What was the deal with the silver SUV towed from the Bristol, Conn. home of Aaron Hernandez’s uncle, Andres Valderamma?
NBC Connecticut has learned from sources familiar with the investigation that it might have been in the Bristol garage for up to a year.
Police first noticed the silver Toyota 4Runner while executing a search warrant at the Lake Avenue home in relation to the murder of Odin Lloyd in North Attleboro. Prosecutors said Lloyd died in an execution-style killing.
Hernandez, a Bristol native, has been charged with murder in the Lloyd investigation and has pleaded not guilty.
Two Bristol men, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, also been charged in connection with the investigation. Ortiz is being held on weapons charges. Wallace has been charged as an accessory after the fact to murder.
Sources said Massachusetts investigators believe Ortiz and Wallace went directly to the Lake Avenue home after leaving Hernandez’s house in North Attleboro the night Lloyd was murdered.
Sources claim Hernandez's family told detectives that the car belonged to Hernandez and that he had received it upon signing with the New England Patriots.
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The family said the SUV had been in the garage for “about a year” and was untouched after Aaron dropped it off.
Sources claim that investigators learned the SUV is registered to a Rhode Island company and that members of the company told investigators they gave Hernandez the SUV in exchange for appearances and outings with clients.
It didn’t take long after that for investigators to match the SUV’s description to a car they were looking for in connection to a July 2012 double murder outside a club in Boston.
That connection brought the second search warrant issued for the Lake Avenue home. The Toyota 4Runner was seen being towed away by investigators last Friday.
Investigators were searching the Lake Avenue home as recently as Tuesday.
