Search warrant reportedly links Aaron Hernandez to 2012 double murder

Aaron Hernandez (top) is currently awaiting trial on first-degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd. (Josh Reynolds/AP)

Already awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge, former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez also has been named by authorities as a suspect in a 2012 alleged double murder. According to The Hartford Courant, a search warrant filed in relation to that case "indicates police suspect Hernandez was in an SUV that circled a block waiting for the victims to enter their own vehicle before the 2 a.m. drive-by shooting."

Five or six shots were later fired from that SUV into another vehicle, killing Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado and injuring a third victim, per the Courant. The incident occurred on July 16, 2012, approximately 11 months before the death of Odin Lloyd, for which Hernandez has been accused.

More details on Hernandez's potential role in the deaths of Abreu and Furtado, from the Courant:

Earlier in the night, surveillance footage showed Hernandez and Alexander Bradley -- who filed a civil lawsuit accusing Hernandez of shooting him in the eye in February -- at the same Boston nightclub.

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Hernandez became a suspect in the Boston slayings after being charged with murder in the June 17 death of Odin Lloyd near Hernandez's home in North Attleborough, Mass. The warrant indicates that authorities received an anonymous tip that, combined with their own memory of surveillance footage from the night of the shooting, led them to investigate the former tight end.

Hernandez was arrested in connection with Lloyd's death in late June. The Patriots released him almost immediately after he was taken into custody, explaining, "At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do."

The police have in their possession the murder weapon used in the 2012 shootings, according to the Courant, and they impounded the SUV believed to be used for the drive-by attack from the household of one of Hernandez's relatives.

Hernandez was seen entering and then later leaving a club with Bradley in the hours prior to the murder. The two then drove away, with Hernandez behind the wheel. Later, the Courant reported, "a car resembling the Toyota was back in the area" as Abreu and Furtado left the same club at which Hernandez had been seen earlier.

A trial date for the murder case against Hernandez has not yet been set.

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