Boston Bombing Trial Goes Into Hands Of Jurors

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By Sky News US Team

Jurors have begun deliberating in the federal death penalty case of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Tsarnaev faces 30 federal charges in connection with the 15 April 2013 bombings that killed three people and injured 264 others.

The 21-year-old is also charged in the fatal shooting of an MIT police officer days after the attacks.

If he is convicted, jurors will hear a second round of evidence before determining whether to sentence Tsarnaev to death or life in prison.

In closing arguments on Monday, the prosecution urged the panel to hold Tsarnaev accountable for the attacks they said he carried out with his older brother in order to "punish America" for its wars in Muslim countries.

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Gallery: Boston Bombing Trial Evidence

Fireworks were shown as part of the evidence at the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of carrying out the Boston marathon attacks that killed three people and injured 264 in 2013

A plaid backpack that was found in a landfill after a college friend of Tsarnaev's took it from the defendant's dorm room and tossed it into a dumpster

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A black laptop case, a portable hard drive, cell phone and spare batteries, and an homemade remote control device

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A blood-stained message that prosecutors say Tsarnaev wrote on the inside of a boat where he was hiding

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The remains of a pressure-cooker bomb recovered at the bombing scene and a diploma for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the defendant's brother who was killed in the aftermath of the bombing

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"This was a cold, calculated terrorist act," Assistant US Attorney Aloke Chakravarty told jurors.

"This was intentional. It was bloodthirsty. It was to make a point.

"It was to tell America that 'We will not be terrorised by you anymore. We will terrorise you.'"

Tsarnaev's lawyers, who acknowledged at the trial's outset that their client helped orchestrate the attacks, have tried to convince jurors that he was pressured by his radicalised older brother.

The surprise admission was part of the defence's effort to spare Tsarnaev the death penalty should the jury convict him, as expected.

Defence attorney Judith Clarke on Monday told jurors it was 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev who "built the bombs" and "murdered (MIT police) officer Collier".

"Tamerlan led and Dzhokhar followed," she said.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed following a gun battle with police when his brother inadvertently ran him over with a car they had hijacked.

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Gallery: Boston Bombings Trial: Who's Who

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, has gone on trial accused of the Boston Marathon bombings. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. He denies wrongdoing

His older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed days after the bombings on 15 April 2013

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Over the last several weeks, the jury has heard testimony from friends and family of those killed in the attacks and from more than a dozen people who lost limbs as a result of the bombings.

Jurors even heard from police officers who described exchanging gunfire and dodging homemade explosive devices thrown by the Tsarnaev brothers as they attempted to flee the city.

The defence called just four witnesses over two days in presenting its case.

Tsarnaev's lawyers have not indicated whether he will testify during the sentencing phase.

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