In a shock verdict, a Boston jury has cleared former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez of committing a double murder in 2012.
Boston’s Suffolk Superior Court acquitted Hernandez on charges of murdering Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in a shooting on July 16, 2012, the Boston Globe reports.
The court also acquitted the 27-year-old former NFL player of witness intimidation for the 2013 shooting of prosecution witness Alexander Bradley.
Hernandez was convicted on a single charge of illegal possession of a firearm.
After the verdict was announced, the former player reportedly turned toward Shayanna Jenkins, his fiancé at the time of the shooting, and mouthed the words, “I love you.”
For her part, Jenkins told the media she was “very happy” after the proceedings.
Hernandez is already serving a life sentence due to his conviction in another murder trial. In 2015 Hernandez was found guilty of the 2013 shooting of Odin Lloyd.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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