Prosecution rests in murder trial of Aaron Hernandez

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Prosecutors rested their murder case against former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez on Thursday, bringing to a close weeks of at-times gruesome testimony in a trial that has shaken U.S. professional sports.

Prosecutors say Hernandez, who played tight end for the New England Patriots, gunned down semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd in an industrial park near Hernandez’s house in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, before dawn on June 17, 2013.

They called more than 120 witnesses including investigators and family members since the trial began in late January. Defense attorneys will begin presenting their case on Monday, with closing arguments likely in the middle of next week.

Hernandez, 25, has pleaded not guilty and faces possible life in prison if convicted.

On Thursday, Massachusetts medical examiner Dr. William Zane testified that Lloyd had six bullet wounds, including one in the back and two in the chest. He showed the jury the locations of the wounds by putting stickers on a mannequin.

“The gunshot wound to the left chest would be fatal,” said Zane, the prosecution’s final witness. He said the shot would have killed Lloyd in “seconds to minutes.” He said two of the other gunshots also caused fatal injuries.

Prosecutors say Hernandez and two friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, killed Lloyd with a .45-caliber Glock handgun, after Hernandez and Lloyd had a disagreement at a nightclub two nights before. The weapon has not been found.

They say the men picked Lloyd up in Boston and drove him to the industrial park where he was killed. They presented surveillance video from Hernandez’s house that showed Hernandez holding what they say is a Glock handgun minutes after Lloyd’s death.

On Tuesday, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Hernandez told him he was not involved in the murder and was at a nightclub at the time. But other witnesses testified Ortiz and Wallace met Hernandez at his home that night and that the three left together.

Wallace and Ortiz are facing separate murder trials. They also have pleaded not guilty.

Alexander Bradley, a former friend of Hernandez who sued him for shooting him in the face in a separate incident, testified on Wednesday that he had seen Hernandez handling what appeared to be a Glock in February 2013.

Bradley was not allowed to tell the jury about how he was shot.