The verdict in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial for the Boston Marathon bombings began unrolling shortly after 2:00 PM Eastern time, and it was guilty, guilty, guilty right down the line. Of the 30 charges, 17 carry a potential death penalty, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death. He faced a total of 30 charges, and was found guilty on all of them. His terrorist attack killed three people, maimed 17, and wounded 240. The anniversary of the bombings is coming up next week.
According to CNN, jury deliberations lasted a total of 11.5 hours. The New York Times counted 92 witnesses called by the government over 15 days.
Prosecutors argued that Dzhokhar was a full partner in the crimes of his older brother Tamerlan, who died under the wheels of a truck Dzhokhar was driving during their desperate bid to escape from the police. The jihad message Dzhohkar wrote inside the boat where he ended up hiding figured prominently during the trial as evidence that he carried out “a cold, calculated terrorist act,” as assistant US attorney Aloke Chakravarty put it.
The Washington Post notes that while prosecutors could not definitively prove Dzhokhar fired the shot that killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, under the law they were both equally culpable for his death.
Survivors of the bombing, family members of the slain, and jurors are said to have waited quietly as the verdicts were read.
