Crime

Boston Marathon Bombing Trial: Graphic Photos Reduce Jurors to Tears

As the prosecution rests its case, haunting pictures are shown to the jury

Published on March 31, 2015 12:05 PM

The trial against accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been difficult to watch.

Over 15 days, 92 witnesses have taken the stand, many of them giving harrowing accounts of the horrific attack. Among the most haunting moments: the excruciating testimony of William Richard, who lost his 8-year-old son to one of the bombs.

On Monday, the prosecution rested its case – but not before giving jurors one last look at the carnage that Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan allegedly left behind on April 15, 2013.

The jury was shown graphic photos of Martin Richard’s autopsy. According to Boston.com, many jurors were reduced to tears.

After the prosecution rested, Tsarnaev’s defense attorneys filed a motion to acquit the 21-year-old on all counts. In the motion, they argued that “the government failed to introduce evidence sufficient to establish each essential element of the offenses charged beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Earlier in the trial, the defense conceded that Tsarnaev was involved in the bombing.

“There’s little that we dispute,” attorney Judy Clarke told the jurors during opening arguments. “It was him.”

On Tuesday morning, the defense team began its case, arguing that it was Tamerlan who was the driving force behind the attack.

Computer expert Mark Spencer took the stand, testifying that Tamerlan, who died during a police shoot-out, did the online searches on bombing components.

According to the Boston Globe, Spencer said Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s computer showed research into guns, fireworks, detonators, the Marathon, and a transmitter and receiver.

During that period, Spencer testified that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spent most of his time on Facebook.

The Boston Globe reports that Spencer was paid $150,000 for his investigation.

Tsarnaev faces 30 charges in U.S. District Court for his role in the attack, which killed three people and injured 250 others. Seventeen of the charges carry the possibility of the death penalty.

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