the double homicide after reports suggested that Odin Lloyd might have had knowledge of the crime, thus providing motive for his death. Hernandez is currently awaiting trial in prison for first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Police believe Lloyd was killed following a dispute that had occurred between him and Hernandez while at a Boston nightclub a few days before Lloyd's body was discovered. Lloyd's girlfriend was the sister to Hernandez's fiancé.
Lloyd was also an athlete who had decorated his family's house with many trophies over the years. He was currently a player for the Boston Bandits, the oldest semi-pro team in Boston, and working for an architecture firm.
Lawyers have shown confidence that Hernandez will be released, stating that evidence in the Lloyd case is purely "circumstantial."
