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Aaron Hernandez leased secret 'flop house' with boxes of ammo found by police

Aaron Hernandez leased a secret apartment where boxes of ammunition were found. (Michael DeHoog/Getty Images)

The evidence continues to mount against former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.

After being charged with first-degree murder in June for the execution-style shooting of acquaintance Odin Lloyd, and subsequent findings of links to other shootings and incidents, the 23-year old Hernandez is now reported to have rented a secret "flop house," a place typically reserved for minimal services such as storage.

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According to a report Wednesday from the Associated Press, Hernandez, who is now one of 29 NFL players arrested since the Super Bowl, had reportedly leased a $1,200 per month apartment in Franklin, Mass., where state police found boxes of ammunition, a sweatshirt and a baseball cap, among other items.

Police found out about the apartment from Carlos Ortiz, one of Hernandez's friends, who said he was with the former NFL star the night he allegedly made plans to shoot Lloyd. The articles of clothing recovered from the apartment are similar to what Hernandez had worn the night of the crime, June 17. According to the AP report:

"The white sweatshirt could be used ... to assist in linking Hernandez to the scene of the crime," wrote Trooper Michael Bates, in an affidavit in support of one of the search warrants.

"The baseball hat could help provide the whereabouts of Hernandez on the Friday night before the homicide," Bates wrote.

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The Boston Globe and Boston Herald have the list of items recovered, which include:

  • A white hoodie “consistent in color and type with the sweatshirt that Hernandez is observed to be wearing on surveillance cameras the night of the homicide.
  • A red baseball cap worn by Hernandez to a nightclub on the Friday night before the murder. Prosecutors had previously said Hernandez's anger at Lloyd could have been sparked by an incident at that club.
  • Five boxes of .45 ammunition (the caliber of the shells found on Lloyd's body), five boxes of rifle ammunition, and one box of .22-caliber ammunition.
  • Keys to a brand-new Hummer registered to Hernandez.
  • Paychecks from the Patriots and Puma.
  • A bag from Kay Jewelers.
  • A valet receipt from the W Hotel in Boston.
  • A Western Union receipt.
  • A Hertz car rental agreement

(Hat tip to DeadSpin for compiling the list)

Lloyd, who was dumped at an industrial complex about a mile from Hernandez's North Attleboro (Mass) mansion after he was killed, reportedly had inside information about Hernandez's involvement in a 2012 double-homicide in Boston.

Hernandez's attorneys say the items recovered from the Franklin apartment is circumstantial and added that he's eager to clear his name from the murder charge.

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