The Suffolk District Attorney's Office is seeking help from tattoo artists who have inked former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez with a double-murder case they are mounting against the ex-football star. Yahoo News said that the tattoos on Hernandez's body could have evidence pertaining to the case.
Hernandez is currently locked up for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. Investigators are working to build a case against him for the killing of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in a drive-by shootout.
When USA Today reached a spokesman for the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, he fell short of explaining what investigators are hoping to learn from the tattoo artists. Yahoo News said that they would want to talk to tattoo artists who did the work on Hernandez's right arm between February 2012 and June 2013. It was said that Hernandez have traveled to California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts and Rhode Island within that tme period, and that he might have done work in either of the areas mentioned.
Press secretary Jake Wark said, "It's the tattoo artist who gave him a tattoo on his right forearm, but we're not saying what the tattoo was. We don't want to influence the statements of anyone who might have this information. So we're not being specific in which tattoo we're looking at. What we hope to learn, really we want to get unvarnished, unrehearsed observations from any tattoo artists. It could provide information of an evidentiary value."
It has been clarified, however, that the tattoo artists are not treated as suspects in the 2012 shooting case, but could provide evidence against the former athlete.
Hernandez is set to be arraigned on two counts of murder for allegedly shooting de Abreu and Furtado in Boston on May 28, prosecutors have said. It was not clear whether there are links to the Lloyd's death and the 2012 shootings.
