The man accused of bombing the
Boston Marathon in 2013 has been found guilty of all 30 charges that he
faced, many of which carry the death penalty.
The jury in Massachusetts will now decide what sentence 21-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will receive.
Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when the bombs exploded at the finish line in April 2013.
His lawyers maintained he played a role in the attacks but said his older brother was the driving force.
A police officer was killed in the days following the attack as Tsarnaev and his brother, who also died, attempted to flee.
The decision was reached on Wednesday, after the jury deliberated for just over 12 hours spread over two days.
Tsarnaev kept his hands folded in front of him and looked down as the guilty verdicts were read.
Nearby, the mother of one victim, eight-year-old Martin Richard,
wiped tears from her face after the verdict was read. Richard's father
embraced one of the prosecutors.
The victims
restaurant manager Krystle Campbell, 29, had gone to watch a friend complete the race
Chinese graduate student Lu Lingzi was studying statistics at Boston University
eight-year-old Martin Richard was standing with his family, cheering the runners
Victims' profiles in full The
governor of Massachusetts welcomed the verdict, and Boston Mayor Martin
Walsh said: "I hope today's verdict provides a small amount of
closure".
The family of Officer Sean Collier, who was killed days
after the attack, said: "While today's verdict can never bring Sean
back, we are thankful that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be held accountable
for the evil that he brought to so many families."
The conviction
was widely expected because Tsarnaev's chief lawyer, Judy Clarke, made
the surprise admission during opening statements that he took part in
the bombing.
That admission was part of a defence strategy to
paint Tsarnaev's elder brother, Tamerlan, as the mastermind of the
attack who influenced Tsarnaev into participating.
Prosecutors portrayed them as equal partners in a plan to "punish America" for wars in Muslim countries.
Among
the most damning evidence was a video that showed Tsarnaev placing a
backpack bomb near to Martin Richard, and a statement scrawled inside
the boat where he was found hiding days after the attack.
"Stop
killing our innocent people and we will stop," he wrote, as he lay
wounded and bleeding inside the dry-docked boat in suburban garden.
The
jury was also shown a surveillance video of Tsarnaev casually
purchasing milk at a nearby supermarket less than 30 minutes after the
bombs wreaked carnage at the finish line.
At the scene: Tara McKelvey, BBC News
A court official warned against emotional outbursts as the verdict was read.
"There is to be no reactions," he told people in the room. "Maintain complete silence."
People
on the government's side, near the FBI agents and the Watertown,
Massachusetts, police chief, had cried as they watched videos of the
bombings. Today they were quiet as the verdicts were read: "guilty,
guilty, guilty".
Earlier Tsarnaev had given his lawyer, Judy Clarke, a half-fist-bump.
She didn't return it. This afternoon he was more subdued. He stood and
paid close attention as the verdicts were read, occasionally rocking
from side to side. He put his hands in his pockets then took them out
quickly. He has long lashes, and he blinked a lot. When he was led out
of the room, he walked quickly, as before, but his step was less
springy. The
jury will now have to decide whether Tsarnaev faces the death penalty
as the trial moves into its second phase, which could begin as early as
Monday.
Tsarnaev is an ethnic Chechen. His family moved to the US about a decade before the bombings.
The trial of the man accused of
bombing the Boston Marathon two years ago has begun, with his defence
lawyer telling the jury he committed the crime.
"It was him," the
lawyer said as she prepared to defend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's actions by
saying he had been influenced by his older brother.
Mr Tsarnaev, 21, could face the death penalty and is charged with more than 30 counts relating to the bombings.
It was the deadliest terror attack on US soil since 9/11.
Speaking
before the defence, a federal prosecutor said in opening statements on
Wednesday that Tsarnaev had "murder in his heart" when he placed the
bomb.
In 2013, Mr Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to all charges related to the attack.
The left side of the court was filled with about two dozen of the attack's victims as the trial began.
Three
people, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed after two pressure
cooker bombs packed with nails, ball bearings and other shrapnel
detonated in April 2013.
More than 260 people were injured, with many losing limbs.
Opening statements
The
prosecutor delivered his statements first. Mr Tsarnaev's lead defence
attorney followed, and immediately shocked the court by candidly telling
the jury that he was responsible for the attack.
The 21-year-old
suspect slouched in his chair and stared straight ahead as the
prosecutor, William Weinreb, began his opening statement.
Detailing
the scene near the finish line just under two years ago, the prosecutor
said: "The air was filled with the smell of burning sulphur and
people's screams."
Mr Weinreb described the backpack bomb that Mr
Tsarnaev allegedly planted at the finish as "the type of bombs favoured
by terrorists because it's designed to tear people apart and create a
bloody spectacle."
Among those in attendance were Denise and Bill Richard, whose 8-year-old son, Martin, died in the bombings.
As
they looked on, the prosecutor told the jury that Ms Richard watched
helplessly as "the bomb tore large chunks of flesh out of Martin
Richard".
The boy had been standing on a metal barrier with other children so
that he could better see the runners crossing the finish line.
Heather Abbott, who lost a leg in the attack, sat near the Richard family.
"While
victims of the bombing lay in the hospital and learned that they would
have to have their limbs chopped off to save their lives, the defendant
pretended that nothing had happened," Mr Weinreb said, noting that Mr
Tsarnaev returned to socialise with his friends at the University of
Massachusetts-Dartmouth following the attack.
Judy Clarke, a famed attorney who has represented a number of
high-profile suspects in the past, began her opening remarks by saying:
"It was him."
She said that her team would not attempt to
"sidestep" Mr Tsarnaev's guilt in carrying out the "senseless, horribly
misguided acts carried out by two brothers".
Instead, she will
argue that his elder brother, Tamerlan, was the mastermind of the plot
and coerced the younger sibling into being a submissive participant.
Mr Tsarnaev is also accused of killing a police officer in the days after the bombing.
A huge police manhunt followed the attacks, culminating in Mr Tsarnaev's arrest and the death of his elder brother.
