An affidavit filed in Florida portrays Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots star, as the man who pulled the trigger in the shooting death of his friend last month.
Hernandez has been charged with orchestrating the killing of the friend, Odin Lloyd. Two other men, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, have also been charged, but prosecutors have not said who they believe carried out the shooting.
According to the affidavit, filed Tuesday, Ortiz told police that Wallace told him Hernandez admitted to pulling the trigger in the overnight hours of June 17. Ortiz himself said it was too dark to tell who did the shooting.
Also Tuesday, a judge in Massachusetts released search warrants detailing a police encounter with Hernandez early in the murder investigation. The police account described him as argumentative.
Hernandez slammed the door on the police when they showed up at his house and told him they were looking into a death, according to the police account. Police said he showed no concern, and never asked whose death they were checking out.
The account said he asked: “What’s with all the questions?”
Hernandez re-emerged minutes later and offered to follow the police to the station and submit to questioning there, the account said.
The documents were released after a motion filed by news organizations.
The papers included a catalog of items seized by police when they searched Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough, Mass., including three iPads, clothes and ammunition.
Hernandez, a tight end, was released by the Patriots when he was arrested June 26.
Taken together, the documents shed light on how investigators closed in on Hernandez as a suspect in the killing, and demonstrate that Ortiz is cooperating closely with investigators.
Police say that Hernandez summoned Ortiz and Wallace from out of state, and that the three drove to pick up Lloyd, a semipro football player. Prosecutors say Hernandez was upset that Lloyd was talking to the wrong people days earlier at a nightclub.
Ortiz told police that he, Hernandez and Wallace picked up Lloyd in Boston in a Nissan Altima in the early morning hours of June 17 and began to drive toward North Attleborough.
According to court documents, Hernandez had sent Lloyd the following text at 9:05 p.m.: “I’m coming to grab u tonight gon b around 1 need dat and we could step for a little again.”
Roughly 30 minutes later, after Lloyd didn’t respond, Hernandez sent another message: “Waddup.” Responded Lloyd: “Aite, where.”
Hernandez: “idk it don’t matter but imma hit u when I’m dat way like Las time if my phone dies imma hit u when i charge it which will be in a lil.”
Said Lloyd, who apparently was curious about Hernandez’s plans: “Ait idk anything goin on.”
Hernandez responded, saying “I’ll figure it out ill hit u on my way.”
More than two hours later, at 12:22 a.m., Lloyd asked Hernandez: “We still on.”
Hernandez didn’t respond. Lloyd’s sister told police that Lloyd left their residence in Boston at 1 a.m. ET with three men.
Prosecutors previously explained that Lloyd later contacted his sister via text, asking her, “U saw who I’m with.” He later said “Nfl” and “just so u know.” Prosecutors say it suggests Lloyd was worried.
Ortiz told investigators that Hernandez and Lloyd argued in the car minutes before the shooting, and that they made up by shaking hands, according to the affidavit.
According to Ortiz, the other three men — Hernandez, Wallace and Lloyd — got out of the car, but only Hernandez and Wallace returned. Later, Wallace said that Hernandez admitted to the killing, according to Ortiz.
Wallace, charged as an accessory to murder, pleaded not guilty on Monday and was ordered held without bail. Ortiz, who faces a gun charge, has agreed to remain in jail until his next hearing, and a not guilty plea has been entered on his behalf.
Lawyers for Hernandez, who is being held without bail in a Massachusetts jail, have declined comment, citing a judge’s gag order in the case.
The owner of the Patriots, Robert Kraft, said Monday that if the charges are true, the organization has been “duped.” The team drafted him in 2010 and gave him a $40 million contract extension last year.
Hernandez is being examined for any links to an unsolved double killing in Boston last July, sources have told NBC News.
He is also the subject of a lawsuit filed by a friend who said the football player shot him in the face in February during an altercation in Florida. No criminal charges have been filed in that incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.