Aaron Hernandez is already serving life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty two years ago of the 2013 first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd.

But the former NFL star tight end could be cleared in a separate double-murder trial in which he is accused of killing two men, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, in 2012. And Hernandez could thank a deleted text for that possibility.

The Daily Mail reported that Hernandez's lawyer, Jose Baez, cross-examined star witness Alexander Bradley late last week in court. Bradley testified that the ex-New England Patriots' star shot him in the face in a separate February 2013 incident and Baez questioned him about a deleted text message that he sent from that same year.

The message allegedly had Bradley unsure of who shot him in the face during that February 2013 incident, despite having testified under oath that it was Hernandez. And Baez made it clear that Bradley deleted it from his cellphone.

"Now you sure once I withdraw this lawsuit I won't be held on perjury after I tell the truth about me not recalling anything about who shot me?" Bradley allegedly asked his own attorney, Robert Pickering, in the since-deleted text, as reported by the Daily Mail.

When asked about why he deleted the text in question, Bradley said, "for the fourth time, I don’t recall what calls or messages I have or have not deleted."

Bradley added, "I was trying to figure out how I could testify without getting [Hernandez] criminally [charged]. I would essentially perjure myself if I file in a civil matter that Mr. Hernandez shot me and then I go to the grand jury and say, 'I don’t know who shot me.'"

He was referencing his civil lawsuit, which was settled in 2016 for an undisclosed amount.

The deleted text message is key for Hernandez's defense, which contends that Bradley was the gunman who shot and killed de Abreu and Furtado during a bungled drug deal and not the former tight end.

That's in direct opposition to Bradley claiming that Hernandez shot and killed de Abreu and Furtado in retaliation from de Abreu bumping into the football player and spilling a drink on him inside of a Boston nightclub.

On Monday, prosecutors claim that a heated argument between Hernandez and Bradley about the double homicide led to Bradley being shot by Hernandez.

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