Jury Acquits Ex-Patriots Star Aaron Hernandez In 2012 Double-Murder Case

A jury acquitted Aaron Hernandez on Friday of a 2012 double homicide, thus clearing the former New England Patriots tight end of all charges even after he was arrested for a third killing in 2013.

Aaron Hernandez Acquitted In Double-Murder Trial

Hernandez, 27, is serving a life sentence without parole for that third murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée. Prosecutors in the double-murder trial weren’t permitted to mention Hernandez’s conviction for that crime.

The Suffolk Superior Court in Massachusetts found the former Patriots star not guilty on charges of murdering Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in a drive-by shooting in Boston’s South End in the early morning hours of July 16, 2012.

The jury also cleared Hernandez of witness intimidation for shooting his own prosecution witness, Alexander Bradley, a close friend of the former NFL player who was with him the night of the shootings. Hernandez allegedly shot Bradley in the face months after the first murders to prevent him from speaking up. Bradley lost his right eye as a result of the shooting.

Following the 2012 murders, Hernandez was convicted on only one charge, illegal possession of a firearm, and was immediately sentenced to four to five years in prison.

Prosecutors stated Hernandez began shooting at de Abreu and Furtado’s car because he felt disrespected after one of the men bumped into him and spilled his drink at a Boston nightclub. Bradley said Hernandez later opened fire on the two men’s car while they waited at a stoplight.

Hernandez’s lawyers alleged it was Bradley, a confessed drug dealer, who shot the men over a drug deal. The defense attempted to undermine Bradley’s credibility, citing his immunity deal with prosecutors to testify against Hernandez, his role as the driver of the car the night of the shootings and his criminal record.

Jose Baez, a lawyer for Hernandez, dismissed Bradley as “a killer” nicknamed Rock for his habit of “rock[ing] people to sleep.”

Baez previously won an acquittal for Casey Anthony in a child murder case in Florida in 2011 that became national news.

Bradley is serving a five-year prison sentence in Connecticut for shooting up a Hartford nightclub in 2014.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, depicted Hernandez as an incredibly impulsive athlete with a propensity for outbursts over small slights, particularly at clubs he frequented.

The 60 or so people in the courtroom included Boston police detectives, relatives of the two murdered men like Ernesto Abreu, the father of one of the victims, as well as Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez. 

Upon hearing the verdict acquitting her long-time partner and the father of her four-year-old child, Jenkins-Hernandez closed her eyes and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Hernandez himself also wept, as did some members of his defense team, including Ronald Sullivan, a Harvard Law School professor who battled with the Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke several times during the long trial.

“It was the only fair and just verdict,’’ Sullivan told reporters. “Mr. Hernandez was wrongly accused of these crimes.’’

Jenkins-Hernandez told the press she was “very happy” before entering the women’s restroom outside the courtroom along with two friends.

Relatives of the victims refused to comment as they exited the courtroom, although one called out “he got away with murder!”

Approximately six weeks after the killings of de Abreu and Furtado, Hernandez signed a five-year, $40 million deal with the Patriots and ended up playing another season before Llyod was murdered. He was released from the team shortly after his arrest in Lloyd’s killing in June 2013. Hernandez was not formally charged in the 2012 murders until 2014.

Jurors deliberated for about 73 hours in total for both Hernandez’s trials (36 hours for the first, 37 hours for the second) before announcing the verdicts.

NORTH ATTLEBORO, MA – AUGUST 22: Aaron Hernandez is escorted into the courtroom of the Attleboro District Court for his hearing on August 22, 2013 in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge for the death of Odin Lloyd. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)