Date set for Aaron Hernandez in trial for death of two men

Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriot already serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder, will return to the courtroom in February. Hernandez is charged in the death of two men in Boston in the summer of 2012. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder.

Hernandez was sentenced to life without parole in April 2015 in the death of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player and an acquaintance of Hernandez’s. In the course of the investigation of Lloyd’s death, police realized that Hernandez’s SUV matched one being sought in connection with the then-unsolved murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston.

Police theorize that Hernandez fought with de Abreu and Furtado in a club over a spilled drink, and that Hernandez later shot the men after driving alongside them. Hernandez later played the 2012 season in the NFL, recording 51 catches and five touchdowns for the Patriots. He had signed a $40 million deal just weeks before the deaths of de Abreu and Furtado.

Hernandez has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers have managed to exclude discussion of his prior conviction from this trial. However, Hernandez’s new tattoos, which show two guns and shell casings and, according to the prosecution, represent an admission of guilt in the two deaths, will be admissible.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.