NFL star Aaron Hernandez guilty of murder

Former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez listens as the guilty verdict is read during his murder trial. Picture: AP

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FORMER New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez has been found guilty of first-degree murder in Massachusetts.

The 25-year-old was convicted of shooting Odin Lloyd, 27, in June 2013. The conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole in the state, although there will be an automatic appeal to Massachusetts’ highest court.

He showed little emotion as the verdict was read, but his mother Terri and fiancee Shayanna Jenkins cried, as did Lloyd’s mother.

At the time of the shooting Hernandez had emerged as a star tight end for the Patriots, and had a contract worth 40million US dollars.

He has been in prison since June 2013, and was last year indicted on two further counts of murder relating to a double shooting in Boston in 2012.

Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were killed on June 26, 2012 when a sports utility vehicle with Rhode Island plates allegedly pulled up alongside their car after they left a Boston nightclub and multiple shots were fired.