Boston Marathon bomber found guilty of all charges

[OneStepCloser]

Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev found guilty of all charges

Date April 9, 2015 - 6:22AM
Scott Malone

Boston: Dzokhar Tsarnaev has been found guilty of killing three people and injuring 264 others in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and of fatally shooting a police officer four days later.

Tsarnaev, 21, was convicted of all 30 counts against him on Wednesday, with 17 of the charges carrying the death penalty. The same US District Court jury will now decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without possibility of parole.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, convicted of killing three people and injuring 264 others in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and of fatally shooting a police officer four days later.

Tsarnaev silently looked down, occasionally fidgeting, as the lengthy verdict was read. The courtroom was packed with survivors of the attack, the parents of eight-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest fatality, and law enforcement officials, including the former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

Jurors spent just over 11 hours evaluating Tsarnaev's guilt in two days of deliberations, following 16 days of testimony.

The amount of time spent in the jury room suggests the jurors were thorough in considering the charges, said David Weinstein, an attorney in private practice who in prior jobs as a state and local prosecutor brought death-penalty cases.

Medical workers aid injured people following the explosion at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon in Boston. Photo: AP

"If this was a fait accompli, they would have been out in the amount of time it takes to shuffle through 30 pieces of paper," Mr Weinstein said. "Sentencing deliberations are likely to take longer".

Defence lawyers began the trial by admitting that Tsarnaev carried out the April 15, 2013, bombing but said he did so at the bidding of his older brother Tamerlan, 26, who died following a gunfight with police in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Prosecutors laid out evidence that the defendant, an ethnic Chechen who immigrated from Russia a decade before the attack, had read and listened to jihadist materials, and wrote a note in the boat where he was found hiding suggesting the bombing was an act of retribution for US military campaigns in Muslim-dominated countries.

The blasts killed restaurant manager Krystle Campbell, 29, Chinese exchange student Lingzi Lu, 23, and Richard. Tsarnaev also was found guilty of the fatal shooting of Massachusetts of Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, 26.

Federal prosecutors detailed jihadi writings, including a copy of al Qaeda's "Inspire" magazine with an article on bomb-making found on Tsarnaev's computers, describing that as evidence that he was an extremist who wanted to "punish America".

The trial, which began in early March after a two-month jury selection process, dredged up some of worst memories in living memory in Boston. The twin pressure-cooker bombs ripped through the crowd of spectators at the race's finish line, setting off a mad rush to save the hundreds of people wounded, many of whom lost legs.

Three days later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released images of the Tsarnaev brothers, saying they were the suspected bombers and seeking information on their identities. That set the stage for 24 hours of chaos as the duo fatally shot Collier in an unsuccessful attempt to steal his gun and went on to carjack a Chinese entrepreneur before police found them in the suburb of Watertown.

The pair fought a desperate gunfight with police, throwing a smaller pressure-cooker bomb similar to the ones they used at the race, as well as smaller pipe bombs. When Tamerlan Tsarnaev ran out of bullets in the rusty Ruger handgun his brother had borrowed from a drug-dealing friend, he charged Watertown police officers who were trying to wrestle him to the ground. Dzhokhar then hopped into the carjacked Mercedes SUV and sped toward the group, running over his brother and dragging him.

The city's mayor, Marty Walsh, said he was glad to see the trial moving toward a conclusion.

"I am thankful that this phase of the trial has come to an end and am hopeful for a swift sentencing process," Walsh said. "I hope today's verdict provides a small amount of closure for the survivors, families, and all impacted by the violent and tragic events."

Reuters

 

[Millennium]

Boston Marathon bomber's lawyer points to family dysfunction

By DENISE LAVOIE
May. 5, 2015 3:53 PM EDT

Former classmates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Alexa Guevara, left, and Rosa Booth, center, depart federal court in Boston after testifying during the penalty phase in Tsarnaev's trial Monday, May 4, 2015. Tsarnaev was convicted of the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured 260 people in April 2013. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

BOSTON (AP) — Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers called a Russian historian and a psychiatrist to the stand Tuesday in a bid to save the Boston Marathon bomber from the death penalty by portraying him as the product of a dysfunctional family from a turbulent corner of the world.

Dr. Alexander Niss, a psychiatrist who treated Tsarnaev's father in Boston from 2003 to 2005, said he diagnosed the elder Tsarnaev with post-traumatic stress disorder after he reported being tortured in a Russian camp during the Chechen wars with Russia in the 1990s.

Niss said Anzor Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen, showed typical symptoms of PTSD, including anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks and paranoia. He said Tsarnaev also complained of headaches, dizziness, nosebleeds and other physical ailments, and during one phase of his treatment, was going to the emergency room almost every day.

"He was a sick guy," Niss said.

Niss took the stand during the penalty phase of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial, during which the jury will decide whether the 21-year-old former college student should get the death penalty or life in prison for the 2013 bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260.

The defense told jurors earlier that both of Tsarnaev's parents were diagnosed with mental illness.

Tsarnaev's lawyers are hoping his background — combined with their claim that he was heavily influenced by his volatile older brother, Tamerlan — will convince the jury he does not deserve a death sentence. Tamerlan, 26, was killed days after the bombing during a getaway attempt.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Dagestan region of Russia, which borders Chechnya, before moving to the U.S. in 2002. He was 19 at the time of the marathon bombing.

The defense also called as a witness Michael Reynolds, a Princeton University professor who described the North Caucasus region of Russia, including Chechnya, a mountainous area of southern Russia where Tsarnaev's father's family has roots.

Reynolds gave a history of the region, including its centuries of conflict with Russia. He said Chechen families are very patriarchal, with the father or oldest son having the clear role as the decision-maker for the family.

"It's expected that the younger brother will listen to the older brother," he said.

During cross-examination, prosecutor William Weinreb pointed out that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan spent little or no time in Chechnya. Dzhokhar was 8 when he moved to the U.S.

Weinreb also said Dzhokhar smoked cigarettes and marijuana and drank alcohol despite admonitions from Tamerlan.

The defense also called Amanda Ransom, a college roommate of Tamerlan's widow. Ransom said she herself was yelled at and threatened by Tamerlan.

Ransom also said Tamerlan "emotionally abused" his wife, Katherine Russell. According to Ransom, Tamerlan once told his wife after sex that he had AIDS, then laughed at her tearful reaction and told her it was a joke.