Aaron Hernandez, born in Bristol, Connecticut was a rising star tight end and member of the New England Patriots before his 2013 arrest.
He played college ball at the University of Florida and was drafted into the NFL at only 20 years old. He had gotten into a fight in Gainesville as a teenager, but never had serious trouble with the law until 2013:
June 17, 2013 - Bristol County first assistant district attorney William McCauley claims Odin Lloyd was last seen alive with Aaron Hernandez at about 2:30 a.m. Lloyd's body was later discovered in an industrial park less than a mile away from Hernandez's home.
June 17, 2013 - McCauley said that Odin Lloyd was found with multiple gunshot wounds, including two to his chest, at an industrial park in North Attleboro.
June 18, 2013 - Investigators question Aaron Hernandez in connection to the discovery of Lloyd's body. They were seen both inside and outside his $1.3 million North Attleboro home.
June 20, 2013 - A law enforcement source told FOX25's Bob Ward that Hernandez appeared to be directly tied to the homicide of Odin Lloyd. The source said there was video evidence of Hernandez and two other men wearing hooded sweatshirts walking into Hernandez's home within minutes of neighbors hearing gunshots.
June 26, 2013 - Aaron Hernandez was arrested at his North Attleboro home. He pleaded not guilty to six charges, including murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of a large capacity firearm. At his arraignment Wednesday, prosecutors laid out a veritable mountain of evidence, while his lawyer's claimed the case was circumstantial. Hernandez was held without bail. He is being held at the Bristol County Correctional facility.
June 27, 2013 - FOX 25 also learned that Hernandez is being investigated in connection to a double homicide that occurred in downtown Boston on July 16, 2012.
July 5, 2013 - A Connecticut man, Alexander Bradley, who says he lost an eye after being shot by Aaron Hernandez in February has been ordered to appear before a grand jury in Massachusetts that's investigating the former New England Patriots tight end.
Sept. 4, 2013 - There are major developments in the 2012 double murder in the South End linked to Hernandez. The Hartford Courant reports that authorities have surveillance video showing Hernandez in the same Boston nightclub as Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado just hours before their deaths.
Oct. 8, 2013 - Alexander Bradley, the man prosecutors call Hernandez's former right-hand man, appeared before a Suffolk County Grand Jury probing the 2012 double murder of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
Nov. 28, 2013 - Hernandez exercised his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent in a lawsuit filed by former right-hand man Alexander Bradley. Bradley claims Hernandez shot him in the face after an argument at a Miami strip club.
Dec. 16, 2013 - Odin Lloyd's family
[ files a wrongful death lawsuit ]
against Aaron Hernandez.
Jan. 7, 2014 - Explosive
[ new information ]
in the Aaron Hernandez case backs up what law enforcement sources have been telling FOX25 for months. Authorities believe the June murder of Odin Lloyd in North Attleboro is connected to a double murder in Boston that took place in July of 2012.
Jan. 16, 2014 - Details released in a newly unsealed search warrant in the Aaron Hernandez case detail why Boston investigators wanted to visit a home belonging to the former Patriot's uncle in the first place. Boston officials were alerted to the home by investigators probing the murder of Odin Lloyd after they noticed an unused 4Runner in the garage. Investigators allege the 4Runner matches the SUV used in a July 2012 double homicide in Boston. In their application for a search of the home, investigators wrote, "gunshot residue may still exist" on the SUV in the garage.
Feb. 26, 2014 - A source confirms to FOX 25
[ that the families of Safiro Furtado and Daniel DeAbreu ]
, who were both killed in a 2012 Boston shooting, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Aaron Hernandez Wednesday hoping to reportedly gain $6 million each in damages.
May 15, 2014 -
[ Former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez was indicted on two counts of first-degree ]
murder in the 2012 homicide of de Abreau and Furtado that took place in Boston.
Hernandez was also indicted on three counts of armed assault with intent to murder and one count assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
May 28, 2014 - Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez entered not guilty pleas in court Wednesday in the 2012 murders of Furtado and de Abreau outside a nightclub.
Nov. 25, 2014: A judge allows a six-month delay in the trial of Aaron Hernandez for the 2012 double murder of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Hernandez allegedly shot the men after a chance encounter at a nightclub. The trial was scheduled to begin in May.
Dec. 12, 2014: A judge ruled that prosecutors in the Odin Lloyd murder case cannot tell a jury about two other killings with which the ex-New England Patriot is charged or the final text messages the victim sent to his sister.
Jan. 26, 2015 - The jury for the Odin Lloyd trial is selected.
Jan. 29, 2015 - Opening statements are expected in Aaron Hernandez's murder trial in Bristol County. Prosecution team: William McCauley, Patrick Bomberg, Roger Michel, and Brian Griffin. Defense team: Michael Fee, James Sultan, and Charles Rankin.
April 6, 2015: During closing arguments, Hernandez lawyer James Sultan acknowledges for the first time that Hernandez witnessed the killing. He described him as a 23-year-old kid who simply did not know what to do. The jury begins to deliberate.
April 15, 2015 - Aaron Hernandez is found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd and is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hernandez is also found guilty of two weapons charges against him.
>>READ MORE ABOUT THE ODIN LLOYD TRIAL
May 11, 2015 - Hernandez is
[ indicted in Massachusetts for witness intimidation in the 2013 shooting of Alexander Bradley. ]
Prosecutors believe Bradley to be a witness to the homicides of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, and say Bradley was shot by Hernandez after he made a remark about the double murder.
Aug. 20, 2015 - Hernandez is involved in a prison fight with
[ another inmate at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. ]
Dec. 4, 2015 - Hernandez was found with a shank in his prison cell.
Dec. 22, 2015 - The judge postponed the double murder trial again as both sides await a decision on a piece of evidence, a cell phone that belonged to Hernandez.
June 9, 2016 - It's publicly announced that Hernandez
[ hires Jose Baez to represent him in the double murder trial. ]
Dec. 9, 2016 - The controversial cell phone evidence still is causing an issue, with the prosecution asking for it to be included.
Feb. 14, 2015 - Jury selection begins in the double murder case.
March 1, 2017 - After many delays and a new prosecution team, the trial begins for the deaths of Furtado and de Abreau.
>>READ DAILY BRIEFS ABOUT THE DOUBLE MURDER TRIAL
March 15, 2017 - Tattoo artist David Nelson described one of the two guns he inked on Aaron Hernandez in Hermosa Beach, California. The tattoo session was in March 2013, eight months after the drive-by shooting that killed Safiro Furtado and Daniel De'Abreu. Prosecutors alleged Hernandez got tattoos to memorialize the double murder.
March 20 - 23 - Alexander Bradley testified in court that Hernandez opened fire on a car because he believed two men inside had taunted him at a Boston nightclub. He testifies for four days in total.
March 30: Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez' childhood sweetheart and fiancee, took the stand.
April 5, 2017 - The defense rests in the case.
April 14, 2017 - The verdict comes in and the jury finds Hernandez not guilty of murdering Safiro Furtado and Daniel De'Abreu. Of all the charges, he's onyl found guilty on one count of illegal possession of a firearm.
With an acquittal in the double murder case, attorney Jose Baez says they will continue to appeal the Lloyd murder conviction.
April 19, 2017: Aaron Hernandez commits suicide by apparent hanging, according to prison officials.
Attorney Jose Baez says he will conduct a full investigation into Hernandez death and his former agent casts doubt on whether its suicide.
FOX 25 NEWS AARON HERNANDEZ COVERAGE...
• FOX25 News LIVE & replays
• Aaron Hernandez found hanged in cell
• Hernandez lawyer, agent dispute suicide claims, want full investigation
• Legal Analyst: Hernandez suicide likely to affect Lloyd murder conviction
• Hernandez had troubled history at facility before suicide
• THE LATEST from The Associated Press
• Patriots still heading to White House despite Aaron Hernandez's suicide
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• Lawsuits against Aaron Hernandez can move forward next month
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• PHOTOS: Aaron Hernandez double murder trial
• Aaron Hernandez timeline: From Odin Lloyd's death to present