The jury that sentenced Aaron Hernandez to life in prison on Wednesday want the world to know that they gave the ex-New England Patriots star a fair trial. The seven women and five men who voted to find the 25-year-old guilty of murder this week say it was a heart-wrenching decision, but one they made in confidence. On Thursday, the jury and alternate jurors say down with CNN's Anderson Cooper to talk about the trial that has consumed their lives for the past three months. Scroll down for video . Decided: The jury that voted Wednesday to send former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez to prison for life sat down for a group interview on Thursday with CNN's Anderson Cooper . Guilty: Hernandez was found guilty Wednesday of murdering Odin Lloyd in 2013. Pictured in court on Wednesday on the left, when the verdict was read. On the right, seen in a Patriots uniform before his arrest . When asked if they knew who Hernandez was before the trial started, most raised their hands. However, they maintained that Hernandez's notoriety didn't have an impact on their decision. 'It doesn't matter how much money you have or how much money you make. We're all people, and we're all equal, and we all deserve the same fair trial, and that's what we wanted to make sure we gave him,' juror Jon Carlson said. Only one juror, Rosalie Oliver, didn't know of the tight end who had a $40million contract with the local NFL team. On the other side of the spectrum is juror Kelly Dorsey - a lifelong Patriots fan, who watches the team every Sunday during football season. While most of the group said that they had no interaction with Hernandez during the trial, Dorsey says she locked eyes with him on Wednesday as the verdict was being read. Familiar: When asked if they knew Hernandez before the trial, most of the jury raised their hands . Gripping moment: Jury member Kelly Dorsey says she locked eyes with Hernandez as the verdict was being read on Wednesday . 'He was shaking his head and he mouthed something - and I didn't know what he mouthed - but he was shaking his head just staring and I thought 'You need to look back at the judge. Just look back at the judge."'' Dorsey recalled. Sentencing Hernandez was no easy decision to come to for the jury who heard from 130 witnesses and reviewed 400 pieces of evidence since the trial started at the end of January. The group deliberated for 35 hours over the course of a week, and decided that certain aspects of victim Odin Lloyd's killing warranted a life in prison without the possibility of parole sentence - the highest sentence possible in the state of Massachusetts where the death penalty is outlawed. Many of the jurors pointed to the fact that Lloyd had been shot six times as evidence of the callousness of the crime. At the time of his death, Lloyd was dating the sister of Hernandez's fianceé. 'You shot him once but you kept going and you shot him six times. There's no need for that and there's no need to use a gun. Period,' jury foreman Lesa Strachan said. Other jurors were shocked by Hernandez's casual behavior, sunbathing with friends just a few hours after Lloyd is suspected to have been murdered. Directly after court on Wednesday, Hernandez was taken to a prison just two miles from Gillette Stadium, where he traded his  $1.3million mansion for a small cell and a pair of gray scrubs. The jurors will now be allowed to return to their day jobs, but they say the time they spent on the jury will stay with them forever. Oliver and other jurors say friends have been calling them up to congratulate them after the verdict - something that has left them speechless. 'Who won? Odin Lloyd didn't win. (His mother) didn't bring back her son. Did Mr. Hernandez win? No, because he's going to serve the rest of his life in jail and he's 25 years old. The worst part for me is: How about that little girl that's never going to see her father again?' Oliver said.
The Aaron Hernandez jury and alternate jurors sat down as a group with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday .
The jury wanted to make it known that they gave Hernandez a fair trial and did not let his notoriety get in the way of their difficult decision making .
Hernandez, 25, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd .
Before his arrest, Hernandez was a star tight-end for the New England Patriots, with a $40million five-year contract .