Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was indicted Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder related to the deaths of two men outside a Boston nightclub in 2012.
Hernandez is accused of murdering Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado on June 26, 2012. The two men were shot to death after an individual riding in an SUV with Rhode Island plates allegedly pulled up alongside their car and opened fire in Boston's South End.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley laid out the specifics of the case during a Thursday news conference. Conley identified Hernandez as the alleged shooter in the crime.
"When the victims' car stopped at a red light on Sherman Avenue waiting to turn onto Herald Street, the SUV pulled up beside the victims' car on the right," Conley explained. "Aaron Hernandez then fired a .38 caliber revolver multiple times from the driver's side of his vehicle into the passenger side of the victims' vehicle."
Conley said a "chance encounter" between Hernandez and the victims triggered a series of events that ended with the fatal shootings. Conley said the victims had no known connections to gangs, guns or any crimes.
"This case was about two victims who were stalked, ambushed and senselessly murdered," Conley said.
Conley said police have recovered the murder weapon from an individual with ties to Hernandez. The SUV believed to be at the scene was found in the garage of a Hernandez family member.
Hernandez has been in jail since last June for his alleged role in the shooting death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, whose body was found in an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough, Mass., home on June 17, 2013. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the Lloyd case and is being held without bail.
Hernandez was in the news earlier this month after a Bristol County grand jury indicted him on charges related to the assault of a fellow inmate at the Bristol County House of Correction.
