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Boston Bomber Death Penalty Hearing Begins

Boston Bomber Death Penalty Hearing Begins

Prosecutors have described Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's crime as "unbearable, indescribable, inexcusable and senseless", as they pressed for the death penalty.

Assistant US Attorney Nadine Pellegrini told the court the 21-year-old was "unrepentant, uncaring and untouched by the havoc and sorrow that he has created".

Life in prison is the other option facing Tsarnaev during the penalty phase of his trial, which began on Tuesday and is expected to last up to four weeks.

The prosecutor showed the jury enlarged photos of the three people who died in the blasts and of a policeman killed three days afterwards by Tsarnaev and his brother.

Ms Pellegrini said: "They had time to be scared and frightened. They had no time to say goodbye. That is the very essence of terror."

Massachusetts does not have the death penalty, but Tsarnaev is being tried under the federal system, which does.

The guilty verdict against him earlier this month was little surprise given that his lawyers had admitted at the trial's outset his involvement in the bombings of two years ago.

The outcome of the death penalty phase is seen as less predictable.

Some think it unlikely jurors will return the unanimous vote needed to condemn him, given the liberal-leaning nature of the Boston-area's demographic.

A woman who lost her legs in the bombing was the first witness to testify in the penalty phase on Tuesday.

Celeste Corcoran, who made her way to the witness stand on two artificial limbs, told the court: "I remember hearing just bloodcurdling screams.

"I just remember looking around, just seeing blood everywhere, sort of like debris falling from the sky."

Tsarnaev's lawyers are expected to continue to argue their client was a 19-year-old in thrall to his domineering older brother, Tamerlan, when he participated in the attack.

Relatives of those killed and other victims have been divided on whether he should face the death penalty.

Last week the parents of Martin Richard, the eight-year-old boy killed in the explosions, urged the death penalty to be taken off the table in the case.

They called on the US Justice Department to instead impose a life sentence with no possibility of release or appeals.

Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, a newlywed couple who each suffered severe injuries, have also voiced opposition to the death penalty.

They said life in prison would be the best outcome to ensure that Tsarnaev "disappears from our collective consciousness as soon as possible".

But Liz Norden, whose two sons each lost a leg in the blasts, has said Tsarnaev deserves "the ultimate justice".

He was convicted of all 30 charges against him earlier this month in the April 2013 twin pressure-cooker bombing that killed three and injured more than 260.