A federal jury has sentenced Robert Bowers to death for the killing of 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, marking the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, according to the New York Times.
Bowers, 50, was found guilty of numerous federal hate crimes in a trial held at the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in June. The jury convicted him on 63 counts, including 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.
The jury determined Bowers to be eligible for the death penalty during the first phase of the sentencing portion of the trial two weeks ago. Subsequently, both prosecutors and defense attorneys presented arguments and testimony to the jury regarding whether Bowers deserved the death penalty for his actions.
The jury found Bowers guilty on all counts on June 16. His defense attorneys did not contest that he planned and executed the attack but argued that he suffered from lifelong mental illness and was delusional.
During the trial, the jury heard testimonies from survivors of the attack and was shown evidence of Bowers’ antisemitism, including multiple posts on a far-right website attacking Jews in the months leading up to the attack.
In federal capital cases, a unanimous vote by jurors in a separate penalty phase of the trial is required to sentence a defendant to death, and the judge cannot overturn the jury’s decision. If the jury had failed to reach a unanimous decision, Bowers would have been sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of release.
U.S. District Judge Robert Colville is scheduled to formally sentence Bowers to death at a hearing on Thursday morning, where some relatives of Bowers’ victims are expected to address the court, according to the Times.
This marks the first time federal prosecutors have successfully sought and obtained the death penalty since U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in January 2020. However, it remains uncertain if and when Bowers will be executed as the U.S. Department of Justice has implemented a moratorium on federal executions while it reviews the death penalty, which Biden pledged to abolish during his presidential campaign.
In the sentencing phase, prosecutors argued that Bowers had the necessary intent and premeditation to qualify for the death penalty. They presented witnesses and evidence demonstrating his careful planning of the attack and deliberate targeting of vulnerable elderly worshippers.
Defense lawyers countered that Bowers suffers from severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, and therefore lacked the required level of intent.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who sought refuge in a bathroom during the attack, expressed his appreciation to the jury in a statement and said, “it is my hope that we can begin to heal and move forward.”
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Mark Potter)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
