The Pittsburgh synagogue gunman who killed 11 people now faces the death penalty after being convicted of 63 charges, including murder and hate crimes.
Robert Bowers, a truck driver, slaughtered his victims at the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 28, 2018.
He never denied the murders, but his lawyers had fought to avoid a death penalty.
They offered a plea of guilty in exchange for a life sentence, but prosecutors rejected them, with the support of many of the victims’ families.
Robert Bowers, a truck driver, butchered his victims at the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 28, 2018
Bowers is depicted in a May court sketch. He has never been seen in public since the October 2018 shooting
At the end of his trial yesterday, one of the affected municipalities issued a statement calling for his death.
“There can be no forgiveness. Forgiveness requires two components: that it be offered by the person who does wrong and that it be accepted by the person who was wronged.
“The shooter didn’t ask — and the dead can’t accept,” it said.
Now a jury will decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.
The 2018 attack on Jews was the deadliest in US history.
In their closing arguments, prosecutors recounted how Bowers used the synagogue as his “hunting ground.”
They told the jury how he regularly posted anti-Semitic, white supremacist content on the social media site Gab, and how he often praised Hitler and the Holocaust.
“He is filled with hatred of Jews. That was what prompted him to act,” prosecutor Mary Hahn said.
The October 2018 attack against Jews was the deadliest in US history
Bowers’ lawyer, Elisa Long, countered that Bowers was not trying to stop people from worshiping – part of some of the crimes he is accused of – when he attacked the synagogue.
On the contrary, she said in her closing argument on Thursday, Bowers had a “nonsensical and irrational” belief that he should attack Jews for their support of efforts to help immigrants and refugees, people he viewed as invaders.
When he was finally taken into custody after a manhunt, he told the police, “All these Jews must die.”
Bowers victims: Top row, from left: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, and David Rosenthal; bottom row, from left, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger
In a statement in April, the sisters of two victims — brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal with special needs — said: “We don’t want to be here and we know the emotional toll this process can take. But we owe it to our brothers Cecil and David.
“The suggestion that all relatives of the deceased victims do not want to proceed with a death penalty case is incorrect.
“The published or reported suggestions that family members are relieved of the stress of a lawsuit or that a cost-benefit analysis dictates a plea are offensive to our family.
“This plays into the hands of the defense’s ongoing transparent strategy of slowing down in hopes of achieving this result.”
Seven of the nine families who killed loved ones supported the death penalty.
But the Dor Hadash and New Light Congregations, whose members were among the dead, opposed it.
In a letter to the judge, their representatives said the death penalty was not in accordance with the Jewish faith.
“In Jewish tradition, courts that impose the death penalty have been considered bloodthirsty since the days of the sages,” it said.
Among the dead were brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal, both of whom were born with special needs. Their sisters vocally advocated that Bowers be sentenced to death