He apologized to the victims and the survivors, which was an odd thing for him to do if he believed that he was serving Allah in his jihad attack. His apology may, of course, have been a ploy to stave off the death sentence.
“Tsarnaev apologizes for Boston Marathon bombing,” by Patricia Wen, Kevin Cullen, Milton J. Valencia, John R. Ellement and Martin Finucane, Boston Globe, June 24, 2015:
An emotional Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev apologized Wednesday at his sentencing hearing for the April 2013 terror attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.
“I would like to apologize to the victims and the survivors,” said Tsarnaev, who was sentenced to death. “I did do it.”
“I am sorry for the lives I have taken, for the suffering I have caused, and for the terrible damage I have done,” he said. He was hunched over and spoke with a slight accent.
It was the first time Tsarnaev’s voice has been heard in federal court in Boston, other than to enter his not-guilty plea. His statement came after hours of heartwrenching testimony from relatives of those killed in the bombing and survivors of the blasts.
“I am Muslim. My religion is Islam. I pray to Allah to bestow his mercy on those affected in the bombing and their families,” he said. “I pray for your healing.”
Marathon bombing survivors and family members of victims attended the sentencing hearing for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
“I ask Allah to have mercy on me, my brother, and my family,” he said in his brief statement to a silent courtroom. Tsarnaev’s brother, his partner in the attack, was killed in a confrontation with police.
Tsarnaev had taken a sharp turn from a partying college student to self-radicalized terrorist bent on striking a blow against the United States.
The two bombs planted by Tsarnaev and his brother on April 15, 2013, exploded near the finish line of a festive, world-renowned athletic event, killing three and injuring more than 260 others, including 17 who lost limbs.
Tsarnaev was also convicted in the slaying of an MIT police officer several days after the bombing and in a violent confrontation with police in Watertown shortly afterwards.
A US District Court jury had already sentenced Tsarnaev to death. US District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. formalized that sentence at the end of the hearing.
“I sentence you to the penalty of death by execution,” O’Toole said….