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Hernandez in court. AP/Press Association Images
Guilty

NFL star Aaron Hernandez convicted of first degree murder

The ex New England Patriot will now serve a mandatory life sentence.

FORMER NEW ENGLAND Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was today found guilty of first degree murder, a verdict that carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

It is a spectacular fall from grace for the player who had a $40 million contract with the current Super Bowl champions before his arrest in relation to the shooting of a former friend, Odin Lloyd, in June 2013.

The evidence against Hernandez included security camera footage showing him holding what appeared to be a gun ten minutes after Lloyd — who was dating the sister of his fiancée at the time — was shot.

A joint found close to Lloyd’s body also had both men’s DNA on it.

Hernandez’s defence team argued that while their client was present at the murder scene, he had nothing to do with Lloyd’s death. “He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something, a shocking killing, committed by someone he knew. He didn’t know what to do, so he just put one foot in front of the other,” they claimed during closing arguments.

However, a jury convicted the 25-year old of the murder.

Two other men have also been charged in connection with Lloyd’s death — Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace — with both pleading not guilty.

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