Robert Bowers, Tree of Life synagogue shooter, to be sentenced to death for massacre of 11 Jewish worshippers
- Robert Bowers, 50, killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018
- He will face the death penalty for the mass shooting, which left seven injured
- A judge is expected to formally impose the death sentence at a later date
A gunman who stormed a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and killed 11 people will be sentenced to death.
Robert Bowers, 50, was found guilty of committing the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history, where he also wounded two worshippers and five police officers.
A federal jury found him guilty of 63 criminal counts in July, and today recommended that he should be put to death for the 2018 massacre.
Bowers spewed anti-semitic hatred and white supremacist beliefs before the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue.
The truck driver from Baldwin, opened fire on members of three congregations who had gathered for a Sabbath worship.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Colville is expected to formally impose the death sentence on Thursday, with the decision coming after a lengthy trial.
Robert Bowers, 50, was found guilty of committing the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history, where he also wounded two worshippers and five police officers
Bowers killed 11 worshippers in the massacre. Pictured: (Top L-R): Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried and Rose Mallinger. (Middle L-R): Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, and David Rosenthal. (Bottom L-R): Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein
Jurors had to reach a unanimous decision to impose the death penalty or else the gunman would have received life without the possibility of parole.
They sat through weeks of chilling testimony, which revealed how Bowers reloaded at least twice before stepping over the bodies of his victims.
He only surrendered to the police and ended the massacre when he ran out of ammunition for his AR-15 rifle.
Grieving family members previously paid tribute to their relatives and testified about the pain Bowers had caused.
He killed a 97-year-old woman and a man with learning difficulties during his rampage on 28 October, 2018.
Lawyers for Bowers used the trial as an attempt to spare his life, with the cold-blooded killer telling psychiatrists that the hearing was helping to spread his anti-Semitic messages.
Bowers will be the first federal death sentence imposed during President Biden’s tenure, with the Democrat pledging in his 2020 campaign to end capital punishment.
The Department of Justice had so far declined to authorize any new death penalty cases, until Bowers case.
Jurors sat through weeks of chilling testimony, which revealed how Bowers reloaded at least twice before stepping over the bodies of his victims
He also gunned down Melvin Wax and Irving Younger in the deadliest anti-semitic attack in US’ history
He only surrendered to the police and ended the massacre when he ran out of ammunition for his AR-15 rifle
Federal prosecutors argued that it was the ‘appropriate punishment’ for the mass shooter, because of the vulnerability of his elderly victims. Most victims families were in favor of the death penalty.
Bowers´ lawyers argued that he should not face the death penalty because of his ‘horrific childhood’ where he suffered trauma and neglect.
They claimed that he had severe and untreated mental illness, adding that he killed out of a delusional belief that Jews were helping to cause a genocide of white people.
The defense argued that schizophrenia and brain abnormalities made Bowers more susceptible to being influenced by the extremist content he found online.
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