Four men arrested over NFL murder

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Four people have been arrested over the murder of NFL star Sean Taylor, who died on Tuesday after being shot by intruders in his Florida home.

Miami police say they have more than one confession from the group - all males aged between 17 and 20 years old.

Detectives say Mr Taylor, a defensive player for the Washington Redskins, was killed in what appeared to have been a robbery which went wrong.

Mr Taylor, aged 24, was shot in the groin, severing his femoral artery.

Police arrested Eric Rivera, 17, Charles Wardlow, 18, Jason Mitchell, 19, and Venjahk Hunte, 20, in south-west Florida, about 160km (100 miles) from Miami.

Police Director Robert Parker said detectives are confident that the case against the four arrested was strong.

"We do have more than one confession," he said. "We're pretty certain we do have the gun."

Previous burglary

Mr Parker said the suspects had broken into the house in the belief that it would be empty, but Mr Taylor was off work with an injured knee and at home with his girlfriend Jackie Garcia and 18-month daughter.

"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone. They were expecting a residence that was not occupied. So murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive," Mr Parker said.

"Their motive was to go there and steal the contents of the house."

Police are trying to establish if the burglary was linked to another break-in on 17 November at Mr Taylor's home and if more individuals are involved.

"We're looking into whether or not one or more of the individuals had been at the residence before," Mr Parker said.

Successful season

Mr Taylor, a college star with the University of Miami, was the fifth pick of the 2004 NFL Draft and was enjoying a successful season until a knee injury sidelined him for the past two games.

Mr Taylor, who played as a safety for Washington, had a reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.

"I just take this job very seriously," he said in an interview during training camp.

"It's almost like, you play a kid's game for a king's ransom. And if you don't take it serious enough, eventually one day you're going to say, 'Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that'."