{"id":28409,"date":"2015-04-15T11:05:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T18:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=28409"},"modified":"2015-04-15T11:14:48","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T18:14:48","slug":"aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Hernandez: From Patriots to Prison, Former NFL Tight End Found Guilty, Sentenced to Life with No Parole"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aaron
Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder and now faces life in prison. (Image: Brian Snyder\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five years ago, Aaron Hernandez looked like he had it all. He’d been drafted by the New England Patriots, and was looking at a four-year contract and a multimillion-dollar sports<\/a> career. Now, he’s a convicted murderer, and won’t be looking at anything but the “grey walls of a prison doing time,” as the country song says.<\/p>\n

Hernandez was convicted on Wednesday, a verdict that will send the ex-NFL<\/a> star to prison for life without the chance for parole, having been found guilty of murder in the first degree in the killing of former friend and semi-pro player Odin Lloyd in June 2013.<\/p>\n

While there was plenty of suspicion around Hernandez, legal experts weren\u2019t certain that the prosecution would be successful in convicting Hernandez on all counts. While prosecutors had plenty of evidence, it was mostly circumstantial, without a so-called \u201csmoking gun\u201d to pin together their case.<\/p>\n

Evidence Built Convincing Case for Jurors<\/h2>\n

However, there was still plenty of evidence to convince jurors that Hernandez was the man responsible for Lloyd\u2019s death. Surveillance video from Hernandez\u2019s home taken shortly before the shooting appeared to show the former football star holding a gun, and both Hernandez’ and Lloyd\u2019s DNA appeared on a joint found near Lloyd\u2019s body at the crime scene.<\/p>\n

Then there was the mysterious activity that took place on the next day. That\u2019s when Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, says that Hernandez asked her to remove a large box from their basement. She said she never looked at what was in the box, taking it straight to a dumpster instead.<\/p>\n

These pieces of evidence were combined with the fact that Hernandez appeared to have an argument with Lloyd two nights earlier in a nightclub to paint a picture that Hernandez was the murderer.<\/p>\n

The defense attempted to find holes in the story, of course: they admitted that he had been on the scene when Lloyd was killed, but said that two other friends (Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz) were the ones responsible for the killing. Lawyers argued that Hernandez was simply a confused 23-year-old who didn\u2019t know how to act in the aftermath of witnessing a murder.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wallace and Ortiz are also facing first-degree murder charges, with both having pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t win over the jury, however. After 36 hours of deliberations over the course of a week, they came back with guilty verdicts on both the first-degree murder charge and five related gun charges.<\/p>\n

Faces Other Criminal and Civil Charges<\/h2>\n

Hernandez is already facing life in prison for the murder of Lloyd, but his legal troubles aren\u2019t over yet. He stands accused of killing Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado in a separate 2012 incident at a Boston nightclub. A judge ruled that the case shouldn\u2019t begin until after the Lloyd murder case was completed, but it could potentially start later this year.<\/p>\n

The former NFL tight end is also facing wrongful death lawsuits in all three killings. Because of the potential for monetary compensation in these cases, a $5 million lien was placed on Hernandez\u2019s home in North Attleborough last summer.<\/p>\n

In addition, he is also being sued by Alexander Bradley, a former friend who says that Hernandez shot him during a 2012 trip to Florida.<\/p>\n

\"Aaron
Aaron Hernandez appeared somewhat disoriented as his guilty verdict was read. (Image: CNN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These other incidents were not allowed to be mentioned during the current trial, as they didn\u2019t pertain to the Lloyd case.<\/p>\n

However, jurors said that they learned about them shortly after sentencing ended, and one juror said that hearing about the other alleged incidents made them feel \u201cthat we did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

During sentencing, Lloyd\u2019s family spoke passionately about the young man they were so close to before his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like Odin\u2019s not here,\u201d said Olivia Thibou, Lloyd\u2019s sister. \u201cIt feels like just a bad dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Hernandez, who appeared somewhat dazed as his guilty verdict was read,\u00a0Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn isn’t sure it’s really registered yet.<\/p>\n

“I think when you’re taken away and they say, ‘life in prison without parole’…there’s got to be some response. But I don’t know if he got it,” the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five years ago, Aaron Hernandez looked like he had it all. He’d been drafted by the New England Patriots, and was looking at a four-year contract and a multimillion-dollar sports career. Now, he’s a convicted murderer, and won’t be looking at anything but the “grey walls of a prison doing time,” as the country song […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":28424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,11,13,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAaron Hernandez: From Patriots to Prison, Former NFL Tight End Found Guilty, Sentenced to Life with No Parole<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Aaron Hernandez has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aaron Hernandez: From Patriots to Prison, Former NFL Tight End Found Guilty, Sentenced to Life with No Parole\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aaron Hernandez has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-15T18:05:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-15T18:14:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Aaron-Hernandez-found-guilty-murder.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"970\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"701\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/\",\"name\":\"Aaron Hernandez: From Patriots to Prison, Former NFL Tight End Found Guilty, Sentenced to Life with No Parole\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Aaron-Hernandez-found-guilty-murder.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-15T18:05:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-15T18:14:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Aaron Hernandez has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aaron-hernandez-guilty-first-degree-murder\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Aaron-Hernandez-found-guilty-murder.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Aaron-Hernandez-found-guilty-murder.jpg\",\"width\":970,\"height\":701,\"caption\":\"Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder and now faces life in prison. 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