Aaron Hernandez orchestrated the execution-style murder of his associate Odin Lloyd, police in Massachusetts said Wednesday after filing first-degree murder charges against the former New England Patriots tight end.
After an investigation that stretched for daysand led police several times to the home of Hernandez, they arrested him on Wednesday . He is accused in the shooting death of Lloyd, a semi-pro football player from Boston who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s girlfriend.
Police did not say that Aaron Hernandez pulled the trigger, but First Assistant District Attorney Bill McCauley said he “drove the victim to the remote spot, and then he orchestrated his execution .”
“He orchestrated the crime from the beginning, he took steps to conceal and destroy evidence and he took steps to prevent the police from speaking to … an important witness,” the prosecutor said.
A judge ordered Aaron Hernandez to be held without bail, but his attorney Michael Fee argued that there is only circumstantial evidence and Hernandez should have the chance to return home to his fiancee and 8-month-old child. He added that Hernandez is not a flight risk.
But prosecutors say the evidence against Hernandez is more than circumstantial. Surveillance cameras showed Lloyd and Hernandez in a silver Nissan Altima driving toward the remote location where Lloyd’s body was later found.
Cameras from Hernandez’s home also showed the tight end with a gun. Police said earlier in the week that Hernandez had tried to destroy his security system.
“The defendant goes walking through the house with the gun in his hand. That is captured in the video. … And they all go down to the basement,” McCauley said. “Once in the basement, the surveillance gets shut off.”
Speculation had risen during the week about what involvement Hernandez may have played in Lloyd’s murder, but it was put to rest when he was arrested, handcuffed, and booked in Attleboro District Court .
Shortly after his arrest was announced, Aaron Hernandez was cut by the New England Patriots.
