--- description: Hernandez, 25, is charged with killing Odin Lloyd title: Former NFL Star Aaron Hernandez Starts Murder Trial image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc0bc416d4d97347/6987790155a859c70fa852a0/aaron-hernandez.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Former NFL Star Aaron Hernandez Starts Murder Trial by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 9, 2015 11:42 AM CUT  Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez attends a pre-trial hearing in Fall River, Massachusetts Dec. 22, 2014. Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez attends a pre-trial hearing in Fall River, Massachusetts Dec. 22, 2014.Brian Snyder—Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 9, 2015 11:42 AM CUT Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez goes on trial Friday for the June 2013 murder of a semi-pro football player, a case that exposed the rich young star’s drift into violence and stoked a widening debate about off-the-field behavior of NFL athletes. Hernandez, 25, is charged with killing Odin Lloyd, a friend whose body was found in an industrial park in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, shot several times and discarded near a mound of construction waste. The case against Hernandez is largely circumstantial, and if he’s convicted he faces life without parole… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/aaron-hernandez/former-nfl-star-aaron-hernandez-starts-murder-trial-n282556?cid=par-time-article%5F20150109 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3661192/aaron-hernandez-murder-trial/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3661192/aaron-hernandez-murder-trial/"},"headline":"Former NFL Star Aaron Hernandez Starts Murder Trial","datePublished":"2015-01-09T11:42:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:25:55.622Z","description":"If convicted, he faces life without parole","url":"https://time.com/3661192/aaron-hernandez-murder-trial/","keywords":["Crime","Sports topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc0bc416d4d97347/6987790155a859c70fa852a0/aaron-hernandez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc0bc416d4d97347/6987790155a859c70fa852a0/aaron-hernandez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez attends a pre-trial hearing in Fall River","caption":"Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez attends a pre-trial hearing in Fall River, Massachusetts Dec. 22, 2014.","creditText":"Brian Snyder—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3661192/aaron-hernandez-murder-trial/","name":"Former NFL Star Aaron Hernandez Starts Murder Trial"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sheriff: Aaron Hernandez And Inmate Fought In Jail","description":"Former New England Patriots tight end turned murder defendant Aaron Hernandez could be looking at more charges following a fight at the Bristol County Jail.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OgJq3mHA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-26T16:49:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OgJq3mHA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3661192/aaron-hernandez-murder-trial/","duration":"PT1M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3661192/aaron-hernandez-murder-trial/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```