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A federal grand jury on Thursday returned a 30-count indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his alleged role in using weapons of mass destruction at the Boston Marathon to kill three individuals and maim or seriously injure many others, as well as for using a firearm to intentionally kill Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Police officer Sean Collier, the U.S. Justice Department said.
The Justice Department announced in a statement that the 19- year-old Tsarnaev was indicted with the use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and conspiracy, bombing of a place of public use resulting in death and conspiracy and other charges.
"This indictment is the result of exemplary cooperation between federal prosecutors and a wide range of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to investigate the horrific attacks on the Boston Marathon two months ago," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "The Department is firmly committed to achieving justice on behalf of all who were affected by these senseless acts of violence."
The indictment alleges that beginning no later than February 2013 and continuing until Tsarnaev was apprehended on April 19, 2013, Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan conspired to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against people, property and places of public use.
Specifically, the indictment alleges that on April 15, 2013, during the 117th running of the Boston Marathon, Tsarnaev and his brother placed IEDs among the crowds of spectators near the marathon finish line. After placing the IEDs among the crowd, the indictment alleges, Tsarnaev and his brother detonated the bombs seconds apart, killing three people, maiming and injuring many more. The indictment alleges that the IEDs were constructed from pressure cookers, explosive powder, shrapnel, adhesives and other items, and were designed to shred skin, shatter bone and cause extreme pain and suffering, as well as death.
The indictment also alleges that on April 18, 2013, the FBI released photographs of Tsarnaev and his brother, identifying them as suspects in the marathon bombings. Hours later, Tsarnaev and his brother, armed with five IEDs, a Ruger P95 semiautomatic handgun, ammunition, a machete and a hunting knife, drove to the MIT campus, where they shot MIT Police officer Collier and attempted to steal his service weapon.
The indictment further alleges that shortly after Tsarnaev and his brother killed Collier, they carjacked a civilian vehicle, kidnaped the driver, and forced him to drive to a gas station, robbing him of 800 dollars along the way. After the driver managed to escape, the brothers engaged in a firefight with police officers and used four additional IEDs against them. Tsarnaev drove the carjacked vehicle at the officers, running over his brother as he managed to escape. Tsarnaev is alleged to have hidden in a dry-docked boat in a Watertown backyard until his arrest the following night.
Seventeen of the charges authorize a penalty of up to life in prison or the death penalty. The remainder authorize a maximum penalty of life in prison or a fixed term of years. Tsarnaev is scheduled to be arraigned on July 10, 2013.
