Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, who was already accused of murder in a man's shooting death last year, "ambushed and executed" two other men a year earlier after an encounter at a nightclub, prosecutors said on Thursday in announcing new murder charges against Hernandez.
The arrest of Hernandez on a murder charge last year stunned the American sporting world.
Hernandez earned big money as a star for the Boston area's New England Patriots, one of the most successful teams in recent years in the National Football League, by far the most popular pro sports league in the US.
In the new charges, Hernandez is accused of shooting the victims to death as they sat in a car in Boston's trendy South End on July 16, 2012
Police said earlier they were shot by someone who drove up alongside in an SUV with Rhode Island licence plates and opened fire.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said on Thursday the victims were "ambushed and executed as they drove home" and that Hernandez was the gunman.
Weeks later, Hernandez signed a five-year deal worth about $40 million with the Patriots and went on to play 12 games as a tight end for the team that season.
Hernandez is being held in custody awaiting trial in the separate 2013 shooting death near his Massachusetts home of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd.
On the night of the 2012 attack, Hernandez and the victims encountered each other at a nightclub, Conley said, though he did not detail what happened.
Hernandez was seen on surveillance footage in the nightclub that night and the SUV involved in the shooting was found at Hernandez's uncle's home in Bristol, Connecticut.
The SUV was covered in dust and cobwebs and had a dead battery, leading police to believe it had remained untouched in the garage for close to a year, according to the court documents.
Hernandez had long been famous as a football star in the New England region, dating back to his school years in Connecticut.
