Prosecution rests in Boston bomber sentencing
BOSTON – Prosecutors called their final witnesses and then rested their case Thursday in the death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The defense is set to begin presenting its case for a life-in-prison sentence on Monday. The focus will shift to Tsarnaev's youth — he was 19 when the bombings took place — and the influence of his older brother and fellow bomber, Tamerlan.
The penalty phase trial, which began Tuesday, thus far has taken the jury back to the horrific suffering that began with the April 15, 2013, twin bombings.
Over the first two days, the government called 12 witnesses. Jurors heard wrenching testimony from women who lost limbs and men who continue to grieve the loss of a brother, a sister, a niece or a stepson.
The government sought to show that a series of aggravating factors, including the cruel nature of the bombings and the targeting of vulnerable victims, warrant the death penalty for Tsarnaev. Three people died and more than 260 were wounded in the blasts.
David King, a trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and a U.S. Army combat surgeon, testified Thursday that the injuries he saw the day of the blasts resembled those he'd seen when he was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The pattern of injuries was fairly predictable and stereotypical for injuries I'd seen hundreds of times, caused by explosive devices," King said.
King said Martin Richard, 8, who died in the blasts, would have been particularly vulnerable because the explosion was close by and low to the ground.
"For someone who is shorter, it puts their vital organs closer to the blast," King said. He added that he was certain Martin did not die instantaneously as blood loss was the cause of death.
"His intestines were pulled and twisted," King said. "That would have, with any degree of certainty, caused visceral-type pain."
Marc Fucarile, an amputee who was inches from the bomb Tsarnaev planted, also testified. When the bomb exploded, Fucarile's body caught fire and was filled with shrapnel. So severe were his injuries that he was the last bombing victim to be released from Massachusetts General Hospital.
Fucarile entered the courtroom in a wheelchair. Tsarnaev entered through a door located about two feet to Fucarile's right. Fucarile glared at him as he passed by and sustained his stare after Tsarnaev took his seat. The defendant did not look in Fucarile's direction.
Jurors saw a chilling video of a crowd scene in which friends were gathering and hugging outside the Forum restaurant when Tsarnaev walks up and stops behind them. A few minutes later, everyone looks their left when the first bomb goes off. Then smoke fills the screen and all goes dark.
"Next thing I remember, I was looking up at the sky," Fucarile said. "A lot of yelling. Screaming. People calling for tourniquets." A woman pointed at him and cried out, "He's still on fire!"
Fucarile said he has undergone nearly 70 surgeries and takes more than 70 pills a day. Ongoing treatment puts him at numerous risks.
"Infections, death, above-the-knee amputations" are all possible, he said.
The same jury that convicted Tsarnaev on all 30 criminal charges is deciding his fate. He will get the death penalty only if all 12 jurors vote for capital punishment. Otherwise he will receive life in prison with no possibility for parole.