Court Case

USA v. Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar

April 2013 (Updated August 10, 2020)
Boston, MA
Homegrown

[DMA] Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured 200 others. Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both of New Bedford were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to obstruct justice by conspiring to destroy, conceal and cover up tangible objects belonging to suspected Marathon bomber, Tsarnaev, namely a laptop computer and backpack containing fireworks. A third man, Robel Phillipos of Cambridge, was charged with willfully making materially false statements to federal law enforcement officials during a terrorism investigation. Tazhayakov was found guilty of impeding the bombing investigation. A jury also found Phillipos guilty of making false statements to investigators. In May 2015, a federal jury in Boston recommended that Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev be sentenced to death for his role in using weapons of mass destruction at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Kadyrbayev was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in disposing of evidence in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, specifically Tsarnaev's backpack, containing fireworks and other items, as well as his role in concealing Tsarnaev's laptop computer from law enforcement. Tsarnaev's death penalty sentence was overturned. The Supreme Court in March 2022 reinstated the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Case Updates

2020-08-10 | Death Penalty Overturned for Boston Marathon Bomber

A federal appeals court has set aside the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev convicted of planting a pair of bombs that killed three people and maimed or injured dozens of others at the 2013 Boston Marathon. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that a lower court judge did not adequately explore the impact of the extensive pretrial publicity on the jurors who recommended the death sentence for Tsarnaev. The case will go back to the lower court for additional hearings and the court's overturning of the death sentences does not mean that Tsanaev will have an opportunity to get out of prison.

Case Documents