Crime

Aaron Hernandez back in court ahead of double murder trial

Former New England Patriots NFL football player Aaron Hernandez appears with defense attorney Jose Baez during a hearing at Suffolk Superior Court, Tuesday, Dec, 20, 2016, in Boston. Hernandez, who is serving a life sentence for the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, is charged in the 2012 slayings of two men outside a Boston nightclub.

By Associated Press

December 27, 2016

1 minute to read

BOSTON (AP) — Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is heading back to court for another pretrial hearing ahead of his double murder trial in connection with a drive-by shooting in Boston in 2012.

Hernandez is charged with killing 29-year-old Daniel de Abreu and 28-year-old Safiro Furtado. Prosecutors say the former football star killed the men after one of them bumped into him at a nightclub earlier. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty.

The trial is scheduled to start Feb. 13.

Hernandez already is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, his fiancee’s sister’s boyfriend.

At a hearing earlier this month, a judge ruled that ballistics evidence and testimony by firearms experts may be presented at trial over the objections of the defense.