Pittsburgh jury condemns Tree of Life synagogue killer to death
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[August 03, 2023]
(Reuters) -A federal jury on Wednesday voted to sentence
Robert Bowers to death for killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh's Tree
of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S.
history.
In June, the jury found Bowers, 50, guilty of dozens of federal hate
crimes in a trial held at the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh in
western Pennsylvania. Bowers was convicted of 63 counts, including 11
counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in
death.
Two weeks ago, during the first phase of sentencing, the jury found
Bowers eligible for the death penalty. Jurors then heard testimony and
arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys as to whether he
deserved to be put to death for the killings.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Bowers deserved the death
sentence because he showed no remorse and the attack was premeditated
and targeted a place of worship including vulnerable elderly worshipers.
Bowers' defense lawyers did not dispute that he planned and carried out
the attack on the synagogue during Sabbath morning services. He combed
through the building shooting everyone he found with a semiautomatic
rifle and three pistols. His lawyers unsuccessfully argued that Bowers
suffered from life-long mental illness and was delusional.
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The jury was instructed to vote on more than 100 mitigating factors
advanced by the defense lawyers. All 12 jurors indicated on the verdict
sheet that the defense did not prove Bowers suffered from schizophrenia,
as some defense experts testified.
Jurors also heard testimony from some survivors and were shown evidence
of Bowers' antisemitism, including multiple posts attacking Jews on a
far-right website in the months leading up to the attack.
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![](../images/080323PIX/news_q26.jpg)
A man prays at a makeshift memorial
outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
October 31, 2018. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/03/images/ads/current/martinauction_quarter_FAIR_2023.png)
In federal capital cases, a unanimous vote by jurors in a separate
penalty phase of the trial is required to sentence a defendant to
death, and the judge cannot reject the jury's vote. Had the jury
been unable to reach a unanimous decision, Bowers would have instead
been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.
U.S. District Judge Robert Colville is due to formally sentence
Bowers to death at a hearing on Thursday morning, during which some
relatives of Bowers' victims were expected to address the court.
The jury's decision on Wednesday marks the first time since U.S.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in January 2020 that
federal prosecutors have successfully sought and won the death
penalty.
It is not clear when, if ever, Bowers will be executed. The U.S.
Department of Justice has a moratorium on carrying out federal
executions while it reviews the death penalty, which Biden pledged
to abolish when he was running for the presidency.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who hid in a bathroom during the attack,
thanked the jury in a statement. "It is my hope that we can begin to
heal and move forward," he said.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago and Jonathan Allen in New
York; Editing by Mark Potter and Cynthia Osterman)
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