Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect To Face Victims In Court
Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is due to make his first court appearance on Wednesday. Not only will Tsarnaev face the glare of the public eye, but he will be forced to confront the families of his victims, including relatives of an eight-year-old boy who died.
More than 250 people were injured in the April 15 attacks, and all have been invited to attend the court proceedings. CNN reports that many are expected to accept. Overflow rooms will be provided if the main courtroom becomes too full.
Nineteen-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has not been seen publicly since the dramatic shootout on April 18 with police in Watertown, Massachusetts. His older brother, Tamerlan, died in the gunfight.
After being severely injured from several gunshot wounds, Dzhokhar was taken to a hospital where he has since received treatment over the previous 11 weeks.
In court, Tsarnaev will be facing 30 charges, 17 of which could potentially earn the teenager the death penalty. This includes the murder of three people as well as “maiming, burning, and wounding scores of others,” said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.
His defense says they will be fighting capitol punishment sentencing. Instead, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect will be portrayed as having been under the “mesmerizing influence” of his dead older brother.
This may be difficult, however, as sources at Business Insider report, because of messages Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scratched into the sides of the motorboat he was eventually cornered in.
“Now I don’t like killing innocent people … stop killing our innocent people and we will stop,” wrote Tsarnaev. He also wrote that “the US government is killing our innocent civilians” and “I can’t stand to see such evil go unpunished.”
The Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, will also be facing charges of murder when he and his other brother shot dead a police officer on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus on April 18.
[Image via ShutterStock]
