The testimony that the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has given during the murder trial of Aaron Hernandez has really helped to close the fate of the former football player, according to the jurors.
The jurors expressed shock by the defense admission that the former New England Patriots player had been present at the murder scene.
There had been 12 jurors who chose to be remained unidentified, had been candid on Wednesday on the way they came down to the decision, although they did not reveal too many details of their 36 hours deliberations.
They have said that there were many tears in the jury room, the “evidence was compelling” and they have been through “everything step by step.”
The jury has found Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting of Odin Lloyd in 2013, when Llyod had been in a relationship with Hernandez’s fiancée’s sister.
There had been more than 130 witnesses who testified during the trial. The New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had been amongst them too who had testified that Hernandez told him he was in a club at the time of Lloyd’s death. The prosecution was never able to indicate the exact time when Lloyd had been shot.
One of the juror said, “We still don’t know the exact time of Lloyd’s murder, so how could Aaron know he was at the club when (Lloyd) was killed?”
In the closing arguments, James Sultan, Hernandez’ lawyer, acknowledged for the first time that Hernandez had been present when Lloyd was killed. Sultan said that Hernandez witness the murder while his two co-defendants committed the murder. They are currently awaiting trial.
According to the jury, the admittance of defense that Hernandez was present at the scene of the murder makes it more valid that he was guilty.
The killing had to be pre-planned or had to involve extreme cruelty in order to be considered a first degree murder in Massachusetts.
Another juror said, “I think we couldn’t unanimously conclude that there was evidence of premeditation, but we did agree it was extreme atrocity.”
Llyod’s dead body had been found in an industrial building near the residence of Hernandez located in North Attleborough. No murder weapon had been found.
“Going by the law, we didn’t need the murder weapon,” another juror said.
Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh spoke to the jurors in private after they submitted their verdict and informed them about some of the evidence which had not been permitted at the trial along with other allegations against Hernandez, which includes 2 slayings in 2012, that Hernandez is charged with.
