National Football League

Witness: Hernandez worried about endorsements after Lloyd's death

Published Feb. 18, 2015 10:44 a.m. ET

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FALL RIVER, Mass. — Less than 48 hours after the murder of Odin Lloyd, Aaron Hernandez retreated to his basement “man cave” with two relatives of his fiancée to shoot pool and watch the 2013 NBA Finals.

But according to testimony at Hernandez’s murder trial Wednesday, a commercial on the television caught his eye — and he apparently grew concerned.

“It was a commercial for promoting something — I don’t know exactly what it was,” said Azia Jenkins, whose niece Shayanna Jenkins is engaged to Hernandez.

“And when that commercial ended,” Assistant District Attorney William McCauley said, “did someone say something?”

“Yes,” Jenkins answered. “…  It was me who said something, first, and it was Aaron, who said 'My endorsements are gone.'”

That moment came on a day of testimony that was a lot like that of recent days: police investigators describing the collection of evidence in the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd, and defense attorneys raising questions about the thoroughness of that work.

Hernandez, 25, faces one count of murder and two firearms charges the slaying of Lloyd, who was gunned down in a secluded field less than a mile from the former New England Patriots player's home. Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-professional football player, was dating Shaneah Jenkins, sister of Hernandez's fiancée.

Prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez summoned two associates from his hometown of Bristol, Conn., to his Massachusetts home late the night of June 16, 2013, and simultaneously made plans to meet with Lloyd. Hernandez then allegedly drove the other two men, Carlos Ortiz and Wallace Jr., to the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, picked up Lloyd and returned to North Attleboro.

According to court documents, Hernandez allegedly drove into a secluded area in an industrial park that is surrounded by woods and mounds of asphalt, gravel and dirt. There, Lloyd was shot multiple times.

Although prosecutors have not said who they believe fired the fatal shots, they have asserted that Hernandez "orchestrated" the killing. Ortiz and Wallace have also been indicted on murder charges but will be tried separately. The prosecution does not plan to call either as a witness in the trial.

Hernandez’s attorneys continued Wednesday to raise questions about the actions taken by detectives during the investigation of Odin Lloyd's 2013 murder.

The focus in early questioning: a decision by several detectives to gather evidence from a dumpster outside a car rental office rather than waiting for officers with the crime scene services unit of the Massachusetts State Police, who normally handle those tasks.

The items in the dumpster have been a key focus the past two days: They include a shell casing, bubble gum and a Vitamin Water bottle that have all been tied to either Hernandez or the murder. They were discovered in a Nissan Altima that Hernandez rented and were thrown into the dumpster by an Enterprise Rent-A-Car employee who cleaned out the vehicle after the player returned it.

Defense attorney James Sultan bored in on the fact that detectives climbed into the dumpster, which contained other trash, rather than waiting for crime scene experts to arrive.

"You're an experienced detective, correct?" Sultan asked Det. Michael Elliott of the North Attleboro Police Department.

"Correct," Elliott answered.

"You're trained in the collection of evidence?" Sultan asked.

"Correct," Elliott answered.

"Has anyone ever taught you to collect evidence that way, sir?" Sultan asked.

"No," Elliott said.

Ballistics tests have linked the shell casing to five others found near Lloyd's body. According to court documents, Hernandez purchased a package of Bubble Yum Cotton Candy flavor gum at a filling station while he, Ortiz and Wallace were allegedly on their way to pick up Lloyd.

Detectives also found Vitamin Water in the same flavor — acai-blueberry-pomegranate — in a refrigerator in Hernandez's home, according to court documents.

And one of the prosecutors, Patrick Bomberg, said in his opening statement that investigators found Hernandez's DNA on the spent shell casing.

Defense attorney Michael Fee signaled in his opening statement that lawyer for the formal NFL star would show the jury that police detectives were sloppy and rushed to pin Lloyd's murder on Hernandez. And Sultan continued to push that idea Wednesday.

He also asked Det. Elliott, for instance, whether the dumpster's lid was closed — it was — and whether it was raining or whether dark clouds were rolling in. The question apparently was a reference to a decision made at the murder scene to pick up shell casings, a towel and a hat from the area around Lloyd's body rather than wait for crime scene technicians. That decision was made, several detectives testified, because heavy rain was forecast and appeared to be imminent.

And in later testimony, Sultan got a DNA expert from the state crime lab to acknowledge genetic material can be transferred from one item to another.  Although he never said it outright, he suggested that Hernandez’s DNA on the chewed piece of bubble gum could have been transferred to the shell casing; they were stuck together in the dumpster when detectives found them.

Another major development occurred after the jury was sent home for the day.

Judge E. Susan Garsh held a hearing to determine whether to allow testimony from a longtime friend of Hernandez who said he discovered a gun wrapped in a T-shirt in the player’s California condo. The incident occurred in late April 2013, about six weeks before Lloyd’s death.

The man, Robert Paradis, testified in court Wednesday that he was in California with Hernandez and Wallace when he heard the then-Patriot said he had “fire” or “heat” — both references to a gun — under the front seat of the car he was driving. He also said Hernandez mentioned he had a “.45” — the same caliber of weapon that was used to kill Lloyd.

And he said that after Hernandez and Wallace left the condo to fly back to Massachusetts that he got a call from the player, asking him if “it” was still there. Paradis said he checked a drawer in a nightstand in Hernandez’s bedroom and found the gun wrapped in a black T-shirt. He did not unwrap the weapon but knew what it was because of its size, weight and shape, he said.

Defense attorneys argued that Paradis shifted his story over time, noting that police reports and grand jury testimony have varying accounts of what exactly Hernandez said to him.

In the end, Garsh ruled that he would not be allowed to testify because prosecutors had not produced any evidence that Hernandez took steps to get that gun from California to Massachusetts. She did note that she has given the green light for testimony from several others about Hernandez’s access to guns.

Testimony is scheduled to resume on Thursday morning.

Hernandez has separately been indicted on multiple murder and assault charges in a July 16, 2012, shooting in South Boston that left two men dead and another wounded.

In the Boston killings, prosecutors have alleged that Hernandez became enraged after a man bumped him on a nightclub dance floor, spilling his drink, and failed to apologize. They alleged that Hernandez later followed the man and his friends as they drove away from the club, then pulled up next to their car at a stoplight and opened fire with a .38-caliber revolver, killing Daniel De Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28, and wounding another man.

That trial originally was scheduled to begin May 28, but the judge there indicated recently he would push it back given the anticipated length of the trial in the Lloyd case. No new trial date has been set.

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