SAN ANGELO, Texas (KXAN) – Mark Norwood was found guilty Wednesday in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton and the verdict triggered an automatic sentence of life in prison.

After the verdict and sentence were read in the courtroom, members of the Morton family exchanged hugs. Later, the man wrongly convicted of the murder was measured in his reaction.

“Today is no day for a high-five or end-zone dance,” said Christine’s husband, Michael Morton, who spent 25 years behind bars. “Nothing that happened in there is going to bring Chris back.”

The seven woman, five-man jury deliberated about three hours before returning to the courtroom in Tom Green County. The verdict came down 9,723 days after Christine Morton’s murder, and the case that has had many twists and turns as it had years to develop.

“You have seen pure evil,” prosecutor Lisa Tanner told the jury in her closing argument on Wednesday morning. “Do not let it walk out of here with you.”

The life sentence handed to Norwood leaves open the possibility that he could be paroled because that was the law on the books at the time the crime was committed.

Michael Morton was exonerated in October 2011 after a bandana found near the murder scene was tested and found with DNA that matched a sample of Norwood’s. After the verdict, Morton hugged Norwood’s brother on the steps of the courthouse. The brother sobbed and told Morton, “I’m sorry.”

Dorothy Norwood also walked over to Morton and said she was glad to have had the opportunity to get to know him.

Despite the goodwill between the two families, Mark Norwood’s family still maintained his innocence.

“My son is innocent, and I should know it, these last years when we lived together,” said Dorothy Norwood.

Norwood’s sister, Connie Hoff, said her brother was “railroaded” because evidence from the 1988 murder of Debra Baker was introduced in the trial. Norwood is also a suspect in that murder and the judge ruled the evidence was admissible because the similarities made the “signature crimes.”

“Mark is experiencing the beginning of what Michael Morton went through,” said Hoff. “History is repeating itself.”

“Michael Morton, the Baker family, I feel for them. But we are victims, too.”

The crucial bandana which contained DNA from Norwood and blood from Christine Morton was the decisive piece of evidence for Michael Morton who was not allowed to watch the proceedings as they happened due to a rule that bars trial witnesses from hearing other witness testimony.

“I never heard any plausible explanation of the co-mingling of his DNA and my wife’s DNA on that bandana,” said Morton. “You can talk about contamination, but that one thing was hard for me to get around.”

The defense rested its case on Tuesday after calling just three witnesses, including the defendant’s mother to testify.

Dorothy Norwood told the jury that her son grew up in a close knit military family that lived around the world. As she was testifying, jurors saw pictures of Mark in family portraits with his wife and son.

The defense also called the ex-wife and daughter of Sonny Wann who both testified that he has the reputation of a storyteller and lies to garner attention.

Wann testified through videotaped deposition that he purchased a .45 handgun from Mark Norwood in 1986. The handgun was eventually determined to have been stolen out of Michael Morton’s closet the night Christine was killed.

The prosecution, meanwhile, rested its case against Norwood just before lunch after introducing more DNA evidence in a case they argued is similar to the beating death of Christine Morton.

Norwood, 58, is also charged with capital murder in beating 1988 beating death of Austin homemaker Debra Baker. But even though that trial has not been scheduled, the Morton jury heard evidence from the case because of the similarities in the two killings.

• Timeline: Mark Norwood’s criminal history

The presiding judge Friday ruled that evidence from Baker could make it a “signature crime.”

The ruling by state District Judge Burt Carnes represented a victory for prosecutors trying to prove that Norwood savagely beat Christine Morton to death more than 26 years ago in her Williamson County home.

Carnes said the similarities between Morton’s murder and the Baker murder fit the criteria of a “signature crime,” thus making evidence from Baker’s murder admissible into the current trial.

Baker, a young mother, was found beaten to death on Jan. 13, 1988, in her Austin home. Norwood lived in Baker’s Northcentral Austin neighborhood at the time and worked as a carpet layer. Norwood was arrested for two home break-ins and a car burglary a year before Baker’s death.

In both the Morton and Baker cases, the victims were killed with a blunt object and their heads were covered with pillows. DNA matching Norwood’s profile was found at both crime scenes.