In a startling turn, Boston Marathon bomber Dzho-khar Tsar-naev rose to his feet and apologized to the victims and their loved ones for the first time on Wednesday, just before a judge formally sentenced him to death.
After Tsarnaev said his piece, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. sentenced the young man of Chechen origin to death by execution.
The outcome of the proceedings was never in doubt: The judge was required under law to impose the jury’s death sentence for the April 15, 2013, attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260.
Tsarnaev had been found guilty killing three people and injuring 264 in the bombing near the finish line of the world-renowned race, as well as fatally shooting a police officer three days later. The same federal jury that convicted him in April voted for death by lethal injection in May.
As he handed down that sentence, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole condemned Tsarnaev for falling under the spell of militant Islamists, including American-born al Qaeda figure Anwar al Awlaki, who was killed in a 2011 drone strike.
Before the judge pronounced the sentence, Rebekah Gregory, who lost her left leg on that blood-soaked April day, addressed Tsarnaev directly.
"Terrorists like you do two things in this world. One, they create mass destruction, but the second is quite interesting," Gregory said. "Because do you know what mass destruction really does? It brings people together. We are Boston strong and we are America strong, and choosing to mess with us was a terrible idea."
