MADISON, Wis. -- Jury foreman Steve Struss called his experience on the Jensen jury "intense," knowing at every moment one man's future rested in their hands.

"All the jurors took notes to pay attention and stay awake," said Struss. "We chewed a lot of gum and ate a lot of candy."

Over the course of two weeks, jurors heard stories from 41 witnesses.

When it came time to make a decision, Struss led the 12 as the jury foreman.

"We didn't take a lot of breaks," said Struss. "Even when we ate dinner, they'd bring it in and we'd eat a little bit and get back to work, even as we finished eating."

While public opinion might be easy to form when you're on the outside looking in, on the inside, it took hours of deliberation because the decision had to be unanimous.

"A majority would be for guilty but quite a few would be for not guilty on the first votes on each of the counts," said Struss.

That meant pulling out and reviewing notes on what witnesses said, then discussing the specifics of the charges and whether those specifics were met in the hopes of swaying someone either way.

"The pressure, the weight of that on us was quite intense," said Struss. "We had a lot of people with headaches, a lot of people with upset stomachs. It was taking a physical toll on us by the end."

It took 17 hours of deliberation to get the five guilty verdicts.

And while it was a relief to hand down the verdicts, jury members said they would keep a part of the case with them forever.

"It was quite difficult for a number of jurors," said Struss. "There were tears shed because we felt empathy for the two defendants."

The final two counts took most convincing for jurors.

In fact, Struss admits at one point he was ready to write a note to the judge of a hung jury.

Instead, the charges were clarified and eventually 10 people swung from a vote of not guilty to guilty.