(UDHAYAM, COLOMBO) – Aaron Hernandez was found not guilty of two counts of murder on Friday in the killing of two men in a drive-by shooting outside a Boston nightclub in July 2012.
The former NFL star faced eight counts in all, including two of murder and three of armed assault. He also faced a charge of witness intimidation for allegedly shooting his former friend in the face in an attempt to silence him.
Hernandez was found guilty of just one count: illegal possession of a firearm.
Hernandez’s promising football career as a tight end with the New England Patriots fell apart in June 2013 when he was arrested in the murder of Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancée’s sister. Hernandez was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015, though he has appealed for a new trial in that case.
Prosecutors in this trial said Hernandez shot and killed Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu outside a nightclub. But defense attorneys said the prosecution’s key witness, Alexander Bradley, was the true killer.
Jurors, who began deliberations last Friday, were instructed not to consider Hernandez’s prior conviction. Hernandez did not testify in either trial.
