Prosecutor: Aaron Hernandez killed 2 over spilled drink
BOSTON — Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez misinterpreted a brief encounter at a Boston nightclub involving a spilled drink as a sign of disrespect and became furious, later gunning down the two men involved, a prosecutor said in opening statements in Hernandez’s double murder trial.
Prosecutor Patrick Haggan told the jury Wednesday that shortly after the encounter in the early morning hours of July 16, 2012, Hernandez fatally shot Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. He opened fire on their car as they waited at a stoplight, killing both men and wounding a third, Haggan said.
The defence painted a different picture, saying the real killer was not Hernandez, but rather the government’s star witness.
Attorney Jose Baez, known for winning an acquittal for Florida mom Casey Anthony in 2011 in the death of her daughter, said prosecutors want to convict his client so badly that they made “a deal with the devil,” referring to Hernandez’s former friend, Alexander Bradley.