Patriots’ Aaron Hernandez Questioned About a Murder

Police are questioning Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez after a 27-year-old Boston man was found dead in North Attleboro close to Hernandez’s house, according to Sports Illustrated, though Hernandez isn’t himself a suspect in the man’s death.

Details are pretty thin but what reporters know so far is that a jogger found the victim’s body in an industrial park near Hernandez’s North Attleboro home on Monday. The deceased man was an “associate” of Hernandez’s, according to ABC News. The Sun Chronicle reported Monday that police had identified a rented 2013 Chevrolet Suburban with Rhode Island license plates as somehow connected to the investigation. And now Sports Illustrated is reporting that Hernandez’s name “was tied” to the car.

Hernandez, his agents, and his lawyers have yet to comment substantively to reporters, but SI notes that a police car (and a couple news vans) idled in front of Hernandez’s home Tuesday, and that state police spoke with Hernandez Tuesday. The the player is spending the off-season recovering from a minor shoulder scope. SB Nation calls him “one of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s most dynamic weapons,” given his 175 receptions, 1,956 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns in three season.