Aaron Hernandez 'Flop House' Reveals Clothes, Ammo Possibly Linked to Murder
July 3, 2013— -- A condominium rented by former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez contained incriminating items that police believe link him to the murder of Odin Lloyd, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
The documents show police discovered a white hooded sweatshirt and a baseball cap that police source say match what Hernandez was seen on surveillance video wearing the night he allegedly orchestrated the murder of Lloyd with two other men.
Police also found three different calibers of ammunition, including .45 caliber ammunition, the same kind used to kill Lloyd, a semi-pro football player discovered dead June 17 in a North Attleborough, Mass., industrial park near where Hernandez lived with his fiancé and baby.
Carlos Ortiz, 27, who was arrested in Bristol, Conn., and identified by Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter as one of three men allegedly involved in Lloyd's death, was cooperative with investigators during an interview on June 25, according to search warrant affidavits filed in the case.
"Ortiz did confirm that he was with Aaron Hernandez on the night in question. Ortiz then went on to explain that Hernandez has another address that not many people know about,'' Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Bates wrote in the affidavit. Ortiz called it a $1,200-a-month "flop house for Hernandez,'' the affidavit states.
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The lease for the 599 Old West Central Street in Franklin, Mass., was in Hernandez's name, according to court documents filed in the case. Investigators said that among the items they hoped to recover in a search was anything to indicate drug dealing on the premises, the document stated. Police mentioned cocaine in the affidavit requesting an All Persons Warrant – which would entitle police to search anyone found in the apartment – writing that "the nature of the sale of cocaine is such that the participants are constantly changing."
Investigators hoped to find ammunition, and the clothing Hernandez was wearing the night of Lloyd's murder in the surveillance video recovered by investigators, the warrant stated. The security system in Hernandez' $1.3 million North Attleborough mansion had been smashed and "intentionally damaged," prosecutors said at his arraignment last week, but images were still recovered by investigators that showed him in his home with a gun.
A white sweatshirt "consistent" with the one Hernandez was spotted wearing was recovered "in the main bedroom of the apartment" during the initial search, according to the affidavit. Other clothes recovered there had "the number 81" emblazoned on them, which, the affidavit notes, "is consistent with the number Hernandez wears on his Patriots uniform."
Police also recovered three types of ammunition in the Franklin apartment, according to the search warrant affidavits. There were also valet parking tickets from the W Hotel, which is located close to Rumor nightclub where Hernandez and Lloyd partied together Friday night into Saturday morning. The valet tickets were dated for Friday.
Hernandez is being held without bail at the Bristol County jail charged with first degree murder in connection with Lloyd's homicide. A third suspect, Ernest Wallace, 41, turned himself in to police in Miramar, Fla., and is expected to be arraigned in Massachusetts in the coming days.
