Boston Marathon bomber could be 1st terrorist executed in US since 9/11

Boston, The death sentence jurors gave Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sets the stage for what could be the United States’ first execution of a terrorist in the post-9/11 era, though the case is likely to go through years of legal appeals.
In weighing the arguments for and against death, the jurors decided among other things that Tsarnaev showed a lack of remorse. And they emphatically rejected the defense’s central argument that he was led down the path to terrorism by his big brother.
Yesterday’s decision which came just over two years after the April 15, 2013, bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260 brought some relief in Boston.
“We can breathe again,” said Karen Brassard, who suffered shrapnel wounds on her legs.
A somber-looking Tsarnaev stood with his hands folded, his head slightly bowed, as he learned his fate, sealed after 14 hours of deliberations over three days. His lawyers left court without comment.
His father, Anzor Tsarnaev, reached by phone in the southern Russian region of Dagestan, let out a deep moan upon hearing the news and hung up.
The 12-member federal jury had to be unanimous for Tsarnaev to get the death penalty. Otherwise, the former college student would have automatically received life in prison with no chance of parole.
Tsarnaev was convicted last month of all 30 charges against him, including use of a weapon of mass destruction, for joining his now-dead brother, Tamerlan, in setting off two shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the race. Tsarnaev was also found guilty in the killing of an MIT police officer during the getaway.
Seventeen of the charges carried the possibility of a death sentence; ultimately, the jury gave him the death penalty on six of those counts. The jury agreed with the prosecution on 11 of the 12 aggravating factors cited, including the cruelty of the crime, the extent of the carnage, the killing of a child, and Tsarnaev’s lack of remorse.
“Today the jury has spoken. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will pay for his crimes with his life,” said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.
The defense argued that sending him to the high-security Supermax prison in Colorado for the rest of his life would be a sufficiently harsh punishment and would help the victims move on without having to read about years of death row appeals.