The Aaron Hernandez murder investigation has shifted into the prosecutions favor after recent surveillance photos captured hours before-and minutes after-the shooting death of his friend Odin Llyod show the former New England Patriots tight end holding a gun, authorities said.
The photos were taken from Hernandez's home surveillance system, which were thought to have been destroyed, and gives the public their first look at images that appear to show Hernandez holding a gun both and after the killing. The images were among more than 100 pages of court records released Thursday by Attleboro District Court.
There are four photos that show Hernandez in his basement holding the gun shortly after Llyod was killed, and there were two additional photos that showed what authorities say is Hernandez in his living room, a few hours before Llyod's killing, also holding the same gun.
Hernandez's defense attorneys have objected to the recently released images, saying it is "systematically undermining" Hernandez's right to a fair trail.
Prosecutors argue that they believe Hernandez orchestrated Llyod's killing because he was upset at him for talking to people Hernandez had problems with while at a nightclub just a few days earlier.
Hernandez currently awaits his trial for his connection in the shooting death, but also could be facing murder charges in two different cases in two different counties.
He is also still under investigation in a 2012 double homicide, with a grand jury in Suffolk County, Mass., considering whether or not to indict him, according to Pro Football Talk. However, if it turns out that there's a connection between the two incidents, that could literally be a death sentence for Hernandez.
"If this was a murder of a witness or someone who knew something about the earlier murder, then this case becomes potentially a death penalty case and a federal proceeding," attorney Jack Furlong told Pro Football Talk. "Remember, Massachusetts does not have the death penalty. The United States government does. ... This case ... went across state lines repeatedly between Florida, Connecticut and Massachusetts. It could go federal in a heartbeat."
It is now believed that Llyod possibly could've known about the 2012 double murder, and that could've been another motive for Hernandez to kill him.
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