Marathon Bombing: Impact Statements from Victims, Including Jeff Bauman’s Aunt

The circus of sentencing day for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

by Cheryl Dean

On June 24, 2015, Dzhokhar (Jahar) Tsarnaev was formally sentenced to death by Judge George O’Toole. This was over a month after the trial had ended – perhaps O’Toole needed this time to plan out the elaborate theatrics of this big show.

It took a full day in a packed courtroom. I can’t imagine how this 21-year-old, with not even one family member present, endured the #bostonstrong rhetoric [BS] and the barrage of false patriot pride and hatred spewed at him — along with a death sentence.

There was a long list of victims who were happy to have their day in court, to let the defendant know exactly what they thought of him and to recount their suffering and their opinions.  Some presented, in writing, virtually their life story.

(Note: some of these victims had never been heard from until that day! Strangely, the media had never listed their names.)

Let me show excerpts from 12 persons, and then Jeff Bauman’s aunt. It all appears in Court transcripts, document # 1634 (linked below). These items were submitted after the trial was over, and are related only to the sentencing. Additional victims who didn’t attend Court on June 24^th wrote statements to the judge be kept on the record.

Frankly, I suspect the Prosecution scripted all, or some, of these stories. Ordinary people are very unlikely to be the authors of such statements.

Excerpts  

Patricia Campbell [mother of deceased Krystal Campbell]:

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the jury for what they did. I’m very pleased.”

Mr. Campbell [father of Krystal Campbell]:

“I want to thank you, Your Honor. Thank you very much and the jury as well, for doing such a great job. I’m very pleased to see that at least he won’t hurt anyone else.”

Karen McWatters [friend of Krystal Campbell and an amputee herself]:

“I’d like to start by thanking the prosecution team for the thorough case you presented; it has really shown your dedication to justice. Islamic terrorists came targeting innocent people. They came to destroy and kill people. You [Dzhokhar] will never see your family again. Your friends abandoned you and you will die alone in prison”. [Indeed, his family was prevented from attending the trial, and his friends were all imprisoned, deported, or killed by the FBI. Right.]

Jennifer Rogers [sister of deceased Officer Sean Collier]:

“He ran his own brother over with a car. He was willing to do that, so it’s no wonder he had no issue shooting mine in the head. He is a leech who spit in the face of the American dream.”

Bill Richard [father of deceased Martin Richard]:

“His attorneys began the trial by telling us what we already knew, that he was guilty. He could have stopped his brother, but he chose to do nothing. He chose hate. This is all on him.”

Dic Donohue [cop who was shot by his fellow officers in Watertown]:

“His [Jahar’s] attacks and actions are no less than treason against the United States of America. [No doubt there is a heap of treason in the whole Marathon extravaganza.]

Marc Fucarile meets protestor outside Court

Ed Fucarile [father of Marc Fucarile, amputee]:

“The first time I saw you in this courtroom, you were smirking at all the victims of your unspeakable, cowardly acts. You don’t seem to be smirking today.” [This was particularly cruel as it was known that Dzhokhar had a severe facial injury and was not ‘smirking’.] “Your sentence today should be as severe as possible.”

Jeanne-Marie Parker [was safe inside the Forum restaurant.}

“I may not look wounded to you, but I am. You don’t see my wounds because they are invisible to the eye. I watched your aunt [from Russia] walk to the stand and while she showed no obvious signs of physical trauma either, she couldn’t utter a word because she was hysterically crying.

“I saw you wipe your tears away, knowing that you were the cause of her pain. She may not have suffered a physical injury by your hands, like we did, but you obviously caused her severe emotional trauma. While you wait in prison for your impending death, your aunt will carry the emotional pain. Long after you are gone, your aunt will continue to carry that pain with her for the rest of her life. It’s like a cancer you created that spread so rampantly”.

Rebekah Gregory [amputee]:

“While your intention was to destroy America, what you have really accomplished is quite the opposite, you’ve unified us. We are Boston Strong! Choosing to mess with us was a terrible idea. How’s that for your victim impact statement!”

Meagan Zipin [she was past the finish line, not in danger; now she’s a victim with PTSD, insomnia, panic attacks, nightmares, hearing loss etc.]:

“Today I’ll go home to my husband, my comfortable bed. I’ll eat pizza and go to yoga, and the defendant, he’ll go back to his cell from now until forever. He’s the one who’s dead and I’m the one who’s alive.”

Joanna Hantel [says she was a runner, but I have my doubts. Was on the street about 10 feet from Bomb One, now claims to have lifelong injuries.]

“I’m sorry for you Mr. Tsarnaev. Good will always conquer evil. I want to say thank you to the Court and the US attorney’s office and the jury. God bless the city of Boston and the United States of America. I’ve been reassured our legal system works. I’m so very proud to be an American”.

[After reading what she says — maybe she did suffer some kind of brain injury?]

One more example — to show how far “victimhood” can be stretched. This person, Jennifer Joyce-Maybury is the aunt of Jeff Bauman. She wasn’t at the finish line; she was at the zoo:

Jeff Bauman and the cowboy hat man, Carlos Arredondo

“I will never forget April 15, 2013, when this horrible and unthinkable act happened. I was enjoying the day at the zoo with my 6-yr-old son. I had to watch Jeffrey go through countless operations and endless therapy sessions. I was so overwhelmed with what happened to my nephew and the journey to recover he would need to take. That day changed the course of an entire family. For the first time in my life I was taking anxiety and sleeping pills so I could find relief from the nightmares that haunted me. The fear and anxiety never leaves you. It bubbles right under the surface waiting, always waiting, looking over your shoulder, feeling uneasy in large gatherings. I am unable to fully talk or express what happened to my nephew, it provokes such pain”.

(And remember the amputees got $2 million each from the fund dispensed by Kenneth Feinberg as well as donations from citizens. Bauman’s website boasts that he raised an additional $800,000.)

After all of the very lengthy victim statements, Carmen Ortiz’a assistant prosecutor Weinreb spoke:

“Despite the barbaric nature of the defendant’s crimes, his treatment has been civilized and humane. [Excuse me, that’s a lie.] He received a public trial [That’s a lie.] before a fair and impartial jury. [Another lie]. He was assisted by lawyers of his choice.” [What a horrible lie!]

Weinreb ended with:

“The trial of this case was a quintessential example of American justice, and so was the jury’s verdict” [This is so sadly true.]

This is what Judy Clarke had to say:

“The government has identified Indiana as the state that the court should identify in the judgment where the execution will take place. 3956 provides “if the law does not provide for implementation of a death sentence, the Court shall — the Court, not the government or the Bureau of Prisons — shall designate another state, the law of which does provide for the implementation of death”.

Judy wanted New Hampshire to be the state where Dzhokhar would be incarcerated and put to death. She said:

“I read one of the reasons in Sampson (where execution was moved to New Hampshire) was because the people most affected need to have access to the execution and that it is not just a bureaucratic administrative act, but a very solemn, profound act by our government”. (Imagine a 21-year old having to listen to that. Now imagine an innocent 21-year-old having to listen to that.)

 In the middle, a bearded Dzokhar Tsarnaev. On the left Miriam Conrad and in back Timothy Watkins.  On the right, Judy Clarke, David Bruck, and in back Bill Fick.

O’Toole replied:

“I think the gov. suggestion is an acceptable one. Indiana is the location of the institution Terre Haute, which is the federal Death Row and I think that makes an appropriate default position. I will accept the gov. recommendation on that.” [As usual!]

This entire transcript is very hard to read. It is disturbing in so many ways. Was it scripted “wholesale” by the Prosecution?

The prejudice in this document is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Not a single thing about this trial and its participants had been normal. The right of victims to make a statement is something provided by law and these persons may not be aware of the deceitfulness of both the prosecution and the defense. I now recognize this to be a show trial with a patsy getting convicted.

I’ve learned over the course of this case that the US government, the Department of “Justice,” the FBI, CIA — and probably other law-breaking agencies — have no regard for the sanctity of life. It means nothing to them. See how they routinely drone, shoot, bomb, incarcerate, and kill innocent people every single day all over the world including in their own country, without batting an eyelash.

Is American justice nothing more than the evil and self-gratifying act of those committing political murder? Such blind vengeance and indifference of a nation on its way to ruin makes you think of the Roman Empire.

Here is the link to the court transcript of the day of Jahar Tsarnaev’s sentencing. It includes the victim impact statements.

— Cheryl Dean has written on many aspects of the court case and prison conditions of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.