Hernandez Murder Trial Update

As Aaron Hernandez's fiancee takes the stand in his murder trial on Friday, let's take a look at where the case stands now, and where it might go.

Shayanna Jenkins testified this morning that she got rid of a box that the ex-Patriots star asked her to remove from his home following the murder of Odin Lloyd. Prosecutors already accused Jenkins of lying to a grand jury, so how does her testimony fit in with the evidence the prosecution has presented so far?

What the Case Has

Prosecutors have already presented some damning evidence against Hernandez in the fatal shooting of Lloyd, a semiprofessional football player who was dating Jenkins's sister:

• Hernandez rented a Nissan Altima in his name, and the car was returned with a shell casing inside that matched the casings found at the murder scene;
• Cell phone technology shows Hernandez and his alleged accomplices Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace use the rental car to pick up Lloyd and then drive to the industrial yard where Lloyd's body was found;
• A security camera shows Lloyd getting into the car and his DNA was found in the car later;
• Keys to another Hernandez rental car were found in Lloyd's pocket;
• Tires tracks at the murder scene match the rented Altima's, and shoe prints match the Air Jordan's Hernandez was wearing that night;
• Hernandez's DNA was found on a marijuana joint at the murder scene;
• Surveillance cameras at Hernandez's home (which he later tried to erase) appear to show Hernandez walking through his house with a gun on the night of the murder;
• The same cameras show Jenkins carrying a large trash bag out of the house the day after the murder.

Jenkins still hasn't said exactly what she disposed of, although she did admit that Hernandez asked her to meet with Wallace and give him money.

What It Doesn't

As airtight as that list evidence appears, prosecutors are missing two big pieces: a motive for the crime and a murder weapon. While there are reports that Hernandez and Lloyd argued at a Boston nightclub a few nights before the murder, nothing further has surfaced.

And without the gun that killed Lloyd, prosecutors may have a hard time proving it was Hernandez that pulled the trigger. Neither Ortiz nor Wallace (the other two men allegedly at the scene) has fingered Hernandez as the shooter.

Hernandez was also able to keep evidence of prior killings out of this trial.

There's no telling what the case will look like by the time Jenkins finishes her testimony, and Hernandez faces a slew of other charges.

Related Resources:

• Prosecutors to Aaron Hernandez's Fiancee: Testify or Go To Jail (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
• Aaron Hernandez Gets Prior Killings, Text Messages Tossed Out (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
• Aaron Hernandez Murder Trial: 305 Potential State Witnesses (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
• Aaron Hernandez Indicted for 1st Degree Murder (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)