After a week of speculation New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested by police for his connection to a murder investigation involving Odin Lloyd. He was taken into custody by police this morning and it is unclear what charges he will face.
The authorities have searched his mansion home as well as a surrounding pond and wooded area and although they left with evidence bags, no major movement has happened involving Hernandez since the weekend. One reason for the deliberate and cautionary movement by the police could possibly be due to the fact that Hernandez is a well-known and high profile athlete and figure. As written in USA Today, a former law professor said that one reason the police have been quiet since searching Hernandez's home could be due to the fact that they want to be sure they have solid evidence before making a move.
There were conflicting reports about whether there was an arrest warrant out or even prepared for Hernandez, but as it stands he has not been arrested or charged with a crime. Hernandez is connected to the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, an associate that was connected to the tight end through his girlfriend. Reports have come out that Hernandez was seen on video the night of the murder with Lloyd and police have said that where the body was found was where he was shot. The body was discovered about a mile from Hernandez's mansion home in North Attleboro.
Police searched the home last weekend and returned on Monday to look in a pond area and woods near the mansion, but reports said that authorities didn't find anything in the pond. The law professor David Siegel from New England Law Boston said that when cases deal with a "high profile celebrity" things can go wrong if authorities jump to conclusions or are too quick to send accusations. So far the authorities haven't identified any suspects in the murder and sources have said that Lloyd was shot multiple times.
Reports from various media outlets said that a warrant had already been prepared for Hernandez, but sources said that those were premature and the lawyer for the tight end, Michael Fee, came out and blasted the media for making false assumptions. Hernandez could possibly be facing obstruction of justice charges for destroying his cell phone and security system and he also could be in hot water for having a cleaning crew at his home on Monday. Hernandez is a major part of the Patriots offense and with Rob Gronkowski coming back from surgery, he will be even more essential.