Report: Aaron Hernandez probed for possible role in 2012 double-homicide

Aaron Hernandez is being investigated for his role in a 2012 double-murder. (Michael DeHoog/Getty Images)

In addition to the first-degree murder charge Aaron Hernandez faced on Wednesday in a Bristol County district court, a report from the Boston Globe on Thursday states that the former New England Patriots tight end is now being investigated for possible involvement in a 2012 double-homicide in Boston.

The 23-year-old Hernandez is currently facing a murder charge for the death of 27-year-old semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, whose body was found June 17 with bullet holes to the head and chest in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez's $1.7 million mansion in North Attleboro, Mass.

According to the Globe report, law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation say Hernandez, who was released by the Patriots about two hours after the arrest, is also being questioned for a 2012 double-murder on Shawmut Avenue near Club Cure in the South End of Boston.

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According to investigators, a fight had broken out at the club shortly after 2:00 a.m. on July 16 between two men and a group that allegedly included Hernandez. The two men, Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado, left Cure in a BMW sedan with three other men. Abreu, who was driving the vehicle, was waiting for the light to turn green to make a left onto Herald Street off of Shamut Avenue when a silver or gray SUV with Rhode Island license plates pulled up alongside the BMW. According to the report, someone from the SUV then fired multiple times into the BMW, killing the 29-year old Abreu and 28-year-old Furtado. One of the three other men was shot several times in the arm but survived. The other two men escaped unharmed but the SUV from where the shots were fired was never found.

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Police say Abreu and Furtado had no ties to criminal activity. They had grown up together in Cape Verde; Abreu had worked as a police officer there while Furtado was employed as a resort tour guide. More recently, they had been working for a cleaning company in the Boston neighborhood of  Dorchester.

The Globe reported that investigators believe Lloyd may have had information about Hernandez's role in the double-murder:

“The motive might have been that the victim knew [Hernandez] might have been involved,” one of the officials said.