The Aaron Hernandez murder case continues to develop while the former New England Patriots tight end sit in jail for the death of Odin Lloyd and now police may have found new pieces of evidence after searching a once secret house that Hernandez had.
According to ESPN.com, court documents show that the police searched a secret "flop house" that was leased by Hernandez and evidence they found at the location could be key for the case. Police found out about the location from arrested accomplice Carlos Ortiz and the authorities located a sweatshirt, hat as well as numerous boxes of ammunition. Ortiz was allegedly with Hernandez the night of the Odin Lloyd murder and his participation in the shooting is unclear.
Police took the information and then searched the $1,200 per month apartment located in Franklin, Massachusetts last week, according to court records and the search warrant. The police found a white sweatshirt and red hat in a bedroom and also found multiple boxes of ammunition. The evidence was described as linking to video evidence from the night of the murder and could match what Hernandez was wearing. Lloy was killed on June 17 and police said that the motive had to do with Lloyd talking to the wrong people at a nightclub.
Police wrote that the evidence could be used as a link to Hernandez at the scene of the shooting the night of the murder and that could help fight the argument by the defense that the case is circumstantial. Police said that after the murder Ortiz and another accomplice, Ernest Wallace, who is also in custody, went directly to Hernandez's uncle's house after the murder. Ortiz was arrested there when he was taken into custody and Hernandez is in jail facing life in prison for the shooting, which lawyers say the former tight end orchestrated.
Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said that Hernandez will not be able to marry his girlfriend while in jail, as that could be used to keep her from taking the stand in a murder case. Hernandez has been doing well while in lockup and he is allowed visitors and he has access to a common room and phones. Hernandez is also facing other issues, including possible connections to other shootings, including a double homicide from Boston last year. He is also being looked at in connection with the shooting of a man named Alexander Bradley and his time at Florida has been scrutinized, including his questioning in a shooting and a bar fight.
"The white sweatshirt could be used ... to assist in linking Hernandez to the scene of the crime," trooper Michael Bates wrote in an affidavit in support of one of the search warrants. "The baseball hat could help provide the whereabouts of Hernandez on the Friday night before the homicide."
