Patriots player Aaron Hernandez charged with first degree murder..

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Or should I say ex-Patriots player since the team released him less than two hours after his arrest earlier today. Boston is way up on Florida. We have the legendary Whitey Bulger on trial and now an NFL player turned murderer. Take that Mr. Zimmerman!

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) -- Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder in the shooting death of a friend prosecutors say had angered the NFL player at a nightclub a few days earlier by talking to the wrong people.

Hernandez, 23, was taken from his North Attleborough home in handcuffs just over a week after Boston semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd's bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park a mile away.

Less than two hours after the arrest, the Patriots announced they had cut Hernandez, a 2011 Pro Bowl selection who signed a five-year contract last summer worth $40 million.

Lloyd was a 27-year-old athlete with the Boston Bandits who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. He was shot repeatedly in the back and chest on a secluded gravel road, authorities said.

Hernandez "drove the victim to that remote spot, and then he orchestrated his execution," prosecutor Bill McCauley said.

If convicted, Hernandez could get life in prison without parole.

"It is at bottom a circumstantial case. It is not a strong case," his attorney, Michael Fee, said at a court hearing during which Hernandez was ordered held without bail on murder charges and five weapons counts.

Lloyd's family members cried and hugged as the prosecutor outlined the killing. Two were so overcome with emotion that they had to leave the courtroom.

McCauley said the slaying stemmed from a night out at a Boston club called Rumor on June 14. He said Hernandez was upset about certain things, including that Lloyd had talked to some people Hernandez "had troubles with." The prosecutor did not elaborate.

Two days later, McCauley said, on the night of June 16, Hernandez texted two friends from out of state and asked them to hurry back to Massachusetts.

Surveillance footage from Hernandez's home showed him leaving with a gun, and he told someone in the house that he was upset and couldn't trust anyone anymore, the prosecutor said.

The three men picked up Lloyd at his home around 2:30 a.m., according to authorities. As they drove around in their rented car, they discussed what happened at the nightclub, and Lloyd started getting nervous, McCauley said.

Lloyd texted his sister, "Did you see who I am with?" When she asked who, he answered, at 3:22 a.m., "NFL," then, a minute later, he sent one final text: "Just so you know."

Within a few minutes, people working the overnight shift at the industrial park reported hearing gunshots, McCauley said. Surveillance video showed the car going into the industrial park and emerging four minutes later, the prosecutor said.

A short time later, Hernandez returned to his house, and he and one of the other men were seen on his home surveillance system holding guns, McCauley said. Then the system stopped recording, according to the prosecutor.

Hernandez had recently installed the system and had 14 cameras inside and out, according to McCauley, who said detectives found footage was missing from the six to eight hours after the slaying.

Investigators did not specify who fired the shots. They did not identify the two other people who were with Hernandez or say whether they were under arrest.

According to McCauley, Hernandez and his friends later returned the car to the rental agency, and Hernandez offered the attendant a piece of blue chewing gum. She found a .45-caliber shell casing and a piece of what appeared to be chewed blue gum in the car and threw them out.

Later, investigators retrieved the items from a trash bin, and the casing matched others found where Lloyd was killed, McCauley said. The two weapons seen on the surveillance footage have not been found, he said.

In arguing unsuccessfully for bail, Hernandez's attorney said the athlete is unlikely to flee, is a homeowner, and lives with his fiancee and an 8-month-old baby. He also said Hernandez had never been accused of a violent crime.

As he was led from his home in the morning, Hernandez was wearing a white V-neck T-shirt, with his arms inside the shirt and behind his back. He spit into some bushes on his way to a police cruiser.

Later, as he was taken from the North Attleborough police station to court, two dozen supporters cheered, some yelling, "We love you, Aaron!"

"Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation," the Patriots said in a statement announcing he had been cut.

The team added: "We realize that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing. We support their efforts and respect the process. At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do."

The Patriots drafted Hernandez, who is originally from Bristol, Conn., in 2010 out of the University of Florida, where he was an All-American.

During the draft, one team said it wouldn't take him under any circumstances, and he was passed over by one club after another before New England picked him in the fourth round.

Afterward, Hernandez said he had failed a drug test in college -- reportedly for marijuana -- and was up front with teams about it.

In other off-the-field troubles, a Florida man filed a lawsuit last week claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club in February.

And The Boston Globe reported that Hernandez lost his temper and threatened a teammate during an argument in the team's weight room shortly after he was drafted.

Hernandez became a father on Nov. 6 and said he intended to change his ways: "Now, another one is looking up to me. I can't just be young and reckless Aaron no more. I'm going to try to do the right things."

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/south/10010994704223/hernandez-charged-with-murder-denied-bail/

[RGinWA 816]

Boston is so lucky to have so many famous murderers at the same time.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Boston is so lucky to have so many famous murderers at the same time.

It makes me so proud! Much more exciting than Vermont.

[RGinWA 816]

It makes me so proud! Much more exciting than Vermont.

NFL stars are always wrongly accused of murders, look at poor OJ Simpson.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

And don't forget about the Boston Marathon bomber. Zimmerman is like catching a minnow when fishing.

[RGinWA 816]

See how easily we forget a mass bombing attack...I totally forgot those killers. Boston hit the trifecta....

I think Hernandez was totally profiled just because he was a tattooed Latino. Its so obvious.

Come on, lots of people walk out of there house with a gun on video and then try to unsuccessfully destroy their own surveillance system.

If I had a nickle for every time I tell you...

[spookyturtle 9,466]

See how easily we forget a mass bombing attack...I totally forgot those killers. Boston hit the trifecta....

I think Hernandez was totally profiled just because he was a tattooed Latino. Its so obvious.

Come on, lots of people walk out of there house with a gun on video and then try to unsuccessfully destroy their own surveillance system.

If I had a nickle for every time I tell you...

Exactly! And rent 2 cars and switch off after the murder so you don't have to use your own car. Of course returning the rental car with 45 casings in it is easy to explain away. As is having a cleaning crew clean your house from top to bottom a few hours after the murder. And nothing wrong with illegally carrying a firearm without a license. Of course in Vermont, this wouldn't be a crime since even felons and mentally ill people can buy guns without a problem. Dumb athlete picked the wrong state to live in.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Gun crime threat. Immediately moved to OT. Total snow job.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Why was this moved to OT? It is about murder, guns, and a Hispanic/Laino involved with the murder of a black male. I call bias.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Why was this moved to OT? It is about murder, guns, and a Hispanic/Laino involved with the murder of a black male. I call bias.

Darn I did not get in before the move.

4000 pages of posts about a murder and trial in Florida and this gets moved pronto..

Edited June 27, 2013 by The Nature Boy

[Pooky 3,834]

Why was this moved to OT? It is about murder, guns, and a Hispanic/Laino involved with the murder of a black male. I call bias.

Because in real life, this crime has nothing to do with politics or religion, would be my guess.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Darn I did not get in before the move.

Why was it moved when most of the threads in P&R have nothing to do with the forum? I think it has all the key elements all lumped together. Any story about a gun or murder is always in P&R.

Because in real life, this crime has nothing to do with politics or religion, would be my guess.

Then why are half the threads still in P&R? What does Zimmerman have to do with politics or religion? What do gun sales have to do with politics?

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Who decides what gets moved? So confusing.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Who decides what gets moved? So confusing.

Whoever is on duty at the time, I would guess. A snitch reports something and when mod gets it, it is moved, closed etc. Or perhaps a mod catches it on a drive by. It obviously follows a strict set of rules and is applied equally across the board.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Hernandez was denied bail at a bail hearing this afternoon. There was also an arrest made in CT of another suspect in the murder.