NFL Star Goes to Trial for Murder

Aaron Hernandez, former New England Patriot’s football player, is being accused of three murders. He is currently serving time in jail, awaiting trial for the death of Odin Lloyd. The trial starts this month, and Hernandez is charged with the first degree murder of Lloyd, and has plead not guilty to the charge. Trial has not yet been set for the two other murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

How does a star football player, who landed a $40 million contract, end up behind bars with such serious charges? Hernandez was a prominent football player at his high school in Bristol Connecticut, and left halfway through his senior year in 2007 to join the University of Florida football team. Soon after he joined the University, he was causing trouble. In his first semester, a police report states that Hernandez punched a manager of an off campus bar and ruptured his eardrum. The next fall, there was a shooting at a club Hernandez was at. Another police report states Hernandez and other football players were involved in an argument outside, that might have led to the shooting.

Less than a year after his second season with the Patriots, Hernandez was charged with the first degree murder of Lloyd. The Patriots immediately dropped him. Lloyd was dating Hernandez’s fiance’s sister, Shavanna Jenkins. Lloyd was last seen in a rented silver Nissan Altima, along with Hernandez and his two associates, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace. Surveillance footage shows the car heading towards an isolated area at 3:22 a.m. at an industrial park. Nearby workers reported gun shots between 3:23 and 3:27 a.m., and an Altima pulled into Hernandez’s driveway at 3:29. His house was a half mile from the crime scene. Just nine days later, Hernandez was arrested and charged with first degree murder, along with weapon related charges.

Since Hernandez was in the car with Ortiz and Wallace, the prosecutors are trying them in a joint venture. This means it is not crucial to know who pulled the trigger, just as long as there’s enough evidence that each man played a part in the murder.

The upcoming trial is only for the death of Lloyd. The jury will hear no information regarding the two other murders Hernandez is charged for. This could lead to presumption and preconceived judgment of Hernandez’s innocence.

The trial is expected to last six to ten weeks, and multiple witnesses will be called along the way. Some of these witnesses may include the Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and team owner Robert Kraft.