Aaron Hernandez is set for an arraignment for his next court date in Massachusetts and this comes after the former New England Patriots star was indicted on two more counts of first degree murder on top of the one count he was already facing for the death of Odin Lloyd and he could be in the courtroom this week or next week to answer those charges and his girlfriend and fiance Shayanna Jenkins along with his mother Terri Hernandez could be in attendance.
Hernandez was already facing one court of first degree murder in the Lloyd case and there is not set date for a trial in that yet, while the double murder charges accuse Hernandez of killing two men, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, in a drive by shooting following an incident in a nightclub in the summer of 2012. According to ESPN.com, Hernandez was linked to the shooting through video from the nightclub that showed he was there along with physical evidence that includes an SUV and a gun that was recovered in a separate incident.
The case had remained unsolved and had no suspects for some time and that changed after Hernandez was arrested for the original murder of Lloyd. The death of Lloyd came last summer in June and his body was found less than a mile from the home of Hernandez and he later was brought in on charges that he killed or conspired to kill Lloyd. Hernandez was hit with first degree murder charges, but no gun for that murder was ever recovered. Hernandez still faces a life sentence for that murder, but it could be tough for the prosecution to get a guilty verdict without the murder weapon or reliable witnesses.
The newest case could make things tough for the defense, as Hernandez is now accused of two more murders. The SUV that was traced back to the drive by shooting was found in the garage of Hernandez's uncle in his hometown of Bristol, while the gun was found in a separate incident. The woman with the gun claimed it was her friends and that is belonged to "football players" and now he will be in court soon to answer the charges. According to the Boston Globe, a not guilty plea is likely from Hernandez, who has also been hit with a civil suit from the families of the victims.
Hernandez had signed a $40 million contract with the Patriots the year before he was arrested and the team released him soon after he was brought in. Based on the timeline, he signed the contract after committing the double murder and police say this stemmed from a random incident at the nightclub and that the two groups did not know each other when they first crossed paths. Some have speculated that Hernandez killing Lloyd was due to the fact that he knew about Hernandez's involvement in this double murder, but that has not yet been confirmed.
Hernandez will next be in court for the Lloyd case in June and trial date is expected to be set shortly. The second case will have separate proceedings.
