commentary by Patrick H. Moore
At this time of year Aaron Hernandez should be with “his guys” preparing for the New England Patriots’ playoff showdown with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. Somehow, however, Tom Brady and the Patriots were never quite Aaron’s “guys”. Instead, Aaron’s guys’s were drug users, enforcers, small-time criminals and general fuck-ups. He ran with a shaky crew and it caught up with him. Now, to make matters worse, in addition to facing charges for the murder of semi-pro footballer Odin Lloyd, law enforcement is working overtime to pin the 2012 Boston nightclub double murder drive-by shootings on Hernandez. In fact, according to newly released court documents, the authorities suspect that Hernandez may have actually been the “shooter” who gunned down Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado at a stoplight not far from the Cure Lounge in Boston where he had allegedly argued with the two victims earlier that evening.
Kevin Vaughn of Fox Sports writes:
Investigators believe the 4Runner, which Hernandez obtained from a Rhode Island auto dealership in exchange for promotional work, was involved in the incident, according to the warrant, which was unsealed this morning.
“There is also probable cause to believe that Aaron Hernandez was operating the suspect vehicle used in the shooting homicides of Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado, and may have been the shooter,” a detective wrote in the warrant.
Odin Lloyd
Hernandez, the former Pro Bowl tight end, remains behind bars without bail while awaiting trial for the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in the death of Lloyd, who was dating the sister of the former football star’s fiancée.
The Toyota 4Runner was found parked in the garage of a home owned by Hernandez’s uncle following his implication in Lloyd’s death.
According to the affidavit,the investigators hoped to find fingerprints, gunshot residue and shell casings in or around the vehicle “since there is reason to believe that the vehicle has remained untouched and stored in an enclosed garage for a year.”
It is not clear, however, that any such evidence was actually recovered when the 4Runner was searched.
The detectives also hoped to locate the clothing Hernandez is believed to have been wearing on the night Abreu and Furtado were killed – a gray baseball cap with a red or orange brim and a red or orange design on the front; a gray T-shirt with a red, green and white design; a pair of gray and white sneakers; a beaded necklace; and a set of rosary beads that included a round medallion and a cross. I’m glad that Hernandez was apparently wearing the rosary beads because he’s going to need all the help he can get to extricate himself from this gigantic mess.
Law enforcement had no inkling that Hernandez might have been involved in the 2012 killings until after Lloyd’s death when a detective recalled recognizing Hernandez on surveillance footage from the Boston nightclub Abreu and Furtado had visited shortly before they were shot on a highway overpass near the club.
What then cemented the initial suspicion was a “tipster” who reportedly called the police a few days later and claimed that the nightclub shootings were connected to Odin Lloyd’s death. The man said the same guy was involved in both killings and provided enough details about the Boston case to lead detectives to believe that he had intimate knowledge of the shootings.
According to a search warrant affidavit made public in Hernandez’s hometown of Bristol, Conn., the tipster told the police dispatcher that “someone accidentally spilled the beans in front of me.”
Here is what the investigators knew about the double nightclub shootings prior to connecting Hernandez to the deaths:
Daniel Abreu
The victims Abreu and Furtado and three other men left a nightclub known as Cure Lounge on Boston’s south side. They were sitting at a stop light a few blocks away when someone pulled up in a silver or gray sport utility vehicle and opened fire. Witnesses described it as a Toyota 4Runner or Nissan Pathfinder with Rhode Island plates. Abreu and Furtado died almost instantly. One of three men in the back seat suffered a gunshot wound in the arm. The other two men, who were not hurt, fled and were questioned later.
Initially, other than the description of the vehicle, police investigators had little to go on. Abreu and Furtado were immigrants from Cape Verde and were not involved in gangs.
This all changed after the Odin Lloyd killing and the new focus on Hernandez. The investigators studied the video surveillance from the Cure Lounge as well as surveillance footage from other cameras in the area.
The first smoking gun, according to the warrant, was footage of Hernandez parking in a garage down the street from the club at 12:04 a.m. on July 16, 2012. There he was, bold as day, driving a silver 2006 Toyota 4Runner with Rhode Island license plates. The footage showed Hernandez and a man later identified as his former “right hand man” Alexander Bradley outside the Cure Lounge a short time later. Hernandez and Bradley entered the club just after Abreu, Furtado and their three friends.
The second smoking gun was the fact that although Hernandez and Bradley left the club nearly an hour before Abreu and Furtado, surveillance cameras captured a vehicle believed to be the 4Runner slowly circling the block as the two victims and their friends walked to a parking garage to get their car.
The homicide deaths of Abreu and Furtado were reported less than 15 minutes later several blocks from the club.
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The .38-caliber handgun that — according to multiple media reports — is believed to have been the murder weapon used on Abreu and Furtado,was recovered on June 21st of last year when state troopers. responding to a three-vehicle crash in western Massachusetts, found a .38-caliber handgun in the trunk.
According to the police report, the female driver of the car told officers that “a few days ago she gave a ride to a friend named ‘Chicago’ and his buddies. She stated that they are football players and they put all their belongings in the trunk. She stated that she dropped them off at work and they left their belongings in the vehicle …”
The man identified as “Chicago,” John A. Alcorn, has ties to Hernandez’s cousin, Tanya Singleton, who has been charged with contempt of court for failing to testify before a grand jury and with conspiracy to commit accessory after the fact in Lloyd’s killing. Alcorn is related to Singleton’s now-deceased husband, who was killed in a high-speed car crash June 30.
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So is the noose around Aaron Hernandez’ neck slowly but irrevocably tightening? It would appear so. For the prosecution to prove that Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd is no slam dunk, which is a big part of the reason the case has been proceeding at the “slow pace of the moon”. It would be ironic if the Boston nightclub double murder ultimately proved to be the easier of the two convictions.