Aaron Hernandez now being investigated for connection to an unsolved double murder in 2012

Submitted by mGrowOld on

Title says it all.  This is breaking news on CNN so no link availble yet but wow....just wow.

Edit: Link now available 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/06/27/report-aaron-hernandez-under-inve…

Edit: More news - police say the grey SUV they had been seeking in the 2012 slaying has now been located and was rented to Aaron Hernandez at the time of those murders.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/27/us/nfl-hernandez/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

MaizeNBlueInDC

June 27th, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^

Wait, they broke away from their in-court coverage of the Zimmerman trial long enough to break that?  How are they possibly dealing with two stories at once? 

GoBlueInNYC

June 27th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^

Plenty of people don't follow football. It's national news, but I'm sure Hernandez is no different from anyone else to a lot of people. There are plenty of high profile crimes, and they manage to assemble juries and hold trials (dangerously close to wading into a discussion about the legitimacy of the American judicial system, which I am preemptively refusing to engage in).

On a related note: I just saw an article in the news that the jury pool for the Holmes murder trial (the guy who shot up the movie theater during the Dark Knight Rises screening) is expected to be upwards of 5,000, which would make it the largest jury summons ever. LINK

Moleskyn

June 27th, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^

Yeah, back when Vick was going through his legal stuff, I was at a wedding and a TV had coverage of the trial on, and there were about 5 guys there who had no idea who Michael Vick was. I was flabbergasted. Even at that point, you didn't have to be a sports fan to know who he was. I guess to each their own, eh?

GoBlueInNYC

June 27th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^

I was just talking to my boss, who's a pretty big sports fan but doesn't follow football. He had heard that a football player had been murdered, but knew nothing else about the situation. So even people who follow sports (in his case, primarily hockey) don't necessarily know what's going on with Hernandez.

He is currently reading up on the story and is completely astounded by it.

snoopblue

June 27th, 2013 at 1:25 PM ^

Please remember that in today's world, there is a prosector or district attorney on the other side of these things who wants to drag these kind of media frenzy cases as long as he can. They want their courtroom drama broadcasted live on major news networks and desire book deals galore following the end of a trial. Just keep that in the back of your mind. 

The investigators and prosecutors might be trying to shake down the guy with the most to lose for information. Let's hope Hernandez manages to keep his family safe throughout all this. Worst case scenario, he pulled the trigger, but I don't think that's been proven yet, even outside the law.

ijohnb

June 27th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^

that you are really stereotying prosecutors there.  And I am not really understanding your conclusion that a media circus is a good thing for the prosecution.

This is also a remarkably pro-Hernandez post.  Note to the prosecution, strike this juror.

LB

June 27th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^

I hope there isn't a prosecutor doing what you just did.

I'll bet there are plenty of prosecutors out there who have no desire to be on tv. 

I think we have all seen examples of what you suggest. I'd like to see some evidence before we get a rope, though.

Shake down, and let's  hope Hernandez manages to keep his family safe? You have got to be kidding. I don't wish any harm to come to his family, but if he is guilty of multiple homicides, they are not honestly my first concern.

Sione's Flow

June 27th, 2013 at 1:25 PM ^

It's obvious, Hernandez has some serious issues. But this is getting to the point, where you have to wonder what type of blissful ignorance was going on at Florida

Bay_Area_Blue

June 27th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^

it's garbage like this that further empties my "faith in humanity" tank. I get that you want to share something that you think is relevant and interesting, but it's unworthy of this blog and it's just wrong. The people directly affected by this tragedy don't need some jerk sports writer to break it all down and draw irrelevant connections just to get clicks. In fact, no one needs that. The irony is that this guy argues that a positive culture might have prevented this from happening while simultaneously spewing his own unique brand of vitriol and eschewing logic for broad-sweeping assumptions. 

MGoManBall

June 27th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^

Not sure how this works so maybe somebody can clarify. Since the prosecution are going after 1st degree murder charges and the gun charges but not anything else, how does this work?

Let's say Hernandez DID murder him but the defense convices the jury that the murder wasn't premeditated or any of the qualifications for a homocide to be 1st degree, will he be found innocent of 1st degree murder and then walk free? Or can a jury say he's not guilty of first degree murder but he IS guilty of a lesser degree of the same offense? 

Sorry. I'm not the most polished when it comes to the legal system. 

ijohnb

June 27th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^

can come back with a second degree murder conviction.  When you are charged with first degree murder you are essentially being charged with all the lesser included offenses also.  The jury will be instructed on that.  Also, typically juries don't come back with second degree because they believed the elements of premeditation and malice were not present, but is instead typically a "compromise" when the jury believes strongly that a defendant is guilty but still sees holes in the prosecutions case.  By finding second degree, a jury is saying "we are 95% sure he committed first degree."  This happens frequently in death penalty states when a jury does not want to send somebody to death on "pretty sure."  You see what I'm saying?

DLup06

June 27th, 2013 at 1:55 PM ^

Jury instructions should be clear that if they find holes in the prosecution's case, he should be acquitted. Each element must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, so finding a lesser included offense would be saying "we are sure of all elements except for premeditation". At least, this is the way the system is supposed to work. Unfortunately, I think you may be right as far as how it actually works...

ijohnb

June 27th, 2013 at 2:03 PM ^

not saying that what you describe never happens.  However, premeditation does not take much.  it is very hard to commit an intentional murder without premeditation.  Think about when you are walking down the cereal isle at the store and you are like ummm, fruit loops, I think I will grab them.  You have just premeditated your picking of fruit loops. 

The cases of true second degree murder are very rare.  It is the catch all between manslaughter and first degree.  It is often used as the jury's compromise.

DLup06

June 27th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^

Lesser included offenses are always available options for a jury. If they believe the prosecution has proven every element other than premeditation beyond a reasonable doubt, he would be found guilt of 2d degree murder

JamieH

June 27th, 2013 at 1:52 PM ^

It's all coming together now.  Sounds like Lloyd was with Hernandez back in July of 2012 when he killed those 2 people.  He obviously started to have loose lips about the incident, so Hernandez "took care" of him.

 

Perkis-Size Me

June 27th, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^

Well, the guy's got some serious issues, as well as baffling bouts of stupidity.

Not saying its easy to navigate through the grief of losing a parent at such a young age, because its not. I have no idea what that must feel like for him, and I'm sure thats all a contributing factor to his behavior. But if this all proves to be true as well, there's no way on this planet he'll ever have a life outside of a 7x10 ft jail cell again.

Not sure he'd be getting the chance as it stands now anyway, but maybe he'd be up for parole after 40 or so years. He'd better pray that somehow his lawyer is able to work the judge and get him out on bail. I have a feeling that'd be the last ounce of freedom he'll ever have in his life.

reshp1

June 27th, 2013 at 2:20 PM ^

If all allegations are true, this is, what, 5 people he's shot now? (1 who lost his eye with a civil suit against Hernandez, Lloyd, 2 2012 murders, and 1 wounded from the same event as the 2012 murders)

74polSKA

June 27th, 2013 at 3:42 PM ^

While we're speculating, I've been thinking about this. Is there any way that a player that is apparantly as bad a dude as Hernandez would threaten their coach? What if a coach, Urban Meyer for instance at Florida, lets a player get away with stuff because said player had threatened him or his family? This seems beyond impossible, but the stranger this story gets the more I wonder. I'll go put my foil hat back on now.

ijohnb

June 27th, 2013 at 3:52 PM ^

think it sounds impossible at all.  While I certainly cannot speak definitively, it is my guess that head coaches probably do not have a lot of personal contact with players specifically for this reason.  I think that other players probably often keep certain players "in check" and that threats against coaches really are not that uncommon.  I think that the NFL in particular is probably quite a bit different of a world than we think, or at least thought until the last couple of years.  Listen to the Gregg Williams tapes.  I think that is a better representative of the NFL environment than we want to think it is.

GoBluePhil

June 28th, 2013 at 7:57 AM ^

Aaron Hernandez now prime suspect. He is a suspect in every homicide that ha no legitimate suspects. Seriously. This guy is a real bad ass. I'm sure some of the Pats players are glad they didn't piss him off in practice. This fool just goes out and gang bangs everyone that upsets him. He's got serious issues.