Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez could get life in prison if convicted for the 2013 killing of 27-year-old semipro football player Odin Lloyd.

While his ex-teammates are about to meet Seattle Seahwaks in the Super Bowl, Hernandez sat on the defense stable as his murder trial started Thursday.

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Prosecutors insisted that they have strong evidence that will connect the ex-NFL player to the crime. The evidence included DNA on a shell casing and security camera video from Hernandez's own home.

His lawyer, however, insisted that Hernandez, who had a US $40 million contract as a tight end, had the world at his feet and had no reason to kill.

The lawyer claimed that authorities ignored evidence and conducted a sloppy and unprofessional investigation, locking on Hernandez as a suspect early on.

The 25-year-old Hernandez is charged in the shooting death of Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. The victim's body was found hear the North Attleborough home of Hernandez.

The ex-NFL player was arrested in 2013, prompting the Patriots to cancel his multi-million contract.

Prosecutors claimed that Lloyd may have been killed because he had too much knowledge about the murder of two men in Boston in 2012, with Hernandez as the main suspect.

Hernandez was charged for the murder of the two men, whom authorities said were killed after one of them spilled a drink on the ex-NFL player.

District Attorney Patrict Bomberg presented the jury on Thursday the before-and-after of a security video that allegedly will connect Hernandez to the killing.

The video, Bomberg said in his opening statements, showed Lloyd getting into a Nissan Altima rental car driven by Hernandez. A subsequent video from Hernandez's home, taken shortly after Lloyd was shot dead, showed the same car without Lloyd.

The prosecutors alleged that Hernandez and two of his friends took Lloyd to the industrial park and shot him.

TagsAaron Hernandez, new england patriots, superbowl, NFL