BREAKING: Aaron Hernandez Guilty of Murder

Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez has been found guilty of first-degree murder against Odin Lloyd.

The 12-person jury reached the unanimous decision on April 15, 2015, after 35.5 hours of deliberation.

Hernandez is now convicted of killing 27-year-old Lloyd in June 2013 in an industrial park in North Attleboro along with unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute - Cedar Junction in Walpole for the murder charge, 3-5 years in prison for the weapon charge, and 1 year for the ammunition charge.

A first-degree conviction results in an automatic life sentence without parole for Hernandez. Under state law, the verdict triggers an automatic appeal in the Supreme Judicial Court. The date for the appeal has not been announced.

During the court case, prosecutors said that Hernandez ended the life of Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancée’s sister, after seeing him at a Boston nightclub with individuals Hernandez may have had an issue with during an encounter in June 2013.

According to the testimony, on June 16, Hernandez asked two associates named Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace from Bristol, CT, to come to his North Attleboro home. Hernandez, Ortiz, and Lloyd then left North Attleboro in a rented Nissan at 1:12 a.m. on June 17, eventually arriving at Lloyd’s Dorchester home.

At 2:33 a.m., the vehicle arrived at Lloyd’s home where he entered the vehicle. The car proceeded towards I-90, skipping a toll booth at the I-95 interchange west of Boston. By 2:23 a.m., the vehicle entered an industrial park in North Attleboro. Shortly, later, three gunshots and a car door slamming could be heard by an employee of a nearby business. Two other employees also said they heard bangs which they assumed to be fireworks at the time.

At 3:30 a.m., the vehicle returned to Hernandez’s home with the three men.

Surveillance footage from inside Hernandez’s home only minutes after the murder showed him with a gun that appeared to be the same make and model as the one used to kill Lloyd. Prosecutors said that was the gun used for the murder but due to the grainy quality of the video, defense attorneys suggested it could have been a remote control or airsoft gun.

The body of Lloyd was found at 5:37 p.m. that day by a jogger.

After the murder, prosecutors alleged that Hernandez disposed of the weapon in a box thrown away by his fiancée Shaneah Jenkins. While testifying, Jenkins said she was told to collect a box that Bristol First Assistant District Attorney William McCauley believed contained the gun and disposed of it in a dumpster. Jenkins said she never asked or checked what was in the box, estimating its weight to be 25 to 30 lbs.

Authorities were unable to recover the box or confirm its contents.

The following week saw investigators at Hernandez’s home collecting evidence before arresting him on the morning of June 26, nine days after the murder. On Aug. 22, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury with indictments for Ortiz and Wallace coming eight months later.

During the closing arguments, the defense at times appeared to pin the murder of Wallace and Ortiz, admitting that Hernandez was at the scene of the crime, saw Lloyd get shot, but was not involved in the murder.

Hernandez also faces a double murder charge stemming from a 2012 shooting in Boston’s South End. That trial is expected to start later this year.

Stay with Patch for more coverage after the verdict.

Photo Credit: WHDH