Aaron Hernandez due in court in drive-by shooting case

BOSTON – Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was due in court for a pretrial hearing in the drive-by killings of two men outside a Boston nightclub in 2012.

Prosecutors say Hernandez fatally shot Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado after one of them apparently spilled a drink on him in the club. They say Hernandez and a friend later found the men waiting in their car at a red light. He allegedly fired at least five shots into the car, killing the two men and injuring a third.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the murders, which came about six weeks before he signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Patriots. The team has since released him.

Hernandez also is charged in the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, who was dating his fiancee’s sister. Lloyd’s bullet-ridden body was found in an industrial park near Hernandez’s North Attleborough home last summer. He has pleaded not guilty.