Prosecutors have continued to dance around the question of whether they believe Aaron Hernandez pulled the trigger on the gun that fired bullets that killed Odin Lloyd. Again on Monday, the chief law enforcement officer in Bristol County declined to specify whether Hernandez was the shooter.
According to Kevin Manahan of USA Today, District Attorney Samuel Sutter avoided the issue.
“All we’ve done is charge Aaron Hernandez with murder,” Sutter said after Ernest Wallace (pictured) was arraigned on charges of being an accessory after the fact. “As far as the specifics about who was the shooter and who might have been a joint venturer, it’s too early to say. The investigation is ongoing. There’s a probable cause hearing [for Hernandez] scheduled for two weeks, and our case continues to grow.”
When Hernandez was arraigned 12 days ago, prosecutor Bill McCauley said only that Hernandez “orchestrated” the murder of Lloyd. Hernandez could still be guilty of murder without actually killing Lloyd, if Hernandez ordered one of the other two men who were with him — Wallace and Carlos Ortiz — to open fire.
It’s believed that Ortiz has “flipped” on Hernandez. If so, the prosecutors know who killed Lloyd. Or, more accurately, they know who Ortiz claims killed Lloyd.