Dzhokhar Tsarnaev verdict: Boston Marathon bomber found guilty of all 30 charges

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of bombing Boston Marathon in April 2013, has been found guilty of all 30 charges that he faced, many of which carry the death penalty.

The jury in Massachusetts will now decide what sentence Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, will receive.

Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when the bombs exploded at the finish line in April 2013.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers admitted he played a role in the attacks but said his older brother was the driving force.

The guilty conviction was widely expected. In the next phase of the trial, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s legal team will push for him to be given a life-in-prison sentence instead of death.

His chief lawyer, Judy Clarke, specializes in defending high-profile clients facing the death penalty, including the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

Although Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team had repeatedly appealed for a change of venue, Boston is not known for its support of capital punishment.

Massachusetts abolished the practice in 1984 and has not executed anyone since 1947. But Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted of federal, not state crimes.

A police officer was killed in the days following the attack as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, who also died, attempted to flee.

As the guilty verdicts were read on April 8, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev kept his hands folded in front of him and looked down.

Nearby, the mother of one victim, 8-year-old Martin Richard, wiped tears from her face after the verdict was read. Martin Richard’s father embraced one of the prosecutors.

The governor of Massachusetts welcomed the verdict, and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said: “I hope today’s verdict provides a small amount of closure.”

The family of Officer Sean Collier, who was killed days after the attack, said: “While today’s verdict can never bring Sean back, we are thankful that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be held accountable for the evil that he brought to so many families.”

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team say he took part in the bombing, but argue that his elder brother, Tamerlan, was the mastermind of the attack who influenced Dzhokhar into participating.

Prosecutors portrayed the brothers as equal partners in a plan to “punish America” for wars in Muslim countries.

Among the most damning evidence was a video that showed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev placing a backpack bomb near to Martin Richard, and a statement scrawled inside the boat where he was found hiding days after the attack.

“Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop,” Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote, as he lay wounded and bleeding inside the dry-docked boat in suburban garden.

The jury was also shown a surveillance video of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev casually purchasing milk at a nearby supermarket less than 30 minutes after the bombs wreaked carnage at the finish line.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is an ethnic Chechen. His family moved to the US about a decade before the bombings.

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