A man accused of shooting and killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue was found guilty on Friday.
Robert Bowers, 50, was convicted on all 63 charges and faces the possibility of the death penalty for the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre.
The jury deliberated about five hours, including 2 1/2 hours Friday morning, before returning the verdict.
The 11 killed were Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger.
Prosecutors walked jurors through the entire shooting and showed them crime scene and autopsy photos.
“He shot every person he saw,” lead defense attorney Judy Clarke said in her opening statements, admitting what happened.
Federal public defender Elisa A. Long reminded the jury of that admission in closing arguments Thursday afternoon.
“There is no dispute that on Oct. 27, 2018, Robert Bowers entered the Tree of Life synagogue with an AR-15 … and shot every person he saw,” she told jurors. “In the process, he killed 11 innocent people.”
Bowers’ defense team called no witnesses.
The prosecution had three weeks’ worth of testimony.
“We were filled with terror,” witness Andrea Wedner said, according to The New York Times.
She said she was lying on the temple floor, comforting her 97-year-old mother, who died.
“It’s indescribable,” she said.
A picture of a Jewish prayer book with a bullet hole in it was entered into evidence during the testimony of Jeffrey Myers. He’s the rabbi of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where the shootings occurred.
He said he kept the prayer book, known as a siddur, instead of burying it when damaged, as is custom.
The trial will now move to a separate penalty phase. More evidence will be presented by prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty.
