Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez entered a plea of not guilty to the murder of Lloyd Odin, as has his associate Carlos Ortiz. Hernandez, who will also stand trial for a separate double murder, pled not guilty to those charges as well. Hernandez has no known gang affiliations but it has been suggested that he has ties to gangs in and around his childhood neighborhood in Bristol, Connecticut.
Carlos Ortiz was initially meant to be a witness for the prosecution before proving to be unreliable (via Fox Sports):
"Prosecutors based many of their early allegations about the crime on statements made by Ortiz. He initially told them that he stayed in the car at the murder scene and that Hernandez, Wallace and Lloyd got out. At that point, he had claimed, he heard gunshots and that only Hernandez and Wallace got back into the car.
"However, it quickly became apparent that Ortiz's credibility would be an issue."
Hernandez, Ortiz, and a man named Ernest Wallace, Jr. are all being tried for murder, since under Massachusetts law anyone involved in a killing can be charged, regardless of who committed the act.
According to the prosecution, Hernandez and his two accomplices met with Lloyd, a semi-pro linebacker, to discuss a problem Hernandez had with Odin on the night he was killed (via New York Post):
"On June 16, Hernandez texted two out-of-state pals and asked them to come to Massachusetts - telling them, 'You can't trust anyone anymore.'
"When they arrived from Connecticut, the muscle-bound athlete left his home, and the three men picked up Lloyd at his house at around 2:30 a.m.
"They cruised around and talked about the night in question at the club.
"Lloyd got nervous and texted his sister, 'Did you see who I am with?' When asked who, he wrote 'NFL.'
"His last text read: 'Just so you know.'"
According to the New York Post there are court documents to suggest that Odin's murder may be related to the 2012 killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, the two men whom Hernandez also allegedly murdered.
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