Sports digest: 49ers have signed 9 of 10 draft picks – San Jose Mercury News
Former New England Patriots player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez has been charged with trying to silence a witness in a double murder case against him by shooting him in the face and leaving him for dead, prosecutors said.

Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury in Boston on a charge of witness intimidation, according to the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley. It’s the latest criminal charge against the former star tight end, who once had a $40 million contract with the Patriots.

The 25-year-old was convicted last month of killing Odin Lloyd, who was dating his fiancee’s sister, in June 2013. He also faces two counts of murder in Boston, where he is accused of gunning down two men in 2012 after one caused him to spill his drink at a nightclub.

The latest charge is connected to the Boston killings. The Suffolk County DA’s office said the victim of the intimidation was a witness to those killings, which happened on July 16, 2012.

The office did not identify the witness, but it is clear from several other court proceedings that it is former Hernandez friend Alexander Bradley. He survived the Feb. 13, 2013, shooting but lost an eye. He refused to cooperate with police at the time.

Running

Haile Gebrselassie isn’t going to stop running, he’s just going to stop racing. The 42-year-old Ethiopian great, a two-time Olympic champion at 10,000 meters and a multiple world-record holder at distances up to the marathon, announced his decision to retire Sunday after competing in the Great Manchester Run. And to underline his desire to keep going, he ran the 10-kilometer course a second time with the amateur runners just for fun.

“I am retiring from competitive running, not from running,” Gebrselassie said in a statement after the race, where he finished 16th among the top men. “You cannot stop running. This is my life.”

Gebrselassie is ending his 23-year competitive career to focus on his array of businesses at home but will appear once more in 2015, at the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow in October as part of his “farewell tour.”

Hockey

Konstantin Komarek scored the winning goal to give Austria a 3-2 victory over Germany in a shootout at the world championships, a result that sent Switzerland into the quarterfinals in Prague. Canada, Sweden and the Czech Republic previously earned berths in the quarterfinals.

Finland beat Belarus 3-2 after a penalty shootout and is tied for second with Russia in Group B with 14 points, one behind the United States.

Filip Forsberg scored two goals as Sweden defeated France 4-2. The Nashville Predators forward has a tournament-leading eight goals from seven games.

Motor sports

Sage Karam led the way in the first Indianapolis 500 practice with a fast lap of 225.802 mph. Scott Dixon was second at 225.293, Brazil’s Tony Kanaan was third at 225.217, Marco Andretti was fourth at 225.184, and JR Hildebrand was fifth at 224.760. Inclement weather shortened the first day of practice for the May 24 race.

Olympics

Japanese Olympic organizers opened the application process for sports hoping to be added to the 2020 Tokyo Games. Baseball and softball, which have been off the Olympic program since the 2008 Beijing Games, are considered favorites because of their popularity in Japan. Other possibilities include squash, karate, skateboarding and surfing.

The IOC will make the final decision in August 2016 at its meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

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