Marathon Bomber Tsarnaev As He's Sentenced To Death: 'I Am Sorry For The Lives That I've Taken'

Minutes before being sentenced to death, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev apologized to a courtroom loaded with families of the people he killed and the wounded who survived the 2013 attacks, telling them he was praying for mercy for the dead and injured. That tally from the bombing: three people killed, 17 left as amputees and 250 or so otherwise maimed or wounded.

“I would like to now apologize to the victims and to the survivors,” Tsarnaev said when presented with the chance to address the court Wednesday afternoon. “I am sorry for the lives that I’ve taken, the suffering that I’ve caused and the damage that I’ve done, irreparable damage”

Tsarnaev, who was described by spectators in the courtroom as emotional, added, “I pray to Allah to put his mercy upon the deceased, the injured.”

The words were the first he uttered in the U.S. District Court other than when pleaded not-guilty to the attack of April 15, 2013, and the murder of a fourth person while he and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were on the run. The elder brother was killed by police shortly before Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured.

After he spoke, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole formalized the punishment a jury had decided in May was appropriate: “I sentence you to the penalty of death by execution,” O’Toole said.

Earlier in the day, victims of the bombing and their families addressed Tsarnaev directly before his formal sentencing, variously damning him as a coward, shaming him for killing an 8-year-old boy and even mocking him as a failed “soldier of jihad.”

Those gathered at Boston Federal Courthouse spoke freely in front of Tsarnaev, expressing all of the pain, sadness and irreparable damage that he inflicted on them. Some even challenged him to express remorse for what he did.

The friend of victim Krystle Campbell, Karen McWatters, said Tsarnaev “can’t possibly have a soul.” McWatters was alongside Campbell when she died. Campbell’s father William, who also spoke, told Tsarnaev he had “failed as soldier of jihad.”

Eight-year-old Martin Richard was the youngest to die in the bombing. His father Bill said “this is all on him. We choose love, we choose kindness, we choose peace. That is what makes us different from him.”

Rebekah Gregory, who lost her leg in the bombing, was concise and to the point when she was given the chance to address Tsarnaev.

“We are Boston Strong and America Strong and choosing to mess with us was a bad idea. How was that for your victim impact statement,” Gregory said.

Stephanie Benz was one of many injured by the blasts. She sustained significant damage to the left side of her body and leg while observing the race from a nearby patio. She spoke of how her friendships have changed. “People don’t know how to be friends with a bombing victim and who can blame them.”

Elizabeth Bourgault, who watched the marathon from the finish line with her husband, said Tsarnaev “is a coward in the strongest sense of the word.”

Jennifer Lemmerman, the sister of fallen MIT police officer Sean Collier, said her brother’s death left an emptiness inside that she’s yet to fill.

Some of those who spoke found it within themselves to express forgiveness for Tsarnaev.

Jennifer Kauffman, who was waiting for a friend at the finish line, suffered abdominal, neck and back injuries in the bombing. While Kauffman says she is “literally afraid to sleep” due to recurring nightmares, she still expressed her forgiveness.

“I forgive you and your brother for the harm and terror you caused me, my family and loved ones,“ Kauffman said.

A federal jury, back in May, ruled Tsarnaev would be punished by death for his actions during the 2013 marathon.

The attack carried out by Dzhokhar and his older brother Tamerlan left three people dead and 264 others injured. The brothers set off pressure-cooker bombs in a crowded area close to the race’s finish line.

The judge presiding over the case is required to officially impose the jury’s prior ruling due to federal death penalty law.

Tsarnaev was convicted of 30 federal charges for his role in the attack

Photo Credit: NY Post