First Aaron Hernandez Murder Trial Officially Underway

Well after a year and half after his arrest, the Aaron Hernandez murder trial has officially begun with opening statements from both sides. Hernandez is the former New England Patriots tight end, who allegedly squandered what could have been the greatest tight end tandem in NFL history — with him and Gronkowski — with his alleged involved in three murders.

Though he has ben charged in the 2012 Boston slaying of two, this trial is about the murder of Odin Lloyd. Though some believe that the murders are related, the judge has ruled that the prosecution is unable to bring in facts about the double homicide. Odin was a semiprofessional football player who knew the defendant through Hernandez’s fiancee — Lloyd was dating her sister. It is suspected that the victim was killed because he knew about the double murder case.

As for the opening statements, the prosecutor is attempting to prove Hernandez was present at the murder, but they do not specify if he pulled the trigger: they stressed his and Odin’s DNA were found on a joint found at the murder site along with a footprint matching the defendant’s sneakers.

Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg claimed, the murderers took Lloyd “to a secluded, isolated area in North Attleborough, a town where Odin Lloyd knew no one but the defendant and the defendant’s fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins,” according to the Boston Globe. “There Odin Lloyd was shot 6 times. He was killed and he was left in a secluded area.”

Video surveillance shows the four mean leaving — Hernandez, Wallace and two other defendants Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz — but only three coming back to Hernandez’s house ten minutes later with what appears to be a gun in Aaron’s hand. The gun was never found. This is certainly damning evidence, but happens to be circumstantial.

As for the defense, it is possible they are going to place the blame on Wallace and Ortiz, who are going to be tried separately. Defense attorney Michael Fee’s opening statement targeted the prosecutors for going after Hernandez for being a celebrity. “[It’s] just a story… and it’s not true,” he said. “The prosecution will try to dazzle and distract you. They will go on and on.”

Only time will tell if the mountains of circumstantial evidence will put Hernandez away for a long time: it is important to note that even if he is found not guilty here, he has another murder trial to sweat through as well as a civil case.