PITTSBURGH - A truck driver who expressed hated of Jews was convicted Friday of barging into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shooting everyone he could find, killing 11 congregants in an act of antisemitic terror for which he could be sentenced to die.The guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion after Robert Bowers’ own lawyers conceded at the trial’s outset that he attacked and killed worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct.
27, 2018, in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Jurors must now decide whether the 50-year-old should be sent to death row or sentenced to life in prison without parole as the federal trial shifts to a penalty phase expected to last several weeks.Bowers was convicted of all 63 criminal counts he faced, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death.
His attorneys had offered a guilty plea in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors refused, opting instead to take the case to trial and pursue the death penalty.
Most of the victims’ families expressed support for the decision.The jury deliberated about five hours over two days before reaching a verdict.Federal prosecutors said Monday they are seeking the death penalty against a man accused of killing 11 people inside a Pittsburgh synagogue last year.Bowers turned a sacred house of worship into a "hunting ground," targeting his victims because of their religion, a prosecutor told jurors on Thursday.