Hernandez DNA found at murder scene Prosecutors say !

FALL RIVER — A marijuana joint found next to a slain Boston man in North Attleborough contained traces of both his DNA and the DNA of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, a Bristol County prosecutor said Thursday in an opening statement in Hernandez’s murder trial. A footprint at the murder scene in an industrial park also matched sneakers worn by Hernandez, and Hernandez’s DNA was found on a .45-caliber shell casing found in a car he had rented, Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Bomberg said. CONTINUE READING BELOW ▼ Bomberg said Hernandez and two associates in June 2013 drove the victim, Odin L. Lloyd, “to a secluded, isolated area in North Attleborough, a town where Odin Lloyd knew no one but the defendant and the defendant’s fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins. There Odin Lloyd was shot six times. He was killed, and he was left in a secluded area.” Hernandez, 25, a native of Bristol, Conn., has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and weapons charges. The story of Hernandez, a wealthy young professional athlete who has allegedly squandered a bright future, has generated headlines nationwide. His trial is beginning just before his former team takes on the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Hernandez played in the team’s last Super Bowl appearance three years ago, a loss to the New York Giants. CONTINUE READING IT BELOW ▼ Who’s who in Hernandez case The former New England Patriots tight end has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of Odin L. Lloyd. Photos: Murder trial starts Live updates from the trial Video: Hernandez in court Aaron Hernandez coverage Defense attorney Michael Fee, in his opening statement to the Bristol Superior Court jury, said, “Aaron Hernandez is an innocent man. ... Aaron Hernandez is not guilty.” Fee said the investigation of Hernandez had been “sloppy and unprofessional” and the evidence police had collected “should have led them in another direction.” “We are here today,” he said, “because police and the prosecution targeted Aaron Hernandez from the very beginning. As soon as they found out Aaron Hernandez — a celebrity football player for the New England Patriots – was a friend of Odin Lloyd’s, it was over.’’ After a break for lunch, the prosecution called two witnesses. One was the Bishop Feehan High School student who found Lloyd’s body. The court recessed for the day shortly before 4 p.m. Bomberg, painstakingly outlining the case built by the state against Hernandez, said Hernandez and his two associates, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, had picked up Lloyd in Boston in the early morning hours of June 17, 2013. The four men drove to a North Attleborough industrial park. Less than 10 minutes later, only Hernandez and the two associates arrived at Hernandez ‘s home, which is not far from the industrial park, Bomberg said. He showed the jury video surveillance footage from Hernandez’s home system of the three men getting out of the car. Lloyd’s body was found later that day by the student. The murder weapon has not been found. Bomberg said Hernandez had not only orchestrated the murder, he had tried to cover it up. The prosecutor revealed little about a motive in the case. But he did say that when Hernandez and Lloyd were at a Boston nightclub a couple of evenings before the slaying, Lloyd saw some of his other friends there and Hernandez left the establishment “unhappy,” even though he exchanged no words with those friends of Lloyd. The prosecutor said a valet saw Hernandez standing that night outside a downtown Boston hotel, shoving a gun into the waistband of his pants and then covering the gun with his jacket before leaving the area with Lloyd. Fee acknowledged that Hernandez had set up a meeting with Lloyd two nights later, the night of the slaying, but he said Hernandez had simply wanted to go out partying with Lloyd, Wallace, and Ortiz. He said the evidence might show Hernandez was with Lloyd before he was killed, but there was no evidence he killed him. “Mere presence is not enough in our system,” he said. “We can’t be convicted of a crime just because we hang with the wrong people or are in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He also questioned whether Hernandez had a motive to kill Lloyd, saying Lloyd was “one of his partying pals” who was known as the “blunt master’’ because of the marijuana cigarettes he supplied to Hernandez. Fee also noted that Lloyd was dating Jenkins’s sister and could have ultimately ended up being Hernandez’s brother-in- law. “Aaron Hernandez is not the murderer of his friend,’’ Fee said. “In June 2013, Aaron Hernandez was planning his future, not a murder.’’ Bomberg spoke for about an hour, while Fee spoke for about 35 minutes. Among those in court Thursday was Jenkins. She was offered immunity by prosecutors, but there was no indication in the prosecutor’s opening statement that she would provide any testimony. Hernandez’s brother, D.J. Hernandez, was also there, along with Lloyd’s mother, Ursula Ward, and other Lloyd family members. After the opening statements, Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh, who is presiding, told jurors that prosecutors did not have to prove Hernandez pulled the trigger to secure a murder conviction. Rather, they must show that he “knowingly participated” in the slaying and intended to bring it to fruition, she said. Hernandez’s associates, Wallace and Ortiz, also face murder charges in the slaying and will be tried separately. They have pleaded not guilty. Hernandez also faces charges in a 2012 double slaying in Boston, as well as civil suits from the families of his alleged victims. Hernandez spent three seasons (2010-12) with the Patriots, appearing in 38 games. The most recent Super Bowl touchdown pass thrown by quarterback Tom Brady went to Hernandez, who caught a 12-yarder in the loss against the New York Giants three years ago. Hernandez was the Patriots’ leading receiver in Super Bowl XLVI, catching eight passes for 67 yards and the touchdown. In Phoenix Thursday, New England Patriot safety Devin McCourty said he still thinks about the team’s former tight end. “I’m sure today we will be, just because with the news of the trial starting,” McCourty said. “It’s kind of hard for you not to think about it, he was a former teammate of ours. But yeah, I think people think about it.’’ Michael Whitmer of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @globemcramer. Travis Andersen can be reached at tandersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe. John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.
source: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/29/aaron-hernandez-murder-trial-get-underway/I3pxtcGGb4dk39gNxbJibK/story.html