National Football League

Latest news on Hernandez case

Published Jun. 29, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

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The latest:

• Hundreds of relatives, friends and well-wishers gathered for the funeral of a semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, whose killing led to murder and weapons charges against former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez. The service was at Church of the Holy Spirit in Boston's Mattapan section.

• The Patriots have voided all of Hernandez's contract guarantees and the remainder of his signing bonus, according to NFL.com. Hernandez was due $2.5 million in guaranteed base salaries over the next two seasons. The Patriots say the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement validates their decision because Hernandez engaged in conduct unbecoming. The Pats would still carry cap figures of $2.55 million and $7.5 million in 2013 and 2014, respectively, according to the Boston Globe.

• The Patriots denied Friday that they had prior knowledge that Hernandez was going to be charged with murder before they cut him, according to the Boston Globe. The report said Patriots executives expected an obstruction of justice arrest, and were surprised that he was charged with murder.

• Police are investigating a possible connection between Hernandez and a double homicide that took place in Boston in July 2012.

• Two weeks before Alexander Bradley said Aaron Hernandez shot him in the face, Hernandez was with Bradley when the latter was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving on Jan. 28, according to a report in Saturday's Boston Globe. When a state trooper pulled up to a black SUV stopped on the highway at 2:20 a.m. the driver took off and a high-speed chase ensued, reaching speeds of 105 mph before the trooper apprehended the vehicle. At that point, according to the police report cited in the Globe, Hernandez yelled out the front passenger side window, “Trooper, I’m Aaron Hernandez — it’s OK.” Bradley failed sobriety tests and said he had been drinking at Cure, the same nightclub where Hernandez reportedly got into a fight before the double murder in 2012.

Bradley filed a civil lawsuit against Aaron Hernandez on June 13, claiming Hernandez shot Bradley in the face on Feb. 13. According to USA Today, Bradley said that Hernandez left him to die; Bradley, who was found in an alley bleeding from his face and hand, lost his right eye in the incident and has undergone multiple surgeries.

• The staff at Bristol County House of Corrections has been instructed not to take photographs or ask for autographs from Hernandez, according to TMZ. Staff has been told not to grant any special priveleges to Hernandez and Hernandez has not asked for any special treatment, the report said.

• On Friday, two men who authorities say were in a car with Hernandez before Odin was shot to death were in custody, one charged with illegally carrying a gun and the other accused of being an accessory after murder.

Carlos Ortiz was charged Friday with carrying an unlicensed firearm in North Attleborough on June 17, the day Lloyd was found shot to death near Hernandez's home there. Details of the charge weren't released.

Ernest Wallace, whose wanted poster was released Thursday night, surrendered in Miramar, Fla., police said. Authorities had been seeking Wallace on a charge of acting as an accessory after Lloyd's murder. Details of that allegation also weren't released.

• Authorities searched a condominium in Franklin, Mass., and a vehicle at that location on Wednesday in connection with the Hernandez case, according to multiple reports.

Background

• Police arrested Hernandez on Wednesday at his home and charged him with orchestrating Lloyd's execution-style shooting. Prosecutors said Hernandez orchestrated the killing because Lloyd talked to the wrong people at a nightclub.

Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace were in a Nissan Altima with Lloyd shortly before his death, Bristol County, Mass., District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said.

"We now have in custody the three individuals who were in the silver Nissan Altima," Sutter said Friday when Ortiz was arraigned on the gun charge in Attleboro District Court.

All three men have ties to Bristol, Conn.: Hernandez grew up there, Ortiz had been living there and authorities had conflicting addresses for Wallace there and in Miramar.

• Hernandez pleaded not guilty to murder and was denied bail Thursday. Ortiz also was being held without bail pending a court hearing on July 9. Wallace was taken to a jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pending extradition proceedings, police said.

Hernandez's lawyer argued in court that the case is circumstantial. He said Hernandez, who was cut by the Patriots the day he was arrested, wanted to clear his name.

• On June 16, the night before the slaying, a prosecutor said, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends and asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut.

A few minutes later, he texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, the prosecutor said. Authorities say the three picked up Lloyd at around 2:30 a.m. June 17, drove him to an industrial park near Hernandez's home and shot him five times. They have not said who fired the shots.

• Before Ortiz's arraignment in North Attleborough, his attorney, John Connors, said he had spoken to his client for the first time Friday. Connors declined to comment when asked whether Ortiz was cooperating with authorities or whether he knew anything about Lloyd's death.

At Ortiz's court hearing in Bristol earlier in the day, there was no mention of any other allegations against him, no reference to Hernandez and no discussion of Lloyd's homicide.

Connors said he will seek bail for his client at a July 9 hearing. He described Ortiz as a "gentle person" and said he will advise Ortiz to plead not guilty.

"I can say that his charge has nothing to do with homicide," Connors said.

A friend and a relative of Ortiz said outside the courthouse that they were surprised by his arrest. They said Ortiz is the devoted father of two girls and a boy, all under the age of 9. Ortiz was unemployed recently, but previously worked a long time at a Savers clothing store, they said.

They also said they couldn't believe Ortiz could be part of a murder.

"He's not that type of person. He has a good heart," said friend Milton Montesdeoca, 24, of Bristol, who added he didn't know Hernandez and never heard Ortiz talk about the football star.

• Wallace walked into the police station and told officers there was a warrant for his arrest, which officers confirmed by checking a computer database.

"He stated he knew he had a warrant because he saw himself on TV," Miramar police Officer Gil Bueno said. "He was very cooperative. It was uneventful."

An attorney for Wallace, David Meier, told The Boston Globe that his client was visiting his mother and other family members in Miramar when he realized he was wanted in Massachusetts and went to police. Meier said Wallace intends to waive any rendition proceeding and return to Massachusetts "as soon as possible."

• The Patriots, who cut Hernandez following his arrest, drafted him in 2010 and signed him last summer to a five-year contract worth $40 million.

He could face life in prison if convicted.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)