Tsarnaev at May 15 sentencing where a jury sentenced him to death.
Jane Flavell Collins
Convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared in federal court Wednesday to be formally sentenced for his role in the April 2013 attack.
On May 15, Tsarnaev was sentenced to death by a jury after he was convicted of killing four people and injuring more than 260 in the most infamous terrorist attack since 9/11.
Before the Judge imposed the death sentence, victims and family were given the opportunity to confront the 21-year-old and deliver impact statements.
"He can't possibly have a soul to do such a horrible thing,” said Karen McWaters, best friend to Krystle Campbell who was killed during the bombing.
McWaters was with Campbell when the bombs exploded on Boylston St. and lost her left leg in the blast.
McWaters said the Tsarnaev brother "took away a kind and loving person who would have never hurt anyone. [Krystle] was not the enemy. They didn't even know her."
She asked Tsarnaev to show remorse and apologize for his actions.
Krystle Campbell’s mother Patricia told Tsarnaev that he should have helped his brother Tamerlan -- who died after a shootout with Watertown, Mass. police -- get help for his anger and hatred toward America, but instead chose to go along with him.
“I know life is hard, but the choices that you made were despicable and what you did to my daughter was disgusting,” Campbell said.
Tsarnaev "failed as a soldier of jihad,” said Bill Campbell, Jr., father of Krystle.
Jen Collier, sister of slain MIT officer Sean Collier, who was shot and killed by the Tsarnaev brothers during an ambush, spoke and criticized the media for invading her privacy after her brother was killed.
“The media have invaded our lives, stalked us, made us hide from the world,” Collier said.
Collier said the impact of her brother’s death has made it hard for her to date and she has a hard time feeling happy.
“The defendant not only has taken Sean away from me. He has taken me away from me,” Collier said.
She also addressed Tsarnaev’s apparent lack of remorse for his actions.
"He has not once shown that he cares about a single person other than himself. He is a leach. He spit on the American dream,” Collier said.
Protesters against the death penalty walk with signs before the formal sentencing of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at the federal courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts June 24, 2015.
Dominick Reuter / Reuters
Bill Richard, father of 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest person killed in the attacks, also said that Tsarnaev had the opportunity to stop the attack, but instead chose hate, destruction, and death.
“This is all on him,” Richard said.
The government focused on the fact that Tsarnaev placed his bomb behind Martin Richard and his 6-year-old sister Jane, and then waited a full four minutes before detonating.
"We had preferred he have a lifetime to reconcile himself to what he did that day,” says Bill Richard, "but he will have less than that.”
Richard and his wife Denise spoke out against a death sentence for Tsarnaev with an op-ed in the Boston Globe during the trial.
About 25 victims were expected to speak during the sentencing hearing on Wednesday. Tsarnaev turned in his chair to face them, but rarely made eye contact and mostly looked down, emotionless as he was during most of the trial. It is unclear if he will speak before his sentence in officially handed down.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1LuyGTX
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