MKRob Sports

Former Nebraska running back Thunder Collins was convicted Monday of first-degree murder and other charges stemming from a September 2008 shooting in Omaha that left one man dead and another seriously wounded.

The Douglas County jury also found the former Cornhuskers player guilty of attempted second-degree murder, felony assault and two weapons counts.

The 29-year-old faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction. He faces up to 170 years on the other counts, said Deputy County Attorney John Alagaban. Sentencing is set for Nov. 12.

As Collins left the courtroom, he yelled at the jury of six men and six women, “Are you happy? Are you happy? You know I didn’t kill anyone!”

He later told reporters in a jailhouse interview that he thinks he was convicted because he was a well known figure in the community.

“If I was just any other Joe Blow, I feel I would have beat this case,” he said.

Collins was arrested last September within a day of an Omaha shooting that left 38-year-old Timothy Thomas dead and another California man, Marshall Turner, seriously wounded.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THIS STORY