Boston Marathon Bombing

Jury Finds Tsarnaev Guilty on All Counts in the Marathon Bombing Trial

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The jury in the Boston Marathon Bombing case found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty on all 30 counts, including being responsible for the deaths of those killed at the finish line and of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier and setting off bombs in Watertown. The verdict was read at Boston Federal Court on Wednesday afternoon, and jury will now move on to the sentencing phase of the trial. Tsarnaev faces the death penalty for some of the counts. Tsarnaev was found guilty of five counts of using of a weapon of mass destruction, for setting off the two pressure cooker bombs at the marathon and three pipe bombs during the shootout in Watertown. The jury also found that by setting off the bombs he caused the deaths of Campbell with the first bomb, and caused Richard’s and Lu’s death with the second bomb.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Boston Marathon Bomber Case Goes to the Jury after Closing Arguments

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Jurors in the case against accused Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev heard final arguments from attorneys on Monday, and now must decide his fate. 

Prosecutors said the Tsarnaev brothers “were the mujahedeen, and they were bringing their battle to Boston,” according to an account of the court proceedings in the New York Times.  They said Dzhokhar wanted to “punish America for what it was doing to his people,” according to the Times. Tsarnaev’s defense attorney, however, argued that he was an “adolescent” who just followed his older brother Tamerlan into carrying out the bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Tamerlan was killed in the firefight in Watertown after being run over by Dzhokhar, according to the Boston Globe. The jury of seven women and five men, all white, will consider 30 counts against Tsarnaev, one of which is if he used a weapon of mass destruction.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Report Gives Mixed Reviews of Police During Search for Marathon Bomber

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A study of efforts to stop and capture the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects had mixed reviews of law enforcements’ use of force, and other practices of police in Watertown. The report led by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), was released this week, according to a report on Boston.com. See the full report by clicking here. The first officers on the scene, all Watertown Police officers, “practiced appropriate weapons discipline while they were engaged in the firefight with the suspects.”

Some of that followed quickly afterward from a variety of departments however, fired without identifying the suspect and a times without first aiming, the report found. In one incident that night, plain clothed State Police troopers were fired on when their SUV was misidentified as being stolen.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Defense Rests in Marathon Bombing Case, Closing Statements Coming

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Defense attorneys for accused Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev rested their case Tuesday, and now all that remains in closing statements before the jury deliberates. The defense called only four witnesses over two days, according to a report by NBC News. With a guilty verdict almost assured, his attorneys argued that Dzhokhar, 19 at the time of the bombings, was manipulated by his older brother Tamerlan (then 26) to do the bombings and attack police, according to the NBC report. Using this strategy, the defense seeks to avoid the death penalty being brought against their client. Tamerlan was killed during the shootout when he was hit by bullets and run over by an SUV driven by Dzhokhar.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Owner of Watertown Boat Describes Finding the Marathon Bombing Suspect

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The owner of the infamous “Watertown Boat” described finding the Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Boston Federal Court on Tuesday. 

Dave Henneberry, a lifelong Watertown resident, had shrink wrapped up his boat, SlipAway II, and parked it in the yard of his Franklin Street home. The testimony comes from live social media reports from reporters at the Boston Federal Court House. When the “shelter in place” had been lifted on the evening of April 20, 2013, Henneberry went out and noticed the wrapping had come loose. When he looked closer, he saw the zipper to the plastic covering was open, so he looked inside. “I noticed a lot of blood …

Boston Marathon Bombing

Watertown’s Day at Trial of Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect

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Nearly two years after the suspected Boston Marathon bombers interrupted a quiet April night in Watertown with gunfire and homemade bombs, the events of April 18 2013 and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s role in them were examined in Federal Court in Boston. On Thursday, jurors in the trial of Tsarnaev saw testimony about the killing of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier by the Dzhokhar and his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev while Collier sat in his police cruiser in Cambridge. Then the jurors heard from Dun Meng, the owner of the now infamous black Mercedes SUV that was carjacked Tamerlan. He rode in the vehicle for 20-30 minutes, eventually pulling over on a street in Watertown where another car pulled up behind him and loaded something in his SUV. Meng said the other man was Dzhokhar.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Watertown Police, Firefighters Get Medals at White House

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Seven Watertown first responders who put their lives on the line during the shootout with the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects received the nation’s ultimate honor Wednesday. Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder awarded the Medal of Valor to five Watertown Police officers and two Watertown Firefighters at a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday, according to an Associated Press report. “You’re a rare breed,” Biden said to the recipients. “You’re all crazy. We love you for it.