'We made the RIGHT decision': All twelve jurors defend Aaron Hernandez verdict as it's revealed shamed NFL star desperately pleaded 'you're wrong' as they sentenced him to LIFE with no parole

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All 12 members of the jury who decided Wednesday to send ex-New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez to prison for life, spoke out after the sentencing hearing in a rare press conference. 

The forewoman of the jury that found Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder said that making the decision was the 'hardest thing' many of them had ever done.

The jury of seven women and five men, mostly white, deliberated for about 36 hours over seven days before finding the former New England Patriots tight end guilty of the execution-style shooting of acquaintance Odin Lloyd in June 2013.

'It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,' said Lessa Strachan, of Taunton, Massachusetts, who served as the jury forewoman and had the job of reading out the guilty verdicts in court. 'We can all stand here today and say we made the right decision.'

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Difficult decision: The 12-person jury who sentenced ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez to life in prison without parole on Wednesday, spoke out after the court hearing in a rare press conference to describe how they came to the decision. The three jury alternates also appeared at the hearing 

Hernandez (seated), sank into his seat and appeared stunned as he was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday

The 25-year-old former Patriots player stared straight ahead and received a comforting pat from his defense attorney after he was found guilty of all charges in the murder of Odin Lloyd in the Massachusetts courtroom

Following the verdict, Hernadez, 25, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Five of the jurors said they were Patriots fans and that they often held back tears during their deliberations. The jury weighed evidence that included photos of Lloyd's lifeless body, found in an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough, Massachusetts, home by a teenage jogger.

All said they had not been aware of other shootings linked to Hernandez until after they reached their verdict.

Massachusetts Superior Court Associate Justice Susan Garsh had ruled that the jury could not be told about two other shootings linked to Hernandez, including an incident in Florida in which he allegedly shot a friend in the face and a 2012 double murder in Boston for which he is awaiting trial.

'We understand why we couldn't' be told about those shootings, Strachan said, adding that it would have influenced their deliberations if they had known about those cases.

The jurors spoke to reporters at the Fall River, Massachusetts, courthouse where they were first summoned in January.

'You're supposed to be unemotional,' said Jennifer Rogers, a dental hygienist who served on the jury. 'It was hard.'

After the jury reached its verdict, the victim's mother, Ursula Ward, tearfully spoke about the loss of her son. She said she 'wanted to go into the hole' with her son when he was buried.

Hernandez's mother, Terri, (right) and fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, (left) broke down in sobs and clutched at each other as each juror pronounced the former Pats player guilty on all charges

A second juror, Sean Traverse, said the story of Lloyd's death at the age of 27 'makes you appreciate how fleeting life can be.'

The jurors declined to say whether they had been persuaded by defense attorneys' claim that Hernandez had only been a witness to the shooting.

Another jury will be called in Boston to determine whether Hernandez is guilty of fatally shooting two Cape Verdean men outside a Boston nightclub in 2012, after a drink was spilled on him.

The jurors said they were eager to return to their regular lives but were unlikely to forget the case anytime soon.

'I think we'll all remember it for the rest of our lives,' Strachan said. 

Aaron Hernandez will spend the rest of his life in prison without chance of release after being found guilty of first-degree murder today.

The former NFL star appeared stunned at the verdict, sinking into his chair and shaking his head amid audible gasps around the Massachusetts courtroom on Wednesday morning.

Hernandez's mother, Terri, and fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, broke down in sobs and rocked each other back and forth as each juror pronounced the former Pats player guilty on all charges, including murder by extreme atrocity or cruelty.  

The mother of victim Odin Lloyd, Ursula Ward, sobbed and pumped her fist. Lloyd's girlfriend and Shayanna's sister, Shaneah Jenkins, wept beside the victim's mother, just feet away across the aisle from her estranged sister.

Hernandez also has another murder trial ahead of him in Boston, where he is accused of shooting two Cape Verdean men dead after a dispute at a nightclub in 2012. 

A court officer placed cuffs on Hernandez's heavily-tattooed hands as a member of his defense team patted his back as a measure of comfort. 

The murderer's eyes swiveled around the room as he gaped and wiped his mouth.  

Terri Hernandez and Shayanna Jenkins left court immediately after the guilty verdict was returned on Wednesday morning.

Following a short recess on Wednesday, Lloyd's family made their victim impact statements before the court.

Hernandez refused to stand for the statements and was encircled by his defense team so that he was blocked from view.

Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, was the first to make her statement facing the judge.

Ms Ward said: 'Odin Lloyd was my only son... he was the backbone of the family. Odin was my first, best gift I ever received.'

Mrs Lloyd said that she has worn purple to court every day because it was Odin's favorite color. 

She broke down as she said: 'I thank God for every second of my son's life that I spent with him.

'When I laid my son Odin to rest, I felt my heart stop beating. I wanted to go into the hole with Odin. 

'I miss my baby boy Odin so much but I know I will see him again some day and that has given me strength.

Ms Ward continued: 'I forgive the people who had a hand in my son's murder both before and after. I pray and hope that someday that everyone out there will forgive them also.' 

Lloyd's uncle, sister and cousin also made emotional statements to the court but his girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins, did not speak before the court. 

A court officer places handcuffs on the tattooed hands of Hernandez who looked stunned after the guilty verdict was read during his murder trial at the Bristol County Superior Court

Ursula Ward, mother of Odin Lloyd, speaks to the media following the end of the trial on Wednesday. She was comforted by her daughter, Olivia Thibou (third from left) and her son's girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins (second left) along with other relatives 

The jury spent 35 hours weighing whether Hernandez, a player with sponsorship deals and a $41million dollar Patriots contract, was guilty of murdering semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd in June 2013.

Hernandez, a 25-year-old former tight-end for the Patriots, was accused of first- and second-degree murder in Lloyd's death, as well as firearms charges. 

The killer was also convicted of several lesser charges - mostly related to the weapon he used in the murder - a .40-caliber Glock pistol which has never been found.

Hernandez was found guilty of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of carrying a large capacity firearm, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card and possession of ammunition without an identification card. 

The prosecution said the player and two friends drove Lloyd to an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough mansion and shot him to death, execution-style.

Hernandez's attorneys countered that Hernandez was a witness to, not a participant in, the killing. 

Odin Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, broke down as the guilty verdict was read out in the Fall River courtroom and then pumped her fist

Shaneah Jenkins, left, girlfriend of victim Odin Lloyd, comforts a cousin of Odin Lloyd in the courtroom 

Together in happier times: Shayanna Jenkins (pictured right) and her younger sister Shaneah (left) in their senior yearbook photo from 2007 at Bristol Central High School, Connecticut 

The Patriots cut Hernandez hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013, nine days after a teenage jogger found Lloyd's body. 

During four months of testimony, the jury heard from more than 130 witnesses who testified that Hernandez, a native of Bristol, Connecticut, was a regular user of marijuana and sometimes of the stimulant PCP, that he owned guns and at times acted paranoid and that he said he felt his friends did not appreciate the things he did for them.

The witnesses included Alexander Bradley, a former friend of Hernandez who charged in a civil lawsuit that the former NFL player shot him in the face in February 2013, costing him an eye.  

Hernandez and two friends drove Odin Lloyd (pictured) to an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough home and shot him to death, execution-style in June 2013

Odin Lloyd's girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins (left), alongside Lloyd's sister Olivia (right) speak to the media following the guilty verdict for Hernandez on Wednesday. Pictured right, a document released by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, shows the jury's verdict of first degree murder

The girlfriend of Odin Lloyd (pictured bottom left) dabbed her eyes with a tissue as she sat across the aisle from her estranged sister and Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, who sobbed and hugged the former NFL player's mother Terri (top right)

Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, fled the court on Wednesday morning after Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder 

Bradley, who never pursued criminal charges over the incident, testified that he saw Hernandez handle a gun similar to the one used to kill Lloyd but was not allowed to tell the jury about the shooting. 

Investigators never recovered the .45-caliber Glock pistol that was used to pump six bullets into Lloyd, 27, who had been a semiprofessional football player.

Robert Kraft, the Patriots' billionaire owner, was also called to the stand. Kraft testified that Hernandez said he was innocent and claimed to have been at a nightclub at the time of the killing. 

Prosecutors contended that two friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, were with Hernandez at the time of the killing. 

Those two men will be tried separately.

Defense lawyers closed their case by saying Hernandez had been present at the time of Lloyd's slaying, but had been a witness not a participant.

'He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed ... a shocking killing committed by somebody he knew,' said defense attorney James Sultan. 

'He really didn't know what to do. So he just put one foot in front of the other. 

Prosecutors countered that Hernandez had plotted and controlled every detail of the slaying.

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

Hernandez was also found guilty of two firearms charges for illegally possessing the handgun used in the crime and illegally possessing .22-caliber ammunition found at his Massachusetts home.

Hernandez faces another trial beginning later this year in Boston, where he is charged with fatally shooting Cape Verdean nationals Daniel Abreu and Safirdo Furtado outside a nightclub after one of them spilled a drink. 

The jury that rendered the Lloyd verdict was not told about that case.

Hernandez was led out of his mansion in handcuffs on June 26, 2013 - nine days after Odin Lloyd was found shot execution-style in an industrial park a mile away.

Lloyd, 27, was a semi professional football player for the Boston Bandits. 

He had also been dating Shaneah Jenkins - the sister of Hernandez's fiancée and mother of his child, Shayanna Jenkins.

Separate surveillance videos show Hernandez outside Lloyd's home about an hour before the murder, and then walking into his own $1.3million mansion after shots were heard. 

It also emerged that the NFL star destroyed surveillance video at his home. When he handed over his cell phone, it had been smashed to pieces.

Despite several hours-long searches of Hernandez's home, police never found the .45-caliber Glock pistol that prosecutors believe Hernandez used in the murder. 

Before Lloyd left his home to go out with Hernandez and his crew, Lloyd texted his sister with ominous messages: 'Did you see who I am with? NFL.' 

His last text read: 'Just so you know.'

Shaneah Jenkins, girlfriend of Odin Lloyd and sister of Hernandez's fiancée Shayanna, reacts as former NFL player Aaron Hernandez was found guilty during his murder trial on Wednesday

FROM A COLLEGE FOOTBALL BAD BOY TO A KILLER IN THE NFL: AARON HERNANDEZ'S HISTORY OF VIOLENCE 

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, left, congratulates Aaron Hernandez after their AFC Championship NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens on January 22, 2012. Months later he executed his friend, Odin Lloyd

Aaron Hernandez was a star high school player from a bad neighborhood in Bristol, Connecticut. 

He made it out, thanks to football - playing for the University of Florida Gators in college. In 2009, he helped lead the team to a national championship.

But problems began to emerge as well. In 2007 as a 17-year-old freshman, Hernandez ordered two drinks at a Gainesville, Florida, bar then refused to pay. 

When a waiter escorted him outside, the football star waited until his head was turned then punched him in the face, bursting his eardrum. 

Police were called and recommended that Hernandez be charged with felony assault. Urban Meyer, Florida's legendary football coach, intervened and no arrest was ever made.

That same year he was also questioned in connection with a drive-by shooting in which two men were shot, one in the head, following a fight over a gold necklace with Florida Gators football players at a nightclub. He was never charged.

In 2008, he was suspended from the first game of the year for testing positive for marijuana.

Following those incidents, he seemed to turn a corner. He was drafted in 2010 in the fourth-round by the Patriots. Many scouts said his talent merited a first-round pick, but teams were so concerned about his off-the-field behavior and connections to street gangs that they refused to draft him.

His return to New England after being drafted by the Patriots allowed him to reconnect with the bad influences from his childhood, friends have said.

On the Patriots, he made massive impact on the field. He quickly became one of quarterback Tom Brady's favorite targets. In three seasons, he scored 18 touchdowns and had nearly 2,000 yards receiving.

In 2012, the Patriots signed their star to a 5-year, $37.5million contact that included more than $12.5million in signing bonuses.

On July 16, 2012 Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Teixeira Furtado, 28, who immigrants from Cape Verde, were found murdered in their car in South Boston following a drive-by shooting. 

They had reportedly gotten into a fight with Hernandez and his crew at a night club prior to their murders. In May 2014, prosecutors indicted Hernandez for both killings. He still faces trial on those murders.

On the same month that Lloyd was murdered, a former friend filed a lawsuit against Hernandez claiming the NFL star had shot him in the mouth in February 2013 following a fight at a Miami strip club. The man, Alexander Bradley, lost his eye in the shooting and subsequently testified against Hernandez at his murder trial.

In February 2014 - following his arrest for murder - he was allegedly involved in a jailhouse fight and for threatening a jail guard. He was later indicted on those charges and faces trial for them, as well.