'He wanted to go to hell — he is going to get there early': Hero off-duty firefighter who rescued Boston bomb victims reacts to 'vile' Tsarnaev's death sentence
- Jury of seven women and five men ruled that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should die
- Was convicted of 17 charges eligible for death sentence over 2013 bombing
- Jury unanimously ruled in favor of capital punishment for six of the counts
- Tsarnaev was somber and emotionless and death sentence was delivered
- Alternative was life in prison without parole
- Survivor Sydney Corcoran said the punishment is 'an eye for an eye' and that bomber 'took away his own right to live'
- Tsarnaev's father Anzor said: 'We will fight. We will fight until the end.'
A heroic firefighter who rescued victims of the Boston bombing attack said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death sentence is nothing to celebrate, spitting: 'He wanted to go hell — he is going to get there early.'
Michael Ward was off duty along the marathon route when two explosions went off, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others.
On Friday, two years after he pulled wounded men, women and children to safety, Ward was in court to witness Tsarnaev being sentenced to death.
'I remember the vile, disgusting thing that this person did and his brother,' Ward told a press conference. 'They destroyed countless innocent lives.'
Seven women and five men unanimously voted to punish the 21-year-old with death for his part in detonating two bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others.
Tsarnaev was convicted last month of all 30 federal charges against him, 17 of which carried the possibility of the death penalty.
The jury found that he deserved the death penalty for some but not all of the charges - which means he will be executed by lethal injection.
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Disgusted: Heroic fire fighter Michael Ward slammed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as 'vile' after the verdict
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Meeting his fate: This court sketch shows Tsarnaev, emotionless, listening to a Boston jury sentencing him to death Friday
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Cold: Tsarnaev has barely shown any emotion at all throughout the 10-week sentencing hearing. He is depicted above arriving for Friday's hearing
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Clik here to view.![Confession: Tsarnaev's defense do not dispute that he (left in white cap) and his brother Tamerlan (right in black cap) carried out the bombing]()
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Confession: Tsarnaev's defense do not dispute that he (left in white cap) and his brother Tamerlan (right in black cap) carried out the bombing
Tsarnaev's defense lawyers said he deserved life in prison instead.
Families of bombing victims, including the parents of an eight-year-old boy Tsarnaev killed, packed the courtroom to hear the verdict.
When Tsarnaev entered he was said to appear emotionless - even relaxed - much like at every other phase of the trial. He was wearing a dark sport coat and a light-colored shirt.
Had he not carried out the bombings, Tsarnaev would have been due to graduate from college today instead of being sentenced to death.
He was said to be equally expressionless when the jury delivered their verdict.
Reporters in the courtroom said he cracked his knuckles twice and ran his hands through his hair as it became clear he would be executed.
The ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime - Attorney General Loretta Lynch
Before the verdict, jurors rules on a swathe of aggravating factors - declaring that Tsarnaev extensively planned the attack purposefully targeted a child, acted in a 'heinous and cruel' manner and has no remorse for his actions.
However, they decided there was not enough evidence to prove he incited others to make further attacks against the United States.
The defense sought to save Tsarnaev's life by pinning most of the blame on his radicalized older brother. However, only three jurors agreed that this was a mitigating factor in the crimes.
Prosecutors portrayed Tsarnaev as an equal partner in the attack and so heartless he placed a bomb behind children, killing a 8-year-old Martin Richard.
Other victims of the bombing include 23-year-old Chinese exchange student Lingzi Lu and 29-year-old restaurant managed Krystle Campbell.
Sean A Collier, a 27-year-old police officer, was killed by the Tsarnaevs when the two were being hunted down. Dzhokhar's older brother Tamerlan died before he could be caught.
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Clik here to view.![Defiant: Tsarnaev is pictured above in a jail cell shortly after being arrested making an obscene gesture at a camera. He has been largely emotionless throughout the trial, even as his victims testified]()
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Defiant: Tsarnaev is pictured above in a jail cell shortly after being arrested making an obscene gesture at a camera. He has been largely emotionless throughout the trial, even as his victims testified
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Clik here to view.![Six counts: Jurors unanimously decided that six crime of which Tsarnaev has been convicted ought to be punished by death]()
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Six counts: Jurors unanimously decided that six crime of which Tsarnaev has been convicted ought to be punished by death
Before Dzhokhar launched the bombing attack he was a student at the University of Massachusetts's Dartmouth campus. His peers in the class of 2015 were graduating as he was sentenced to death Friday.
Jurors in Tsarnaev's trail heard 10 weeks of testimony, spanning about 150 witnesses, including people whose legs were torn off by the shrapnel-filled bombs.
William Richard, the father of bombing victim Martin, described the gut-wrenching decision to leave him to die of his wounds so that he could save the life of his daughter, Jane, who lost a leg but survived.
Prosecutors described Tsarnaev as an adherent of al Qaeda's militant Islamist views who carried out the attack as an act of retribution for U.S. military campaigns in Muslim-dominated countries.
In their closing arguments, Tsarnaev's defense told the jury 'Dzhokhar is not the worst of the worst, and that's what the death penalty is reserved for - the worst of the worst.'
Attorney Judy Clarke claimed that he is 'genuinely sorry for what he's done' and has 'the potential for redemption'.
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Clik here to view.![Child victim: Martin Richard, eight, was killed in the bombing. Jurors ruled he was deliberately targeted for his youth]()
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Clik here to view.![Victim: Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager, was also killed in the bomb blasts]()
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Victims: Eight-year-old Martin Richard and Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager, were among the victims of the bombing
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Clik here to view.![Killed: Chinese student Lingzi Lu, 23, also died in the bombing]()
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Clik here to view.![Shot dead: Sean A Collier of the Somerville Police Department was killed by the Tsarnaev brothers in a firefight days after the bombing]()
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Killed: Chinese student Lingzi Lu, 23, (left) also died in the bombing, while Somerville police officer Sean A Collier (right) was killed in a firefight with the Tsarnaevs days later
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Clik here to view.![Destruction: One of the two explosions at the marathon is pictured above. Three people died from the bombs and hundreds were injured]()
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Destruction: One of the two explosions at the marathon is pictured above. Three people died from the bombs and hundreds were injured
Jurors were told that each of them individually had the power to save Tsarnaev's life, as the death sentence requires all 12 to agree. In this case, nobody dissented from capital punishment.
Meanwhile prosecution lawyer Steve Mellin argued that Tsarnaev's actions 'earned him a sentence of death'.
He said: 'The defendant knew what kind of hell was going to be unleashed.'
When he heard the verdict, Tsarnaev's father Anzor vowed to do all he could to stop his son being killed.
It feels like a weight's been lifted. It was justice
Liz Norden, whose sons both lost a leg in the bombing
Speaking to ABC News from Dagestan, he said: 'We will fight. We will fight. We will fight until the end.'
Meanwhile, bombing victim Sydney Corcoran, who nearly bled to death and whose mother lost both her legs, supported the death sentence.
She said: 'My mother and I think that NOW he will go away and we will be able to move on. Justice.
'In his own words, "an eye for an eye."'
She added: 'He took away his own right to live.'
Liz Norden, whose two sons both lost a leg in the explosion, said: 'I have to watch my 2 sons put legs on every day... but it feels like a weight's been lifted. It was justice.'
Adrienne Haslet, a dancer who lost a leg in the attack, said: 'My heart is with our entire survivor community. I am thrilled with the verdict!'
Dic Donohue, a police officer who was injured trying to apprehend the Tsarnaevs, said: 'Just over two years after the events that impacted us as a community and a nation, we can finally close this chapter in our lives.
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Clik here to view.![All his fault? Tsarnaev's defense have argued that his older brother, Tamerlan, radicalized him and should bear most of the responsibility for the deadly terror attacks in 2013]()
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All his fault? Tsarnaev's defense have argued that his older brother, Tamerlan, radicalized him and should bear most of the responsibility for the deadly terror attacks in 2013
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Clik here to view.![Capture: Tsarnaev is pictured above leaning on a boat where he had been hiding from police in Watertown, Massachusetts, before he was captured]()
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Capture: Tsarnaev is pictured above leaning on a boat where he had been hiding from police in Watertown, Massachusetts, before he was captured
'The verdict, undoubtedly a difficult decision for the jury, gives me relief and closure as well as the ability to keep moving forward.'
However, other people affected by the bombing had argued that Tsarnaev should be spared. Bill and Denise Richard, parents of eight-year-old victim Martin Richard, said the government should stop seeking the death penalty because it will draw out the legal process.
Writing in the Boston Globe, they said the appeals and trial only 'prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives'.
After the sentence was delivered, Attorney General Loretta Lynch welcomed the sentence as 'a fitting punishment for this horrific crime'.
She said: 'Dzhokhar Tsarnaev coldly and callously perpetrated a terrorist attack that injured hundreds of Americans and ultimately took the lives of three individuals'.
She continued: 'We know all too well that no verdict can heal the souls of those who lost loved ones, nor the minds and bodies of those who suffered life-changing injuries from this cowardly attack.
'But the ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime and we hope that the completion of this prosecution will bring some measure of closure to the victims and their families.'
Boston mayor Marty Walsh also gave a statement. He said: 'I hope this verdict provides a small amount of closure to the survivors, families, and all impacted by the violent and tragic events surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon.
'We will forever remember and honor those who lost their lives and were affected by those senseless acts of violence on our City.
'Today, more than ever, we know that Boston is a city of hope, strength and resilience, that can overcome any challenge.'
Charlie Baker, the governor of Massachusetts, added: 'I think every time somebody runs the marathon, it will be impossible for this to be too far from their minds.
'The marathon has certainly changed forever... and that by definition, I suppose, changes Boston.'