Report: Warrant links Aaron Hernandez to 2012 double murder
A newly released search warrant reveals why authorities are investigating former NFL star Aaron Hernandez in connection with a double-homicide in Boston in 2012.
The warrant, which was obtained by the Hartford Courant, was
released Tuesday in Superior Court in Bristol, Conn., and indicates that surveillance video from the night of the July 2012 killings shows Hernandez in an SUV that is believed to be involved in the incident.
The warrant does not suggest a motive for the killings and does not indicate whether there is evidence that Hernandez was the man who pulled the trigger, reports the paper.
On June 28, 2013, a silver SUV reportedly matching the description of the car Boston police were seeking in connection with the double-homicide, was towed from Hernandez's uncle's home in Bristol, at the request of police.
The 24-year-old Hernandez is already facing murder charges in the June 17, 2013 death of 27-year-old Boston semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
According to the newly released warrant, surveillance
footage shows Hernandez and Alexander Bradley at the same nightclub in Boston as Furtado
and Abreu the night of their killings, reports the paper. Bradley has filed a civil suit against Hernandez, alleging he shot him in the face after they argued
outside a Miami club in early 2013.
Authorities only began tying Hernandez to the double homicide investigation after he was charged in Odin Lloyd's murder. The warrant reportedly indicates authorities received a phone call on June 22, 2013 that led them to investigate the former NFL star in connection with the 2012 case.
The call is said to have come from an employee of Rumor nightclub in Boston, a club that Hernandez and Lloyd reportedly visited two days before Lloyd’s death and the location at which prosecutors say the two men had a disagreement that eventually led to Lloyd’s shooting, reports the paper.
The caller claimed to have overheard a conversation that indicated the death of Lloyd and the Boston double homicide were related, the warrant reportedly indicated.
It was after that phone call that the investigation into the 2012 double homicide was reignited and the SUV wanted in connection with the case was seized from Hernandez’s uncle’s home.
The newly released warrant reportedly reveals the SUV was given to Hernandez by a rental company in exchange for the NFL player doing promotions. A cousin of Hernandez who lives at the house from which it was seized, reportedly told authorities the vehicle was “Aaron’s” and nobody drove it.
Police have also seized the murder weapon in the double homicide case in recent months. The .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver was reportedly found in a suitcase in the trunk of a car driven by a Bristol woman, and was recovered following a crash in Springfield, Mass.
The driver, Jailene Diaz-Ramos, reportedly told police a friend named “Chicago” and some football players put the suitcase in the trunk. It is unclear whether Hernandez and Diaz-Ramos are connected in any way other than having ties to Bristol, Conn., which is Hernandez’s hometown.
