MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — Testimony in the murder trial of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez focused on guns yesterday, with a bank teller saying Hernandez asked her to send $15,000 out of his $1.8 million paycheck from the New England Patriots to a Florida man. Prosecutors say the money was used to buy guns.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges in the June 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. The murder weapon has never been found. Prosecutors have said it was a .45-caliber Glock.
Former Bank of America teller Heidi Carrera testified that Hernandez deposited three checks totaling more than $1.8 million on April 11, 2013. Among them was a March 2013 check signed by Patriots team owner Robert Kraft for more than $1.8 million. Hernandez also deposited a $30,000 check from Puma and a $7,500 check from another company, she said.
Carrera said Hernandez asked her to make a $15,000 deposit from that money into a Florida bank account held by a man named Oscar Hernandez.
Hernandez’s son, Oscar Hernandez Jr., pleaded guilty in January in federal court in Boston to lying to a grand jury, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and a gun conspiracy charge. Oscar Hernandez Jr. is not related to the Patriots’ former star tight end, who had a $40 million contract with the Patriots at the time of Lloyd’s killing.
Authorities traced three guns found during the investigation of Lloyd’s killing to Florida and have said Oscar Hernandez Jr. shipped them to Aaron Hernandez’s home in a beat-up Toyota Camry that was found in the football player’s garage.
Also yesterday, Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh granted immunity to a friend of Oscar Hernandez Jr.’s named Gion Jackson. Jackson testified that Hernandez Jr. was with him when he bought a .22-caliber Jimenez gun at a hardware store in Florida on April 16, 2013, five days after the $15,000 was sent to him by Aaron Hernandez. He said he put the gun in his trunk.
Later, he said, federal agents came to his home and told him his gun was found in Massachusetts.
The gun was found in the woods between Hernandez’s home and the industrial park where Lloyd’s body was found.
Meanwhile, Garsh says she has received two notes from jurors.
She began today’s session with a 10-minute sidebar conference with prosecutors, Hernandez and his lawyers to discuss the notes, which she said had to do with scheduling issues.
Jurors were told in January that the trial was expected to last six to 10 weeks. It has already lasted eight and will begin its ninth week Thursday. Prosecutors are still putting on their case.
Spotted in the courtroom today was E. Peter Parker, lawyer for two Hernandez cousins, Tanya Singleton and Jennifer Mercado. Mercado has been granted immunity to testify.
