A jury on Friday found Robert Bowers guilty of dozens of federal hate crimes for the 2018 killing of 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history.
Bowers, 50, now faces the penalty phase of his trial in US District Court in Pittsburgh, where 12 jurors must assess whether he deserves the death penalty.
The jury found him guilty on all counts in what was a foregone conclusion, after defense attorneys failed to dispute that he planned and carried out the attack. Instead, they have focused on avoiding a death sentence in the next phase of the trial, which is set to start on June 26.
At the sentencing phase, prosecutors will try to show that there were aggravating factors, arguing that Bowers carefully planned the attack and chose vulnerable victims, most of whom were elderly.
Bowers’ defense lawyers have argued that a death sentence would violate the Constitution, alleging that he suffers from serious mental illness, including schizophrenia.
All 12 jurors must vote unanimously in order to sentence Bowers to death. Otherwise, she will face life in prison.
