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 anti-Semitic attack in US history.
In June, the jury found Bowers, 50, guilty of dozens of federal hate crimes in a trial held at the US 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’ defence 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 semi-automatic rifle and three pistols. His lawyers unsuccessfully argued that Bowers suffered from life-long mental illness and was delusional.
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.
Read the article by Brendan O’Brien and Jonathan Allen in Sight Magazine.