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Jury Selection To Commence For Aaron Hernandez’s Second Murder Trial

Final pre-trial conference in murder case against former New England Patriot's player Aaron Hernandez.
Final pre-trial conference in murder case against former New England Patriot's player Aaron Hernandez.

The jury selection for a murder trial involving former NFL star Aaron Hernandez is scheduled for Tuesday.

Hernandez, 27, who played football for the University of Florida before being drafted by the New England Patriots in 2010 to play tight end, is currently serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée. The upcoming trial is for the 2012 fatal shooting of two men outside a Boston nightclub.

In 2013, a stone bearing Hernandez’s name was removed from the front of the Heavener Complex at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Orlando Sentinel also uncovered an incident where Hernandez was involved in a bar fight in 2007 at The Swamp Restaurant when Hernandez was underage.

Prosecutors for the upcoming trial say Hernandez followed Daniel de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28, out of a nightclub after de Abreu accidentally bumped into Hernandez in the nightclub, causing Hernandez to spill his drink. Prosecutors claim that Hernandez fired five shots into the two men’s car as they sat at a red light.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the two murders. Prosecutors plan to use Alexander Bradley, who was with Hernandez the night he allegedly shot the two men, as their star witness. Prosecutors claim Hernandez shot Bradley in the face in 2013, causing Bradley to lose his right eye, because Hernandez was worried Bradley would implicate him of the murders.

Hernandez’s lawyers haven’t revealed a defense strategy, but a recent court filing shows prosecutors anticipate the defense may argue Bradley “had the propensity” to commit the shootings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Katelyn Newberg is a reporter for WUFT news. She can be reached at knewberg@ufl.edu, on her cell phone at 407-766-2820 or on Twitter @k_newberg.