Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Sentenced To Death

PITTSBURGH, PA — A federal jury on Wednesday recommended the death penalty for Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Gregory Bowers, who was found guilty in June of killing 11 congregants at Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, according to multiple reports. The shooting was the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.

The panel will now send the verdict to U.S. District Court Judge Robert Colville, who will likely impose their decision against Bowers, NBC News reported.

On June 18, the jury found Bowers guilty of 63 charges, including 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of a hate crime act resulting in death. Bowers was charged for each victim.

A conviction was all but assured after Bower's lawyers acknowledged he burst into Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, and opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and other guns.

During the trial, jurors heard in chilling detail how Bowers, a 50-year-old former truck driver from Baldwin, reloaded at least twice, stepped over the bloodied bodies of his victims to look for more people to shoot, and surrendered only when he ran out of ammunition.

The victims were Joyce Fienberg, 75; Richard Gottfried, 65; Rose Mallinger, 97; Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; brothers David Rosenthal, 54, and Cecil Rosenthal, 59; Bernice Simon, 84, and her husband, Sylvan Simon, 86; Dan Stein, 71; Melvin Wax, 87; and Irving Younger, 69.

In closing arguments, prosecutors told the jury that Bowers targeted his victims because of their religion, noting his extensive online trail of antisemitic and white supremacist content. Bowers also told police at the scene that "all these Jews need to die," prosecutor Mary Hahn said.

Bowers initially pleaded not guilty to all charges.

During the sentencing phase, grieving family members told the jury about the lives that Bowers took — a 97-year-old woman and intellectually disabled brothers among them — and the unrelenting pain of their loss. Survivors testified about their own lasting pain, both physical and emotional.

Thwers showed little reaction to the proceeding that would decide his fate — typically looking down at papers or screens at the defense table. He even told a psychiatrist that he thought the trial was helping to spread his antisemitic message.

Before sentencing, defense lawyers asked jurors to choose a life sentence for Bowers, arguing that mental illness and trauma should not be punishable by death, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

"You can give the weight of life to Rob's lifelong struggle with mental illness," defense attorney Judy Clarke said in her closing argument Monday, according to the Tribune-Review. "You can give the weight of life to mercy. You can give the weight of life to stopping the killing."

This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.