Jury convicts man in 2018 killing of 11 in Pittsburgh synagogue
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A 2018 photo shows a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Follow topic:
NEW YORK - The gunman who killed 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue
After five hours of deliberations over two days, the jury found the gunman, Robert Bowers,
Now the trial will turn to the question of punishment. The jury will hear arguments about whether Bowers, 50, is eligible to be sentenced to death.
If the jurors decide that he is, they will then decide whether the death sentence should be imposed.
These next two phases of the trial are expected to last around a month and a half.
The outcome of this first phase was in little doubt. Bowers’ defence team did not call a single witness.
His lawyers have not disputed that he planned and carried out the massacre.
The primary objective for the defence, as conveyed in court filings leading up to trial, has been to avoid a death sentence. Lawyers for Bowers made offers to plead guilty to all counts in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole, but the Justice Department rejected those offers.
The verdict on Friday came after three weeks of testimony, including chilling accounts of worshippers who survived the mass shooting
“We were filled with terror,” said Ms Andrea Wedner, who recounted lying on the floor of a chapel, her right arm shattered by bullets, trying to comfort her dying 97-year-old mother.
“It’s indescribable.”
The 60 witnesses called by the prosecution included police officers who rushed into the synagogue, some of whom were injured in shootouts with Bowers; businessmen who sold Bowers his gun holsters; the chief executive officer of Gab.com, the social media site where Bowers posted about his hatred of Jews and immigrants; and the president of a Jewish organisation that helps resettle refugees - a mission that Bowers said spurred him to attack the synagogue. NYTIMES
