Judge seizes home of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez

Story highlights

Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez's Massachusetts home is preliminarily seized

A judge ordered the seizure while a wrongful death lawsuit against Hernandez is pending

Patriots will not pay Hernandez $3.25 million the NFL Players Association says he is owed

CNN  — 

A judge Thursday preliminarily seized Aaron Hernandez’s Massachusetts home while a wrongful death lawsuit against the former NFL star is pending.

Bristol Superior Court Judge Richard Moses made the ruling during a hearing on Hernandez’s finances in connection with a lawsuit filed by the family of Odin Lloyd, whom the ex-New England Patriot tight end is accused of killing, according to court documents.

Charles Rankin, Hernandez’s attorney, did not object but asked the court to reconsider the matter.

At the hearing, lawyers for the Patriots said the team would not pay Hernandez the $3.25 million that the NFL Players Association has said the player is owed.

An attorney for the Patriots said that it could take several months for the matter of payment to be settled.

Hernandez had an NFL contract worth nearly $40 million, but it was terminated when he was charged with the slaying and firearm offenses.

Source: Aaron Hernandez investigation turns to gun trafficking

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Monday, claims Hernandez “maliciously, willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence” caused the death of Odin Lloyd.

Hernandez, 24, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the June shooting of his friend Lloyd, 27, a Boston-area semipro football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s girlfriend.

CNN’s calls to Hernandez’s attorney were not immediately returned.

Prosecutors told CNN that Hernandez allegedly planned and carried out the slaying: Lloyd was shot five times with a semi-automatic .45-caliber handgun. A grand jury investigating allegations of gun trafficking against Hernandez is the same one that handed up the murder charge, a source told CNN in October.

Who was Odin Lloyd?

A witness whom sources have described as Hernandez’s “muscle man” said he was with the ex-Patriot the night of a 2012 double homicide in Boston. Police have said that the homicide may be linked to Hernandez, according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation.

That witness, Alexander Bradley, has filed a civil lawsuit accusing Hernandez of shooting him in the face during an argument after they left a Florida strip club in February.

Bradley lost sight in one eye because of the shooting, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys for the Patriots and the Lloyd family did not return CNN’s calls.

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