Jurors who spoke to the media after finding ex-New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez guilty of first degree murder said that Hernandez's high-powered attorneys made a huge mistake in acknowledging he was present when Odin Lloyd was shot six times and killed. Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. He is 25 years old.
During closing statements, the defense insinuated Hernandez's co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz shot and killed Lloyd while under the influence of drugs while Hernandez watched. Until that point, there had been no admission that Hernandez was at the scene of the crime, and the defense tried to shroud a piece of evidence, a bullet that would have come from the murder weapon with gum on it, in doubt.
"We were all shocked by that," one juror told reporters of their admission Hernandez was there. Per The Boston Globe other jurors nodded assent.
While that proved to be a nail in Hernandez's coffin, the testimony of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft hurt Hernandez as well. Kraft testified that he was in a nightclub when Lloyd was killed; however, Lloyd's time of death hadn't been released, so unless he had information about the shooting he wouldn't have been privy to that knowledge.
"I don't know how Aaron would have had that information two years ago," a juror said.
Despite a mountain of circumstantial evidence, a conviction of first degree murder was in doubt because of a lack of murder weapon, witnesses and motive. The prosecution's timeline and other evidence clearly worked though, and one juror said "The evidence was compelling." Several jurors also laughed when asked if they believed Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez's fiancée, testified honestly about her knowledge of what happened to the murder weapon.
At the time of his arrest, Hernandez had just signed a five-year, $40 million contract extension with the Patriots that included a $12 million signing bonus.
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