'The hardest thing', jurors say after finding ex-NFL star guilty

By Elizabeth Barber FALL RIVER (Reuters) - The forewoman of the jury that found ex-National Football League star Aaron Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday 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. Five of the jurors said they were Patriots fans and that they often held back tears during their deliberations.

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