Aaron Hernandez has many tattoos on his body, and some of the artwork will be used in an attempt to convict the former NFL tight end in his upcoming double murder trial.
On Tuesday, a judge ruled that tattoos Hernandez has depicting firearms can be used as evidence while he is being tried on charges of murdering two men in a drive-by shooting outside a Boston nightclub back in 2012. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to killing 29-year-old Daniel de Abreu and 28-year-old Safiro Furtado, and the trial is scheduled to begin next month.
As TMZ notes, prosecutors say the tattoos are essentially trophies for Hernandez to commemorate his shootings. One of the 27-year-old’s tattoos depicts a revolver with five bullets in the chamber and one missing, and prosecutors believe that represents the five shots Hernandez allegedly fired into a car occupied by Abreu and Furtado. Another tattoo shows a semi-automatic pistol with a shell casing next to it, which prosecutors claim commemorates the time Hernandez shot a former friend in the face with a similar weapon in 2013.
Hernandez’s legal team argued that the tattoos should not be considered admissible evidence because they are open to interpretation, but a judge ruled that the ink is relevant.
Hernandez’s tattoos have been examined by prison officials in the past to determine if they indicate he has any gang affiliations. He also got at least one new tattoo since he went to prison for the murder of Odin Lloyd, and that artwork appears to brag about his life sentence (photo here).
Already serving a life sentence without parole after being convicted of murder, Hernandez has very little chance of ever getting out of prison regardless of what happens in the double murder trial.
