Inquest 10 gunshot wounds | ||
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Date June 16, 2013 (2013-06-16) Suspect(s) Aaron Hernandez, Carlos Ortiz, and Ernest Wallace (All were charged with first degree murder) Verdict Hernandez, guilty of first degree murder, 5 firearm charges; Wallace, guilty of accessory after the fact; Ortiz, guilty of accessory after the fact | ||
The murder of Odin Lloyd occurred on June 17, 2013, in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. His death made international headlines when Aaron Hernandez, at the time a tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League, was investigated as a suspect in the case. Prior to his death, Lloyd had been a linebacker for a New England Football League (NEFL) semi-professional football team, the Boston Bandits, since 2007.
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Hernandez was arrested on June 26, 2013, nine days after Lloyd's death, and charged with the murder. Ninety minutes after his arrest, Hernandez was released by the Patriots.
On June 28, 2013, two other men, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, were also arrested in connection with Lloyd's death. Prosecutors say both men were with Hernandez when they drove to the place of the murder. On August 22, 2013, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Nearly eight months later, Ortiz and Wallace were also indicted for the murder in the same crime.
On April 15, 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder, as well as five weapon charges, automatically being sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. He is currently awaiting trial for two separate murder charges for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
On May 12, 2016, Wallace was acquitted of first-degree murder but convicted of being an accessory after the fact of the crime; he was sentenced to serve four-and-one-half to seven years in prison.
On June 27, 2016, Ortiz changed his not guilty plea and pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Ortiz. He was also sentenced to serve four-and-one-half to seven years in prison.
Background
Odin Leonardo John Lloyd was born in Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and spent a few years in Antigua, before moving to Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was the first-born child and only son of Ursula Ward. Lloyd has at least one sister, Olivia Thibou, and an uncle, who stated that he last saw Lloyd on the Sunday before his death. A neighbor who described himself as “a regular at a nearby park where Lloyd would go to work out — not hang out” described Lloyd as usually keeping to himself. Citing Lloyd’s physical shape, the neighbor said, "Of everybody on this street, he was the one who could take care of himself…So there had to be some shaky stuff if he was the guy killed."
Lloyd was a linebacker for the Boston Bandits, a semi-pro football team. He had played for the team since 2007.
At the time of his death, Odin Lloyd was dating Shaneah Jenkins, sister of Aaron Hernandez's fiancee.
Death and investigation
On June 17, 2013, Lloyd was shot and killed in an industrial park one mile away from Hernandez's house.
On June 16, the night before Lloyd's death, Hernandez "texted two out-of-state pals and asked them to come to Massachusetts — telling them, 'You can't trust anyone anymore'" and that Lloyd texted his sister, "'Did you see who I am with?" When asked who, he wrote "NFL". His last text read: "Just so you know". His sister later admitted that she thought he was bragging, and the texts were dismissed from the case due to insufficient evidence that Lloyd feared for his life.
"Prosecutors reportedly said that Lloyd and Hernandez were in contact just 10 hours before his death, concerning a bag of marijuana. Furthermore, keys to a car that had been rented by Hernandez were allegedly found in Lloyd's pocket. Prosecutors believe Lloyd recently said something to Hernandez that destroyed his trust, giving Hernandez a motive to kill".
On June 18, 2013, Hernandez's house in North Attleboro was searched by police for several hours. The Massachusetts State Police obtained a search warrant after evidence surfaced that Hernandez intentionally destroyed his home security system. A cell phone belonging to Hernandez was turned over to police "in pieces" and Hernandez allegedly hired a "team of house cleaners" the same day Lloyd's body was discovered, raising additional suspicion.
In the wake of his death, the Boston Bandits released a statement saying that "the Bandits would like to extend our deepest condolences to Odin's family and his loved ones. He will be deeply missed by his football family but we promise to persevere and play the game that Odin loved in his honor" and that "the Boston Bandits are cooperating with local and state police in their efforts to identify the person responsible for Odin Lloyd's death".
Charges and trial
On June 26, 2013, Hernandez was arrested at his home and charged with first-degree murder, one count of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of possessing a large-capacity firearm and two counts of possessing a firearm without a firearm identification card. Hernandez was facing life in prison without the possibility of parole, as Massachusetts outlawed the death penalty in 1984. He was held without bail at the Bristol County, Massachusetts, Jail and House of Correction.
On June 28, 2013, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace were also arrested in connection with Lloyd's death. Ortiz revealed to the police the existence of a secret apartment rented by Hernandez in Franklin, Massachusetts. A subsequent search of the apartment, according to the Associated Press, "turned up ammunition and clothing that police believe could be evidence in the murder case against him". Ortiz is being held on $500,000 bail. On September 27, 2013, Ortiz was indicted on a single count of accessory to murder after the fact in the killing of Lloyd.
In addition, Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, and his cousin, Tanya Cummings Singleton, have been charged as accessories to murder for their suspected involvement in assisting Hernandez after he killed Lloyd.
On August 22, 2013, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd.
On January 29, 2015, the trial began with opening statements by prosecuting attorney Patrick Bomberg and defense attorney Michael Fee. Judge E. Susan Garsh presided. ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson discussed the schedule of events for the beginning of Aaron Hernandez's murder trial in Fall River, Massachusetts, which was expected to take about ten weeks. The trial was delayed on a few occasions as a result of the unprecedented snowfall in Greater Boston.
In opening statements, prosecutors said Hernandez's DNA was found at the murder scene. On April 9, 2015, a photographer for NBC affiliate WHDH (TV) was banned from reporting and taking pictures at the trial as a result of a news truck following the jury van the previous day. In closing statements, in light of substantial physical evidence provided by the prosecution the defense admitted to Hernandez being present during the murder, but downplayed his role, claiming that he was an unwilling participant who "... was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something. A shocking killing, committed by someone he knew. He really didn’t know what to do. So he just put one foot in front of the other."
On April 15, 2015, Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder and all weapons charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Immediately following the conviction, Hernandez was temporarily transferred to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Cedar Junction, a maximum security intake facility located only 1.5 miles from Gillette Stadium where he formerly played, to begin serving his sentence. He was transferred to serve the remainder of his life sentence at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security facility adjacent to the medium security Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Shirley. Wallace was acquitted of the crime on May 12, 2016, but convicted of being an accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to four-and-one-half to seven years in prison.