Former Patriots player Aaron Hernandez denied bail on murder charge

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, charged with murder in what prosecutors say was the execution-style killing of a friend near his house, was denied bail Thursday.

Hernandez’s lawyer argued that his celebrity status means that even if he wanted to flee he couldn’t and that the case against him is circumstantial.

“He wants to clear his name,” lawyer James Sultan told the judge.

But Bristol County Assistant Dist. Atty. Bill McCauley called the evidence in the June 17 slaying of Odin Lloyd overwhelming and said police had made discoveries Wednesday when they searched a condo Hernandez leased and a Hummer registered to him that was parked there.

A jogger found Lloyd’s body in a remote area of an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough, Mass., 10 days ago. Lloyd was a semipro football player from Boston who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee.

Prosecutors said Hernandez orchestrated the killing because Lloyd talked to the wrong people at a nightclub. Hernandez, a 2011 Pro Bowl selection who signed a five-year contract with the Patriots worth $40 million, could face life in prison if convicted.

The Boston Globe reported Thursday that Hernandez is also being investigated in connection with a July 2012 double slaying in Boston, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.

The two officials, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the investigation, said investigators now believe that Lloyd may have had information about Hernandez’s role in the slayings of Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

In laying out more of the government’s case Thursday in Lloyd’s killing, McCauley said prosecutors believe that the murder weapon was a .45-caliber Glock and that a gun Hernandez is seen holding on his home surveillance video, a weapon they haven’t found, appears to be a Glock.

The prosecutor said that inside the Hummer, investigators recovered an ammunition clip for .45-caliber bullets and that ammunition was found inside the condo. McCauley said a photograph had emerged online of Hernandez holding a Glock.

Dist. Atty. Sam Sutter would not be specific when asked when the photo was taken, saying only that the information would emerge with the continuing investigation.

Hernandez’s lawyer said that as far as he knew there was no eyewitness testimony and the prosecution had not given evidence that shows who shot Lloyd or whether there was a plan to kill him. He said Hernandez has no criminal record, owns a home and lives with his 8-month-old daughter and fiancee.

“Mr. Hernandez is not just a football player but is one of the best football players in the United States of America,” Sultan said, adding, “He’s young man who is extremely accomplished and hardworking in his chosen profession.”

Hernandez appeared in court with his hands cuffed in front of him and occasionally looked at his fiancee during Thursday’s bail hearing. She cried when Bristol Superior Court Judge Renee Dupuis denied the request, but Hernandez showed little emotion.

The judge said that it is rare for someone charged with first-degree murder to get bail and that Hernandez had the means to flee if he chose to do so. She acknowledged the prosecution’s case was circumstantial but said it was “very, very strong” and called the scenario the prosecution described “coldblooded.”

The Patriots cut Hernandez shortly after police arrested him Wednesday.

That day, authorities in Connecticut also made an arrest in connection with Lloyd’s slaying. New Britain State’s Atty. Brian Preleski said Thursday that investigators arrested 27-year-old Carlos Ortiz in Hernandez’s hometown of Bristol, Conn., as part of the murder probe.

Authorities charged Ortiz as a fugitive from justice, and he agreed to be transferred to Massachusetts. Prison records show he was being held on $1.5-million bail at a Hartford, Conn., jail, but his public defender, Alfonzo Sirica, declined to comment about the case.