Aaron Hernandez once had a $40 million contract with the New England Patriots; now he has a life sentence for first degree murder. After 36 hours of deliberation, the jury found Hernandez guilty of murdering the boyfriend of his fiancee's sister.

AP described the scene Wednesday:

Hernandez, 25, looked to his right, pursed his lips and sat down after the jury forewoman pronounced him guilty in the slaying of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old landscaper and amateur weekend football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. The conviction carried a mandatory sentence of life without parole and automatically triggers an appeal to Massachusetts’ highest court.

Hernandez’s mother, Terri, and his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, cried and gasped when they heard the verdict, and Lloyd’s mother also cried. Jenkins wept loudly on his mother’s shoulder. Hernandez, his eyes red, mouthed to them: “Be strong. Be strong.”

After being presented with "a wealth of evidence" against Hernandez, the jury found Hernandez guilty of murdering Lloyd on June 17, 2013. Though his motive for killing Lloyd was never made clear, prosecutors suggested that Hernandez might have murdered him for knowing too much about his alleged involvement in a drive-by shooting that occurred in Boston in 2012.

In his closing arguments, Hernandez’s lawyer admitted that his client witnessed the murder of Lloyd, but attempted to blame the actual shooting on his friends, Earnest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, whose trials will soon follow.