Boston prosecutors announced on Thursday that new charges have been leveled at former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who is currently awaiting trial in another murder case. It was announced that Hernandez is facing double murder charges for a drive-by shooting of two men in July 2012 in Boston.
Prosecutors contend that Hernandez and another man followed the five men after an incident in a South End nightclub. They say the Hernandez and the men had no prior relationship and had never met each other other than the encounter at the club.
After the five men left the nightclub in a black SUV, Hernandez and his associate followed the SUV and when the men pulled up and stopped at a stop light, Hernadez’s vehicle pulled up next to the SUV and Hernandez opened fire with a .38 caliber revolver on the vehicle, killing the driver and another, according to prosecutors. The two men killed in the ambush were identified as Daniel Jorge Correia Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado. Surveillance video shows Hernandez’s Suv circling the block as they watched the five men leave the club, then follow after them as they leave.
Initially, the authorities suspected that the victims were associated with gangs and that the shootings were gang-related. No arrests were made at the time. Since that time, authorities have stated that the men had no gang relations at all.
After that incident, Hernandez was involved in another incident where he shot out the eye of another man outside a Miami club.
Then, in June, it is said that Hernandez orchestrated the killing of semipro football player Odin Lloyd. That killing was carried out because Lloyd had spoken with someone that Hernandez didn’t like according to authorities. Authorities also allege that the killing was done because Lloyd had told someone about Hernandez’s part in the 2012 killings.
Hernandez was arrested for the 2013 incident and jailed on charges, after the body of Lloyd was discovered by a jogger near Hernandez’s home. He was released from the Patriots after his arrest.
It was after his arrest in the Lloyd case, that the nightclub bouncer where the two parties met, called authorities and told them that that he had information showing that the two incidents were connected. Then, authorities began looking at Hernandez as a suspect in the Boston slayings.
Since the investigation turned to Hernandez, the vehicle used in the shooting was found hidden in a garage of Hernandez’s cousin Tanya Singleton in Bristol, Connecticut. When offered immunity in exchange for her Grand Jury testimony, she refused and was charged with Contempt.
The murder weapon was also recovered as the investigation began in earnest in June of last year. It was recovered from an individual that has ties to Hernandez.
Hernandez played an entire season of football for the Patriots after the slaying of the two men. During that season, Hernandez would play in 10 games, make five touchdowns after catching 51 passes for 483 yards. One month after the slayings, Hernandez signed an extension with the Patriots, that contract was worth $40 million. The signing bonus was $12.5 million.