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| Jury sentences Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for marathon attack | ||
| 2015-05-16 | ||
| [BostonHerald] A jury's ruling today to sentence marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death is "justice" and a warning Boston "will not tolerate terrorism," survivors and police said after the verdict. "This is nothing to celebrate. This is justice," said first-responder Michael Ward. "He wanted to go to hell and he's gonna get there early." The verdict against Tsarnaev, who'll turn 22 in July, was announced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr.'s courtroom clerk Paul Lyness. Tsarnaev showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Only three of the 12 jurors bought into the defense argument that Tsarnaev was influenced by his older brother Tamerlan. The jurors unanimously agreed that Tsarnaev showed no remorse for the marathon attack and its aftermath that killed four young people, maimed 17 and injured hundreds. The jurors unanimously voted to put him to death for the week of terror. "You're not going to blow up our marathon. You're not going to blow up our city," said Boston police Commissioner William Evans. "We will not tolerate terrorism." Tsarnaev will be formally sentenced by O'Toole this summer after survivors and loved ones of the victims have the opportunity to present impact statements. Tsarnaev will also be afforded the chance to speak. He chose not to take the stand in his own defense during the trial -- a factor jurors were not allowed to consider or even discuss amongst themselves, per O'Toole's orders. Tsarnaev is expected to remain incarcerated locally until after the sentencing, when he will be delivered to the USP Terre Haute prison in Indiana, where he will be the youngest person on federal death row. The seven women and five men, who reached their verdict after 14 hours of deliberations, convicted the former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth sophomore on April 8 of a 30-count indictment that included the April 15, 2013, bombing murders of marathon spectators Martin Richard, 8, of Dorchester, Lingzi Lu, 23, a Boston University graduate statistics student from China, and restaurant manager Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, a Medford native. Tsarnaev was also held responsible for the shooting death of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, 27, three days after the marathon massacre, when the FBI went public with photos of Tsarnaev and his late older brother Tamerlan, 26, as their terror suspects. Tsarnaev's lawyers maintain it was Tamerlan who shot Collier three times in the head as he sat in his cruiser on the Cambridge campus. The brothers tried, but failed, to wrest Collier's sidearm from him with plans to head to New York City with more explosives. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died April 19, 2013, following a brutal firefight with Watertown police, during which he was run over by his brother as he fled the shootout. The jurors' identities have never been disclosed. They have been a part of the epic case since they were summonsed in early January, and heard 10 weeks of testimony between the separate guilt and sentencing phases - much of it from survivors and amputees with memories so painful and haunting that jurors openly sobbed in the courtroom.
The jury's call for the ultimate punishment comes in a state and city that polls show to be overwhelmingly against the death penalty.
In the end, the jury sentenced Tsarnaev specifically for the bomb he placed in front of the Forum restaurant on Boylston Street that killed 8-year-old Martin Richard and Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old Boston University graduate student from China. The jury chose life sentences for the charges Tsarnaev faced that related to the bomb that was placed by his older brother, Tamerlan -- the bomb that killed Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, of Arlington. They also did not impose a death sentence on the charges that involved the fatal shooting of MIT police officer Sean Collier. | ||
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #6 This is one martyr that is in no hurry to be martyred. |
| Posted by: Hupesh Ebbusomp5266 2015-05-16 15:53 |
| #5 You will never beat the terrorists by being purely defensive, while the fed govt doesn't deal with the problem despite advance warnings. Candlelight vigils etc will not keep the terrorists away. Being nice to psychopaths means nothing to them because they are incapable of empathy. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2015-05-16 12:42 |
| #4 The appeals process will likely drag on for decades. That'll give Joker plenty of time to contemplate his 72 virgins in his new digs at Terre Haute federal penitentiary. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2015-05-16 12:28 |
| #3 I didn't think the jury would do this in Massachussetts. Good for them. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2015-05-16 11:01 |
| #2 Lest anyone forget, the Globe once described Tamerlan as a 'stay at-home dad'. |
| Posted by: Raj 2015-05-16 10:21 |
| #1 Nike |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-05-16 10:00 |