An emotional jury Thursday decided pharmacist Jerome Jay Ersland was guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a masked robber two years ago inside an Oklahoma City drugstore.

Jurors chose life in prison as punishment.

Two female co-workers at Reliable Discount Pharmacy told jurors Ersland was a hero who saved their lives on May 19, 2009. But prosecutors called him an executioner who shot a wounded, unarmed robber five more times after the robber fell to the floor unconscious and was no longer a threat.

The eight women and four men were solemn as they filed back into an Oklahoma County courtroom after wrapping up deliberations in three hours and thirty minutes. Some had tears in their eyes. Each answered, “Yes,” in a quiet voice when the judge asked them one at a time if that was the verdict.