Defence: Killer of 2 is star witness, not Aaron Hernandez
BOSTON — The real killer of two men in a hail of gunfire at a stoplight was not former NFL star Aaron Hernandez but rather the government’s star witness in his double murder trial, his attorney charged Wednesday in opening statements, revealing the defence strategy for the first time.
Jose Baez, who is known for winning an acquittal for Florida mom Casey Anthony, 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. Bradley has said he was with Hernandez the night of the shooting and is scheduled to testify against him, but Baez counters that Bradley fatally shot Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado over a drug deal.
Prosecutor Patrick Haggan told the jury earlier that Hernandez had a brief encounter with the men involving “a simple bump, a spilled drink and an exchange of looks” at a Boston nightclub in the early morning hours of July 16, 2012. Two hours later, Haggan said, Hernandez opened fire on the men’s car as they waited at a stoplight.
Haggan said the encounter to most people would be “simply trivial,” but Hernandez misinterpreted it as a sign of disrespect.