News

Globe poll: No death penalty for suspected Marathon bomber

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) – A poll by the Boston Globe says a majority of people in and around Boston do not want suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to receive the death penalty, if he's convicted.

Authorities allege that Tsarnaev, 20, and his brother Tamerlan, 26, ethnic Chechens from Russia, planned and carried out twin bombings near the finish of the marathon on April 15. Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a gun battle with police as authorities closed in on the brothers several days after the bombings.

The poll, conducted by the Globe and University of New Hampshire between Sept. 5 and Sept. 12, showed 57 percent of people surveyed favor a potential life in prison sentence for Tsarnaev. Thirty-three percent of respondents said they did favor the death penalty.

The death penalty is illegal in Massachusetts. No one has been executed in the Commonwealth since 1947.

Because Tsarnaev's case is federal, prosecutors can seek the death penalty.