The number one question of the minds of millions of New England Patriots fans lately had to be: "How could a guy with so much going for him just throw it all away and (allegedly) kill someone for something so stupid?"It seems apparent that 23-year-old former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez may be at the very least guilty of exactly what Massachusetts prosecutors deem his motive for the alleged murder to be: talking to the wrong people.
The prosecution's theory behind the homicide -- as illustrated by First Assistant District Attorney Bill McCauley in a Wednesday afternoon arraignment --revolves around the events of June 14 at Boston's "Rumor" night club. Sometime during the night, Hernandez allegedly became upset that murder victim Odin Lloyd had discussions with a couple of individuals, and ADA McCauley said Hernandez "had troubles with those people."
A couple days later, as ADA McCauley explained Wednesday, Hernandez texted some friends of his from "out of state" and told them to get to Massachusetts fast. Just hours after those associates arrived at the $1.7 million mansion of Hernandez in North Attleborough, Odin Lloyd went down in a hail of .45 caliber bullets on a secluded gravel road that led to the back lot of an industrial park less than a mile from the house.
Lloyd was a player on the semi-pro Boston Bandits football squad, and he was also dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee.
Evidence from the murder scene pointed to Lloyd being killed right outside the Nissan Altima rental car Hernandez could be seen driving earlier in the morning of the 17th. Odin had five gunshot wounds with one of the bullets reportedly passing through his forearm as he tried to shield himself from the barrage.
McCauley went on to explain that Odin was hit in the back with another shot, and also in the side with a third shot. The other two bullets were reportedly fired into Lloyd's chest.
A Providence, Rhode Island police report detailed by McCauley explained another incident involving Hernandez and a firearm dating back to May 18.
Police who responded to that scene wrote in their report that Hernandez received some taunts from an African-American New York Jets fan, and the man followed him, berating him for three blocks with some friends joining in the verbal assault. Police made efforts to disperse the crowd, and officers allowed Hernandez to leave, but they detained some other men.
As officers cleared the scene, an unknown suspect tossed a loaded gun under a car. The police recovered a .22 caliber Jennings pistol. The person seen sliding the gun out of site before running away was another large African-American male with braids. A man matching the same description was seen in the company of Hernandez and Lloyd before the June 17 murder.
Police also recovered another loaded Jennings .22 pistol on the side of a road leading to the Hernandez mansion in the days after the Lloyd murder. Both the gun seized in Providence and the Jennings .22 found in North Attleboro traced back to the same Florida gun shop, according to McCauley.
The ADA went on to describe how .22 caliber bullets were also found during a search of the Hernandez home after the murder, and that ammunition matched the kind found in the discarded gun on the edge of the road.
Just after he heard McCauley outline the evidence related to the .22 pistols at the arraignment, Hernandez hung his head for a moment and stared at the floor of the courtroom. McCauley further detailed a Hungarian-made semi-automatic rifle found in the Hernandez home with a fully-loaded 33-round magazine. Prints on the gun matched Hernandez, which earned him some of the secondary firearm charges he now faces.
Until more is revealed about who was with Hernandez and Lloyd before and after the murder, it won't be clear if there are any direct gang connections to the case, but Hernandez has a history of hanging out with the wrong crowd, according to Sports Illustrated reports.
Other teams researching the tight end's background prior to the 2010 draft found links to gang activity, and Sports Illustrated tracked down a law enforcement official familiar with Hernandez's "circle of influence." Hernandez also shared concerns with at least one teammate about wanting to distance himself from the "thug life" he grew up around in Connecticut.
During his time with the Florida Gators college football team, Hernandez was once questioned in relation to a double shooting and also tested positive for marijuana use on another occasion. Surveillance from a gas station in the time before the June 17th murder showed Hernandez and his associates buying gum and "Black and Mild" cigars often used for rolling marijuana blunts.
Football obviously had a positive influence on Hernandez, and signing his latest contract inspired him to talk about putting his "reckless" behavior behind him. Instead, it appears that the power of his fortune and celebrity literally led him down a dark and dangerous road.
He turned to strip clubs and guns while away from training camp and the daily grind of the regular NFL season, and he obviously also sought help from some very shady characters from his past before picking Lloyd up on the morning of June 17. When it came down to the final acts that brought Hernandez to this point of no return, he didn't call anyone from the Patriots organization for guidance on what to do about apparently not trusting Lloyd.
He called people who are now most likely fellow suspects in the case, people who weren't going to tell him to think about his football career before doing anything stupid.
ESPN recently compiled a list of active athletes charged with murder, manslaughter, or homicide for one of their recent reports on the Hernandez case. Dating back to 2000 and the recently retired Ray Lewis (who was later acquitted), the list includes 10 athletes, including Hernandez.
Seven of those athletes were NFL players. Out of all the major professional sports leagues in the United States, the NFL seems to be the one most particularly plagued by high-profile players who break the law. These players should be content living out every young athlete's dream of doing what they love for a huge paycheck, but they just embarrass themselves, their families, and their teams in the process of turning to criminal activity off the playing field.
It's hard to determine the exact cause of this trend in the National Football League, but the most logical explanation is that many players who suddenly come into a huge fortune will eventually wind up spending all that cash on their worst vices. These players will also often develop entourages who can sometimes steer them in the worst possible directions.
Their associates end up using them and/or corrupting them, and those stars who aren't prepared for handling fame and fortune tend to develop an attitude of invincibility, distancing themselves from the reality that certain actions can have serious consequences.
Star Football players in the United States often start getting special treatment as early as high school. Sometimes a particularly talented high school or college football player can get away with earning poor grades or even heavy drinking and drugging with little repurcussions. It becomes second nature to players treated this way to forget that there are some rules (and laws) they absolutely have to follow.
While sports can save some people from a life of crime, others are drawn to criminal activity because of the success and power that playing professional sports breeds in them, giving them inflated egos and a warped sense of reality. Many also turn to carrying guns for protection without going through the proper procedures to acquire those weapons legally.
Going outside of their disciplined team environment to release stress and spend their hard-earned salary tends to have a damaging effect on some NFL players, especially those who come to the NFL with a violent and/or checkered past. If a player like Hernandez can get wrapped up in a case like this while assigned to a team with such a solid reputation for turning around players with poor attitudes, it may be an indication of a more serious issue in the league.
Time will tell how much of a factor his associates played in this murder, but it seems painfully obvious at this point that this whole chain of events started because Hernandez turned to the wrong people for help and advice.
If anything positive can be taken away from this situation it could come in the form of a major wakeup call for young athletes everywhere. This tragic turn of events may inspire the next generation of NFL players to scrutinize their friends and associates a little more and avoid situations bound to put them in compromising positions.
One strange development that could be a direct result of the publicity generated by the Hernandez case had a player famous for his own gun-related transgressions telling NFL rookies that they don't need guns. Tank Johnson told a group at an NFL rookie symposium Monday that a collection of firearms is more likely to cause trouble rather than prevent it.
The same logic also applies to a collection of "friends" who treat criminal activity and murder as a sport.
