Aaron Hernandez’s claim of innocence to Robert Kraft helped jurors decide to convict Hernandez of first-degree murder today.
After Hernandez, the former Patriots tight end, was found guilty today of murdering Odin Lloyd, jurors told reporters that the testimony of Kraft, the Patriots’ owner, was compelling. Kraft testified under oath that he spoke with Hernandez when reports first surfaced of Lloyd’s death, and that Hernandez had given Kraft an assurance that he was not involved. Hernandez claimed to Kraft that he had been inside a club at the time that Lloyd was killed, which sounds like a good alibi -- except that it raised questions in the minds of jurors as to how, exactly, Hernandez could have known what time Lloyd was killed.
“One part, for me, was Aaron’s alleged statement that . . . he was at a club at that time,” one juror said. “We still don’t know the exact time of Odin’s murder, specifically. So I don’t know how Aaron would have had that information two years ago. Even today, after medical examiners’ review, we still don’t have that information.”
Jurors believe that Hernandez knew what time Lloyd was killed because Hernandez was the one who killed him. Hernandez proclaiming his innocence to Kraft helped the jurors reach that conclusion.
