Murder of Odin Lloyd


The murder of Odin Lloyd occurred on June 17, 2013, in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, USA. His death made international headlines when Aaron Hernandez, at the time a tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League, was investigated as a suspect in the case. Lloyd had been a linebacker for a New England Football League semi-professional football team, the Boston Bandits, since 2007.
Hernandez was arrested on June 26, 2013, and charged with the murder. Ninety minutes after his arrest, Hernandez was released by the Patriots. Police also arrested two other men in connection with Lloyd's death: Carlos Ortiz on June 27, 2013, and Ernest Wallace on June 28, 2013. Prosecutors say both men were with Hernandez when they drove to the location of the murder. On August 22, 2013, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Nearly eight months later, Ortiz and Wallace were also indicted for the murder.
On April 15, 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder, as well as five weapon charges, which required a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was tried for two separate murder charges for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, but was acquitted of these charges on April 14, 2017. On May 12, 2016, Wallace was acquitted of first-degree murder of Lloyd, but was convicted of being an accessory after the fact of the crime; he was sentenced to serve four and a half to seven years in prison. On June 27, 2016, Ortiz changed his 'not guilty' plea and pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Ortiz. He was also sentenced to serve four and a half to seven years in prison.
On April 19, 2017, at 3:05 am, Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell by correctional officers after apparently hanging himself with a bedsheet. By killing himself before the appeal of his case could be completed, Hernandez's murder conviction was vacated, technically returning him to a state of innocent until proven guilty. The court's decision to vacate was appealed by the prosecutors and the Lloyd family's attorneys. In March, 2019 the Mass. Supreme Court overturned the entire doctrine of abatement ab initio, thus reinstating his original murder conviction.

Background

Odin Leonardo John Lloyd was born in Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and spent a few years with his family in Antigua, before they moved to Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was the first-born child and only son of Ursula Ward. Lloyd is survived by at least one sister, Olivia Thibou.
He is survived by a maternal uncle, who said that he had last seen Lloyd on the Sunday before his death. A neighbor, who described himself as "a regular at a nearby park where Lloyd would go to work out — not hang out," described Lloyd as usually keeping to himself. Citing Lloyd's physical condition, the neighbor said, "Of everybody on this street, he was the one who could take care of himself…So there had to be some shaky stuff if he was the guy killed."
Lloyd was a linebacker for the Boston Bandits, a semi-pro football team. He had played for the team since 2007.
At the time of his death, Odin Lloyd was dating Shaneah Jenkins, sister of the fiancée of Aaron Hernandez.

Death and investigation

On June 17, 2013, Lloyd was shot and killed in an industrial park located one mile from Hernandez's house.
On June 16, the night before Lloyd's death, Hernandez texted two friends from his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut asking them to come to Massachusetts, writing, "You can't trust anyone anymore." In the early morning hours of June 17, Lloyd was riding as a passenger in Hernandez's car; he texted his sister, "Did you see who I am with?" and when his sister responded, he replied, "Nfl." Lloyd's last text to his sister read, "Just so you know." His sister later said that she had thought he was bragging. Based on an upheld defendant's attorney objection, the court dismissed the texts as testimony, saying there was insufficient evidence that Lloyd feared for his life.
Prosecutors reportedly said that Lloyd and Hernandez were in contact just 10 hours before his death, concerning a bag of marijuana. Furthermore, keys to a car that had been rented by Hernandez were allegedly found in Lloyd's pocket. Prosecutors believe Lloyd recently said something to Hernandez that destroyed his trust, giving Hernandez a motive to kill.
On June 18, 2013, police searched Hernandez's house in North Attleboro for several hours. The Massachusetts State Police obtained a search warrant after evidence surfaced that Hernandez had intentionally destroyed his home security system. A cell phone belonging to Hernandez was turned over to police "in pieces", and Hernandez allegedly hired a "team of house cleaners" the same day Lloyd's body was discovered, raising additional suspicion.
In the wake of Lloyd's death, the Boston Bandits released a statement: "The Bandits would like to extend our deepest condolences to Odin's family and his loved ones. He will be deeply missed by his football family but we promise to persevere and play the game that Odin loved in his honor" and "the Boston Bandits are cooperating with local and state police in their efforts to identify the person responsible for Odin Lloyd's death".

Charges and trial

On June 26, 2013, Hernandez was arrested at his home and charged with first-degree murder, one count of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of possessing a large-capacity firearm, and two counts of possessing a firearm without a firearm identification card. The first-degree murder charge required a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, as Massachusetts outlawed the death penalty in 1984. Hernandez was held without bail at the Bristol County, Massachusetts, Jail and House of Correction.
On June 27 and 28, 2013, respectively, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace were also arrested in connection with Lloyd's death. Ortiz told police that Hernandez had rented an apartment secretly in Franklin, Massachusetts. As reported by the Associated Press, a subsequent search of the apartment "turned up ammunition and clothing that police believe could be evidence in the murder case against him". Ortiz was held on $500,000 bail. On September 27, 2013, Ortiz was indicted on a single count of accessory to murder after the fact in the killing of Lloyd.
In addition, Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, and his cousin, Tanya Cummings Singleton, were charged as accessories to murder for their suspected involvement in assisting Hernandez after he killed Lloyd.
On August 22, 2013, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd.
On January 29, 2015, the trial began in Fall River, Massachusetts with opening statements by prosecuting attorney Patrick Bomberg and defense attorney Michael Fee. Judge E. Susan Garsh presided. The trial was expected to take about ten weeks. The trial was delayed on a few occasions as a result of the unprecedented snowfall in Greater Boston.
In opening statements, prosecutors said Hernandez's DNA was found at the murder scene.
On April 9, 2015, a photographer for NBC affiliate WHDH was banned from reporting and taking pictures at the trial as one of their news trucks had followed the jury van the previous day.
In closing statements, in light of substantial physical evidence provided by the prosecution, the defense admitted to Hernandez being present during the murder, but downplayed his role. Defense said that he was an unwilling participant who "was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something. A shocking killing, committed by someone he knew. He really didn't know what to do. So he just put one foot in front of the other."
On April 15, 2015, Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder and all weapons charges, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Immediately following the conviction, Hernandez was temporarily transferred to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Cedar Junction, a maximum security intake facility to begin serving his sentence. He was transferred to serve the remainder of his life sentence at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum-security facility adjacent to the medium-security Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Shirley.
Wallace was acquitted of charges of murder on May 12, 2016, but convicted of being an accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to four-and-one-half to seven years in prison.
On April 19, 2017, at around 3:05 am, Hernandez was found hanging in his prison cell. His death was ruled a suicide. Hernandez's attorneys successfully requested that his murder conviction be vacated due to the legal principle of abatement ab initio: if a convicted criminal has not exhausted all legal appeals at the time of his death, a guilty verdict may be officially vacated. His conviction was reinstated in 2019 following an appeal from prosecutors and the Lloyd family.
After being convicted in the Lloyd murder, Hernandez was accused of the 2012 shooting deaths of Boston residents Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado. Attorney Jose Baez represented Hernandez in the murder trial, which resulted in a not guilty verdict. Baez wrote in his 2018 book Unnecessary Roughness that he and Hernandez planned an appeal in the Lloyd case. Baez believed Hernandez made poor choices in associating with criminals, but was not a murderer. He noted that Hernandez did not flee the area after the Lloyd murder and was compliant with every police interview and warrant before his arrest. Baez contended an appeal had a strong chance of success, given what he characterized as weaknesses in the prosecution cases that were overlooked by the initial lawyers and Judge Garsh's comments during a bail hearing that Hernandez appeared to be guilty.

Timeline of events