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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Since You Asked: Online credit card typo not someone else's problem ... Jackson County officials trade barbs over ethics inquiry ... Standoff ends with two arrests in west Medford ... Since You Asked: Online credit card typo not someone else's problem ... Jackson County officials trade barbs over ethics inquiry ... Standoff ends with two arrests in west Medford ... Aaron Hernandez found guilty of first-degree murder FALL RIVER, Massachusetts - Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots star tight end with a once-promising NFL career, will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted today for the first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd in North Attleborough. Comment By Brian Fraga, More Content Now MailTribune.com By Brian Fraga, More Content Now Posted Apr. 15, 2015 at 7:46 AM By Brian Fraga, More Content Now Posted Apr. 15, 2015 at 7:46 AM » Social News FALL RIVER, Massachusetts - Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots star tight end with a once-promising NFL career, will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted today for the first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd in North Attleborough. Hernandez, 25, sat expressionless next to his three high-powered defense attorneys as the verdict foreperson announced guilty verdicts on murder, firearm and ammunition-related charges. Hernandez will also stand trial at a later date in Boston, where he is accused of being the gunman in a 2012 drive-by shooting that killed two men and left a third wounded by gunfire. In Fall River, the jury that heard evidence in the Bristol County case began deliberating after closing arguments on April 7 in Superior Court. Over 39 days of testimony from 131 witnesses, prosecutors presented their case that Hernandez orchestrated Lloyd's murder in the North Attleborough Industrial Park during the early-morning hours of June 17, 2013. Without any eyewitness testimony or direct evidence linking Hernandez to the homicide - such as the murder weapon, which was never recovered - the prosecution built a largely circumstantial case using voluminous cell phone records and surveillance video footage to piece together the timeline leading up to Lloyd's death just before 3:30 a.m. in the industrial park. The prosecution's effective use of such "electronic witnesses" practically forced the defense team to concede that Hernandez was present at the crime scene. In closing arguments last week, defense attorney James Sultan said Hernandez was a "23-year-old kid" who had witnessed "a shocking killing by someone he knew." Sultan did not say who pulled the trigger. Hernandez's alleged accomplices - Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz - will later stand trial on charges of murder and accessory to murder after the fact. Employing a joint venture theory, prosecutors alleged that Hernandez orchestrated the slaying two days after Hernandez allegedly became angry at Lloyd for talking to other people at Rumor nightclub in Boston. Prosecutors also suggested that Lloyd, 27, a Dorchester resident who dated the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée, “knew too much” about Hernandez’s lifestyle, which included frequent marijuana smoking and late-night carousing. The defense team dismissed the prosecution's motive theory, and told the jury that Hernandez had no reason to want to kill Lloyd because they were friends who partied and smoked marijuana together. Sultan said during closing arguments that Hernandez and Lloyd were future brothers-in-law, so "of course they were friends." Prosecutors countered that testimony proved they rarely socialized. In addition to attacking the motive, Hernandez's lawyers blasted the investigation as "sloppy and unprofessional." Besides criticizing the police handling of the crime scene, the defense team accused detectives of targeting Hernandez from the moment a teenager jogging home discovered Lloyd's body in the industrial park. Hernandez's lawyers said law enforcement authorities selected evidence to support their theory and declined to test items that contradicted their case. First Assistant District Attorney William McCauley said in his closing arguments that the evidence pointed to Hernandez as the individual who planned the murder and tried to cover it up. McCauley noted how Hernandez, even while out at a Father's Day dinner in Rhode Island, frequently on June 16 texted Ortiz and Wallace and ordered them to hurry up from Connecticut to meet them at his North Attleborough home. Surveillance video footage from Hernandez's home shows the ex-NFL left leaving his house with Ortiz and Wallace just after 1 a.m. on June 17. Data obtained from cell phone towers indicates that the trio drove on Interstate 95 to a gas station convenience store in Canton, where the surveillance video system there records them arriving around 2 a.m. After filling up at the pump and buying a cigar wrapper and blue bubble gum, Hernandez and his associates drove to Lloyd's house in Dorchester, where they picked up Lloyd outside his house and drove him to the industrial park, which is located less than a mile from Hernandez's house. McCauley said Hernandez, who was driving the vehicle, would have had no other reason to drive Lloyd to that location at that time of night other than to kill him. The prosecution also dismissed the defense team's theory that Wallace or Ortiz may have killed Lloyd in a PCP-induced rage. Hernandez's cousin, Jennifer Mercado, testified last month that she knew Ortiz and Wallace smoked PCP, and she said both were acting "jittery" and nervous a few hours before the murder. Mercado also said Ortiz wore a white towel around his neck because he was sweaty from using PCP. McCauley showed video evidence recorded in the early-morning hours of June 17 in which Ortiz and Wallace seem to calmly walk around Hernandez's home. McCauley said that footage was not consistent with Mercado's testimony that Ortiz and Wallace were "jittery" or acting crazy. Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was supposed to have gone to work at 7 a.m. on June 17, was shot at least five times with a .45-caliber handgun that prosecutors believe was a Glock pistol. His body was in the industrial park for about 15 hours before being discovered. — The Herald News By Brian Fraga, More Content Now MailTribune.com By Brian Fraga, More Content Now Posted Apr. 15, 2015 at 7:46 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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