Families of double murder victims say they did not know Aaron Hernandez
In addition to awaiting trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd, Aaron Hernandez is also being investigated for his potential involvement in a double murder that took place in Boston last July. The victims in that incident, 28-year-old Safiro Teixeira Furtado and 29-year-old Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu, were shot and killed while they waited in a car at a red light. But what tie did they have to Hernandez?
According to their families, the victims did not know the former New England Patriots tight end. Jose Centeio, Furtado’s cousin and both of the victims’ boss at a cleaning business, told the Boston Herald the crime must not have been planned.
“Whatever they got caught up with, it’s something that just happened at the moment,” Centeio said. “That’s the sad thing about it.”
Another cousin of Furtado, who chose to remain anonymous, agreed that there is no way Furtado was connected with anyone in Hernandez’s circle.
“Hernandez is a multimillionaire,” the cousin said. “It’s a different life.”
[Related: Aaron Hernandez reportedly rented SUV used in 2012 double murder]
At this point, it is unclear whether Hernandez was involved in the 2012 murders or how he may have known the victims and suspects in either case. You always have to consider the possibility that the families of the victims don’t have all the appropriate information, but Centeio spoke with certainty that his slain cousin had no association with Hernandez.
“They don’t have any association with wrongdoing,” he said. “Every family member is anxious to get some kind of closure.”
On Friday, a silver SUV with Rhode Island plates that may have been connected to the 2012 double murder was seized from Hernandez’s uncle’s home. We expect more details to surface in the coming days.
See all the LBS coverage of the Aaron Hernandez murder
