Boston Bomber Sentenced to Die

Convicted Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has been sentenced to death.

After more than 14 hours of deliberations over the course of three days, the same federal jury – made up of seven women and five men – that convicted Tsarnaev on all 30 counts against him has decided his fate.  Tsarnaev only needed one juror to vote against death for his life to be spared.  Upon learning his fate, Tsarnaev showed no emotion.  The jury rejected the defense’s argument that Tsarnaev was under the influence of his older brother Tamerlan who was using him as a pawn and that he was remorseful.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died three days after carrying out the horrific act of terror at the Boston Marathon,  following being caught in a firefight with police and then run over by his brother as he fled the scene.

Of the 30 charges against him, seventeen carried out the possibility of the death penalty.  Tsarnaev was sentenced to death on six of them.  The jurors only needed to vote for death on one charge.

Tsarnaev, 21, will be formally sentenced this summer by U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole, after survivors and victims loved ones have had the opportunity to present impact statements.  Until then, Tsarnaev will continue to be incarcerated locally, but after formal sentencing he will be transferred to a Supermax prison in Indiana, a place that has been described by a former warden as a “version of hell” that is “not designed for humanity,” where he will remain until he is put to death by lethal injection.  Tsarnaev will be the youngest person on federal death row.

The execution will be carried out by lethal injection and it will be the nations first execution of a terrorist in the post-9/11 era, however it could take years before anything could happen due to the appeals process – a concern to survivors and victims loved ones who just want this to finally be put to rest.