(Trends Wide) — This is a look at the Boston Marathon terrorist attack. On April 15, 2013, two bombings near the finish line of the competition in Boston killed three people and injured at least 264.
Facts:
The bombs exploded twelve seconds apart near the finish line of the marathon on Boylston Street.
According to Richard DesLauriers, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, the bombs contained steel shot and nails.
The bombs were contained in pressure cookers, hidden inside backpacks, according to the FBI.
victims:
Martin Richard, 8, a student at Neighborhood House Charter School in Boston.
Krystle Campbell, 29, originally from Medford, Massachusetts.
Lingzi Lu, a graduate student at Boston University. Originally from China.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Crédito: AFP/Getty Images)Chronology:
April 15th of 2013: At approximately 2:50 pm ET, two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon. They exploded within 8 to 12 seconds of each other, at a distance of between 45 to 91 meters (50-100 yards).
At 6:10 pm ET, then-President Barack Obama speaks to reporters at the White House: “We’re going to find whoever was responsible. We’re going to find out why they did it. Any responsible individual, any responsible group will feel the full weight of justice.”
On April 16, 2013: Obama, speaking at the White House, describes the attacks as an act of terrorism.
Authorities confirm that there were only two bombs, despite earlier reports that other unexploded ordnance had been found.
Authorities, including bomb experts, search an apartment in Revere, Massachusetts, and remove items. They warn that there are no clear suspects and the reason is unknown.
April 17, 2013: A Federal agent tells Trends Wide that a pressure cooker lid believed to have been used in the bombings was found on a roof at the scene.
The alleged lack of communication between government officials led several news organizations, including Trends Wide, to prematurely report that a suspect had been arrested and was in custody.
April 18, 2013: Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, considered the world’s foremost expert in victim compensation, is announced as the trustee of One Fund Boston, a fund to assist people affected by the attacks.
At a press conference, the FBI released photos of the suspects in connection with the bombings. The suspects are later identified as brothers: Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19.
Late in the afternoon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier is shot and killed on campus. Soon after, the Tsarnaev brothers kidnap a driver in Cambridge. The driver is released about 30 minutes later.
As the police chase them, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev throw explosives through the windows and exchange gunfire with the officers. Tamerlan is injured and later dies at Beth Israel Hospital. He had gunshot wounds and injuries from an explosion, according to authorities.
April 19, 2013: Boston police identify the attackers as Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, brothers from Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are of Chechen origin and legally immigrated to the United States. Tamerlan is identified as the person killed in the encounter with the police, while Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, remains at large.
Throughout the day, hundreds of law enforcement officers go door-to-door on 20 Watertown streets looking for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who authorities say is still in Massachusetts. Authorities are asking Boston area residents to stay inside while the search for Tsarnaev continues.
Between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm ET, Watertown resident David Henneberry goes out to inspect his boat shortly after the lockdown is lifted and sees “a man covered in blood under a tarp.”
At 8:15 pm ET, authorities announce that they have a person they believe to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a corner. Later, Tsarnaev is taken into custody by law enforcement officers. He is hospitalized in serious condition.
April, 22nd 2013: Tsarnaev is charged with one count of use and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and one count of malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death.
May 22, 2013: An FBI agent shoots and kills Ibragim Todashev in Orlando, Florida, while questioning him about his relationship with Tamerlan Tsarnaev after phone records show a connection between the two. Todashev tells the officer that Tsarnaev was involved in a 2011 drug-related triple homicide. The confrontation between the FBI agent and Todashev turns violent after Todashev lunges at the agent with a gun, according to a police source.
July 10,2013: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges.
August 13, 2013: Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov plead not guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice with intent to impede authorities.
August 19, 2013: The testimony of the trauma surgeon who treated Dzhokhar Tsarnaev opens, revealing the extent of his injuries, including multiple gunshot wounds that pierced the base of the skull, mouth and vertebrae. The documents also reveal that Tsarnaev was not read his Miranda rights until three days after his arrest.
September 13, 2013: Phillipos pleads not guilty to making false statements to federal officials, and Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov again plead not guilty. Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s in-laws appear before a federal grand jury in Boston. Details of the four-hour session were not immediately available.
October 21, 2013: In a court document, prosecutors confirm that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was charged with involvement in a 2011 triple homicide outside Boston.
May 30, 2014: Authorities arrest a friend of the Tsarnaev brothers, Khairullozhon Matanov, and charge him with destroying, altering, and falsifying records, documents, and tangible objects in a federal investigation, specifically information on his computer. He is also charged with three counts of making materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements in a federal terrorism investigation. He later pleads guilty to misleading investigators.
August 21, 2014: Kadyrbayev pleads guilty to obstruction of justice. As part of the plea agreement, the US prosecutor recommends a seven-year sentence, and Kadyrbayev, a Kazakh national, agreed to be deported after serving his sentence.
October 28, 2014: Phillipos, a friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is convicted on two counts of lying to federal agents.
January 5, 2015: Tsarnaev’s trial begins.
March 4, 2015: opening statements in the Tsarnaev case begin. The testimony lasts 15 days. During the trial, prosecutors call 92 witnesses; the defense calls four.
April 8, 2015: After deliberating for 11 1/2 hours, the jury returns a guilty verdict on all 30 counts.
May 15, 2015: Tsarnaev is sentenced to death.
June 2, 2015: Kadyrbayev, a friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who pleaded guilty in August 2014, is sentenced to 72 months in prison for obstruction of justice.
June 5, 2015: Tazhayakov is sentenced to three and a half years in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice with the intent to impede the investigation. Phillipos is sentenced to three years in prison for making false statements to police in a terrorism investigation.
June 24, 2015: Tsarnaev is formally sentenced to death. Addressing the court, he apologizes and admits that he is guilty.
July 18, 2015: Tsarnaev is booked into the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, also home to inmates Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber” and 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
December 22, 2015: Stephen Silva, the man who lent Dzhokhar Tsarnaev the gun later used to kill an MIT official, is sentenced to time served and three years of supervised probation. Silva is also ordered to pay $800 in fines.
January 15, 2016: Tsarnaev is ordered to pay more than $101 million in restitution to the victims and his request for a new trial is denied.
May 19, 2016: Tazhayakov is released from federal prison.
February 26, 2018: Phillipos is released from a residential reentry program, ending his federal prison term.
August 29, 2018: Kadyrbayev is released from federal prison and taken into ICE custody. He is deported on October 23 and arrives in Almaty, Kazakhstan on October 24.
December 27, 2018: Tsarnaev’s lawyers are appealing his death sentence, saying Tsarnaev did not receive a fair trial. They say it should have been held outside the city where the crime was committed.
July 31, 2020: the appeals court overturns Tsarnaev’s death sentence and rules that he should be given a new sentence. The court also vacates three of his 30 convictions, but maintains that he will remain in federal prison for the rest of his life.
December 17, 2020: Tsarnaev’s lawyers file an opposition brief asking the US Supreme Court not to review an earlier appeal decision to overturn his death sentence. The brief is filed in response to the US Department of Justice’s motion to review the federal appeals court decision that struck down the death penalty in July, citing jury selection issues and lack of selection of the juries due to partiality.
March 22, 2021: The US Supreme Court agrees to review a lower court opinion that overturned Tsarnaev’s death sentence.
March 4, 2022: the US Supreme Court upholds Tsarnaev’s death sentence in a 6-3 ruling on liberal-conservative lines.
January 10, 2023: Tsarnaev’s lawyers are seeking to have his death sentence quashed during a federal appeals court hearing on claims of jury misconduct.
