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A federal jury on Wednesday voted to sentence Robert Bowers to death for killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, the New York Times reported.
In June, the jury found Bowers, 50, guilty of dozens of federal hate crimes in the trial held at the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania. Bowers was convicted of 63 counts, including 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.
Two weeks ago, during the first phase of the sentencing portion of the trial, the jury found Bowers to be eligible for the death penalty. Jurors then heard testimony and arguments from both prosecutors and defense attorneys as to whether he deserved to be put to death for the killings.
On June 16, the jury found him guilty on all counts. His defense lawyers did not dispute that he planned and carried out the attack, but argued that he suffered from life-long mental illness and was delusional.
