A 12-person jury is now deciding the fate of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and have begun deliberating whether he should be put to death or spend his life in prison.
USA Today noted that around 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, after hearing the closing arguments in the case, the jury left the courtroom and began their deliberations.
As previously reported, the same jury found Tsarnaev guilty last month on 30 counts related to the bombing. Judge George O'Toole reminded jurors today that they are only to decide a sentence for the 17 counts that carry the death penalty.
On April 15, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Tsarnaev was seen on camera placing a backpack on the ground near spectators. Three people were killed in the blasts and more than 260 others were injured.
He and his brother, Tamerlan, then sent police on a manhunt, which ended in his sibling’s death and later the 21-year-old’s arrest.
The defense’s strategy throughout has been that Tsarnaev was under his brother’s influence when carrying out the attack. They also pointed to more dysfunction in his family life and said that his father suffered from a mental illness.
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