Robert Bowers killed 11 people in the 2018 mass shooting.
July 13, 2023, 10:31 AM
Convicted Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooter Robert Bowers is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury decided Thursday.
The trial will now move forward into a final phase in which the jury will hear evidence before deciding if Bowers should be sentenced to death or to life in prison.
People hug after a vigil, to remember the victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue the day before, at the Allegheny County Soldiers Memorial, Oct. 28, 2018, in Pittsburgh.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
A Star of David hangs from a fence outside the dormant landmark Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Apr. 19, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar/AP, FILE
Bowers stormed the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, gunning down 11 congregants in the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history.
Bowers allegedly told investigators after his arrest that he wanted to kill Jewish people, according to a criminal complaint.
In this combo image made from photos provided by the United States District Court Western District of Pennsylvania are the victims of the Oct. 27, 2018, assault on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. From left, Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, and David Rosenthal; bottom row, from left, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger. Robert Bowers, a truck driver who shot and killed 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the nation’s deadliest attack on Jewish people, was found guilty, June 16, 2023.
United States District Court Western District of Pennsylvania via AP, FILE
Bowers had offered to plead guilty if the death penalty was taken off the table, but prosecutors turned him down.
Bowers was convicted in June on all 63 charges against him, including 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.
A member of the police crosses the street on October 28, 2018 outside the Tree of Life Synagogue after a shooting there left 11 people dead in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
At Bowers’ trial, prosecutors said he moved “methodically” through the synagogue with a semi-automatic assault-style rifle and three handguns, shooting many of his victims at close range.
Defense attorney Judy Clarke admitted at trial that Bowers was the shooter, but asked the jurors to “scrutinize his intent” in the attack.
This undated Pennsylvania Department of Transportation photo shows Robert Bowers.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation via AP, FILE
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