Aaron Hernandez Charged with Witness Intimidation

The Suffolk County case against Aaron Hernandez is scheduled to return to court for a status hearing on May 21.

The defendant will not be present, according to the Suffolk Superior Court.

Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty on April 15, 2015 of first-degree murder against Odin Lloyd in June 2013. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Hernandez faces a double murder charge stemming from a 2012 shooting in the South End.

Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado, 28, were killed when someone fired at the BMW they were in near the corner of Herald Street and Shawmut Avenue in Boston on July 16, 2012. Prosecutors have said Hernandez was the gunman. He was indicted for the murders in May 2014.

A new charge was returned on Friday afternoon charging Hernandez under the state’s witness intimidation statute for allegedly shooting a percipient witness to the homicides of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

The victim of that non-fatal shooting, who Hernandez allegedly shot in the face on Feb. 13, 2013, is his former associate and was present for the 2012 murders. Hernandez also allegedly left him to die on the side of the road in Riviera Beach, Florida, after the witness commented on the recent homicides.

Though this shooting took place outside of Massachusetts, it may be prosecuted under Ch. 268, Sect. 13B, of the Massachusetts General Laws as willfully causing physical injury to a witness with the intent to impede a Suffolk County criminal investigation, according to a recent press release.

See also: Aaron Hernandez Guilty of Murder

Photo Credit: WHDH, 7-News