Ex-NFL Tight End, Aaron Hernandez Found Guilty of First Degree Murder

Former NFL tight end for the New England Patriots, Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of murder in the first degree, a jury concluded on Wednesday.

In the first of two murder trials, the jury, which was made up of seven woman and five men, determined that Hernandez, 25, was guilty of murdering Odin Lloyd in June 2013. Lloyd, 27, was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée. Sources reported that Hernandez's relationship with Lloyd turned sour once Lloyd started to hang out with people that the athlete disliked.

The nine-week trial took place in Bristol County Superior Court.

"He believed he could kill Odin Lloyd and nobody would ever believe that he was involved," said Assistant District Attorney William McCauley.

Upon hearing the verdict, Hernandez shook his head and collapsed in his chair. The court security officers then handcuffed him while his mother and fiancée broke into tears. Hernandez will be sentenced to life in prison without a possibility of parole.

Hernandez was arrested on June 26, 2013 and cut from the Patriots' roster hours later. Throughout the testimony, the jury heard from more than 130 witnesses, who included former friends of the tight end as well as Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots.

During the trial, Hernandez was described as a drug user who smoked marijuana frequently and experimented with the stimulant, PCP. It also came to light that Hernandez owned several guns illegally and often acted paranoid around his friends.

The prosecutors never produced the murder weapon, a .45-caliber Glock pistol. They also did not present any eyewitnesses.

Hernandez's attorney, James Sultan, addressed the lack of evidence in the trial.

He argued in his closing statement, "In sum, the investigation done in this case was incomplete, biased and inept. That was not fair to Odin Lloyd. That was not fair to Aaron Hernandez. And it was not fair to you because it left you with a whole bunch of unanswered questions and not enough proof, and that's all you've got to work with."

Hernandez was also found guilty of two firearm charges.

In the second trial, Hernandez was charged with murdering Cape Verdean nationals Daniel Abreu and Safirdo Furtado. Prosecutors in that trial are asserting that Hernandez emptied a .38-caliber revolver into the two victims' car after one of them spilled a drink at a nightclub.

The trial will start later this year in Boston.