Boston Terrorist Charged, Could Face Death Penalty

BOSTON (AP) —
Lt. Mike Murphy of the Newton, Mass., fire department carries an American flag down the middle of Boylston Street after observing a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the bombing at the Boston Marathon near the race finish line, in Boston, Mass., Monday, April 22. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Lt. Mike Murphy of the Newton, Mass., fire department carries an American flag down the middle of Boylston Street after observing a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the bombing at the Boston Marathon near the race finish line, in Boston, Mass., Monday, April 22. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A seriously wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged in his hospital room Monday with bombing the Boston Marathon in a plot with his older brother and could get the death penalty for the attack that killed three people.

Tsarnaev, 19, was charged by federal prosecutors with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction — a bomb — to kill.

Two U.S. officials said Monday that preliminary evidence from an interrogation suggests the suspects in the Boston Marathon attack were motivated by their religious views but were apparently not tied to any Islamic terrorist groups.

The criminal complaint gave a detailed sequence of events and cited surveillance-camera images of Tsarnaev dropping off a knapsack with one of the bombs and using a cellphone, perhaps to coordinate or detonate the blasts.

The Massachusetts college student was listed in serious but stable condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries. His brother, Tamerlan, 26, died last week in a fierce gunbattle with police.

“Although our investigation is ongoing, today’s charges bring a successful end to a tragic week for the city of Boston and for our country,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

The charges carry the death penalty or a prison sentence of up to life.

“He has what’s coming to him,” a wounded Kaitlynn Cates said from her hospital room. She was at the finish line when the first blast knocked her off her feet, and she suffered an injury to her lower leg.

Boston firefighters prepare to observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, marking a week to the day of the bombings at a memorial on Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday. (REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi)
Boston firefighters prepare to observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, marking a week to the day of the bombings at a memorial on Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday. (REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi)

In outlining the evidence against him in court papers, the FBI said Tsarnaev was seen on surveillance cameras putting a knapsack down on the ground near the site of the second blast and then manipulating a cellphone and lifting it to his ear.

Seconds later, the first explosion went off about a block down the street and spread fear and confusion through the crowd. But Tsarnaev — unlike everyone around him — looked calm and quickly walked away, the FBI said.

About 10 seconds later, the second blast occurred where he had left the knapsack, the FBI said.

The FBI did not make it clear whether authorities believe he used his cellphone to detonate one or both of the bombs or whether he was talking to someone.

The court papers also said that during the long night of crime Thursday and Friday that led to the older brother’s death and the younger one’s capture, one of the Tsarnaev brothers told a carjacking victim: “Did you hear about the Boston explosion? I did that.”

The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who have lived in the U.S. for about a decade. Investigators are focusing on a trip the older brother made last year to Chechnya and Dagestan, in a region of Russia that has become a hotbed of separatist politics and Islamic extremism.

In addition to the federal charges, the younger Tsarnaev brother is also likely to face state charges in connection with the shooting death of an MIT police officer.

The Obama administration said it had no choice but to prosecute Tsarnaev in the federal court system.

But Tsarnaev is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and under U.S. law, American citizens cannot be tried by military tribunals, White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Carney said that since 9/11, the federal court system has been used to convict and imprison hundreds of terrorists.

Seven days after the bombings, meanwhile, Boston was bustling Monday, with runners hitting the pavement, children walking to school and enough cars clogging the streets to make the morning commute feel almost back to normal.

Residents paused in the afternoon to observe a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m., the time of the first blast.

Standing on the steps of the state Capitol, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick bowed his head and said after the moment of silence: “G-d bless the people of Massachusetts. Boston Strong.”

Also, hundreds of family and friends packed a church in Medford for the funeral of bombing victim Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant worker. A memorial service was scheduled for Monday night at Boston University for 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, a graduate student from China.

Fifty-one victims remained hospitalized Monday, three of them in critical condition.

A Boston Police officer bows his head during a moment of silence near the Boston Marathon finish line April 22, 2013 in Medford, Massachusetts. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
A Boston Police officer bows his head during a moment of silence near the Boston Marathon finish line April 22, 2013 in Medford, Massachusetts. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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