Jury to decide if Boston bomber lives or dies
Aggravating factors
Richard’s father described making the agonizing decision to leave his mortally wounded son so he could get help for his 6-year-old daughter, whose leg had been blown off.
This undated file photo released Friday, April 19, 2013, by the FBI shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted Wednesday, April 8, 2015, in federal court in Boston on multiple charges in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line. AP
During the penalty phase, which could begin on Monday, prosecutors will provide evidence of aggravating factors, including the targeting of the marathon for maximum bloodshed.
Prosecutors portrayed Tsarnaev and his brother—ethnic Chechens—as full partners in a plan to punish the US for its wars in Muslim countries.
Survivors welcomed the verdict and thanked the jury after a harrowing monthlong trial of grisly videos of the horror after the attacks.
“We are thankful Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be held accountable for the evil that he brought to so many families,” said the family of Sean Collier, a police officer whom the defendant murdered on the run.
Article continues after this advertisementBishops oppose death
Article continues after this advertisementCatholic bishops in the state reiterated their opposition to the death penalty.
Prosecutors presented Tsarnaev as a cold, calculating killer who learned with his brother how to build pressure-cooker bombs through al-Qaida magazine “Inspire.”
“He wanted to terrorize this country. He wanted to punish America for what it was doing to his people,” assistant US lawyer Aloke Chakravarty had told the court.
“That day they felt they were soldiers, that they were mujahideen and they were bringing their battle to Boston,” added Chakravarty.
The court heard Tsarnaev was a marijuana-smoking, seemingly laid-back student who had failed a number of exams and become an avid reader of Islamist literature.
Defense lawyer Judy Clarke, who has saved some of America’s most notorious convicts from the death penalty, said Tsarnaev deserved to be condemned but the attacks would never have happened without his brother. Reports from AP and AFP
RELATED STORIES
Key moments in death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bomber
