The jury in the double murder case of Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is expected to visit the Cure nightclub on Friday morning before the prosecution calls more witnesses to the stand. The former star NFL player was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole when he was convicted nearly two years ago in another murder of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd. He is now facing additional charges for the murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safir Furtado on July 16, 2012.
Prosecutor Pat Haggan said Hernandez was out on the town with a convicted cocaine dealer and they headed to the Cure nightclub when Hernandez was bumped by de Abreu and a drink spilled as a result of the physical contact. Abreu, according to prosectors, did not think much of the incident and did not apologize to Hernandez. Haggan said this was taken as a lack of respect by Hernandez, while most people wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
He then told jurors video surveillance outside a club shows Alexander Bradley, a one-time friend of Hernandez’s, pleading with the NFL star to calm down. After spending several hours at more clubs, Haggan said Hernandez retrieved a gun from a secret compartment in his vehicle and began circling the area, essentially hunting de Abreu and his crew. Unfortunately for de Arbreu, prosecutors allege Hernandez located him, running a red light in the process to pull up besides de Abreu’s vehicle. He then allegedly called the man’s name.
According to Haggan, Bradley plans to take the stand to say what allegedly happened next. Awe will testify Hernandez pulled up and said, “Yo, what’s up now?” Bradley is then expected to accuse Hernandez of shouting a racial slur before leaning across the driver’s seat and firing five shots into the de Abreau vehicle. In addition to killing de Abreu, Hernandez allegedly killed Furtado, a passenger in the car. A third passenger in the backseat was stuck with two bullets and then Hernandez’s gun allegedly ran out of ammo and he vanished off of down the Mass Turnpike.
Testimony on Thursday was a bit dry and meticulous. The prosecution called several police officers and paramedics to the stand. Hernandez’s attorney, Jose Baez, tried to poke holes in the prosecution’s case by questioning why officers didn’t follow certain protocols. At one point, Baez gets Sgt. Sean McCarthy to admit they put sheets over the victims’ bodies too soon. Baez said that could possibly have destroyed evidence. One witness also confirms Baez’s theory that there was a street sweeper that had to be found found because no shell casings were. Officer Thomas O’Donnell told his supervisor that the street sweeper was leaving the scene when paramedics pulled up.
Chris White contributed to this report.
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