Friend to name ex-NFL star Hernandez as gunman in double murder: prosecutor

(Reuters) – A former friend of convicted murderer and ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez will identify him as the man who fatally shot two Cape Verdean nationals after a dispute at a Boston nightclub in July 2012, Massachusetts prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Alexander Bradley will also identify the former New England Patriots tight end as the man who shot him in the face in February 2013 after Bradley referred to the killing of Odin Lloyd, of which Hernandez was later convicted, according to court papers filed by Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley’s office.

Hernandez, 26, had been a rising star in the National Football League with a $26 million contract when he was arrested in June 2013 and charged with fatally shooting Lloyd, an acquaintance, in an industrial park near his North Attleborough, Massachusetts, home.

The Patriots cut Hernandez within hours of his arrest and he was convicted of the Lloyd killing and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in April 2015.

A Massachusetts judge set a trial date of Feb. 13 for Hernandez’s trial on charges of murdering Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado outside a Boston nightclub after a dispute over a spilled drink.

Hernandez has also been charged with witness intimidation for allegedly shooting Bradley while the two were in Florida. The incident cost Bradley an eye.

An attorney for Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Peter Cooney)