The man accused of fatally shooting 11 Jewish worshipers and wounding several others at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 has been found guilty on all counts by a jury after four weeks of testimony.
Robert Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, was charged with 63 federal counts, including 11 counts of a hate crime that resulted in death.
Jurors began deliberating on the charges at mid-afternoon Thursday and resumed that process Friday morning. They notified U.S. District Judge Robert Colville around 11:20 a.m. Friday that they had reached a verdict, which they began to deliver at 11:55 a.m.
Bowers' sentence will not be determined immediately. He previously attempted to plead guilty to the charges in exchange for a sentence of life in prison, however, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
The verdict represents the conclusion of the first phase of Bowers' trial in U.S. District Court. A second will take place to determine whether he will, indeed, receive the death penalty.
Tree of Life Congregation Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, an attack survivor, said he was “grateful to God for getting us to this day. And I am thankful for the law enforcement who ran into danger to rescue me, and the U.S. Attorney who stood up in court to defend my right to pray.”
The victims killed by Bowers included Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, brothers Cecil Rosenthal and David Rosenthal, husband and wife Sylvan and Bernice Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger.
They belonged to three congregations that worshipped at the Tree of Life synagogue: Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation and Tree of Life / Or L'Simcha.
The attack, in which six worshipers and police officers also were shot and wounded, is believed to represent the deadliest antisemitic assault in U.S. history.
Throughout the month-long trial, the prosecution included testimony from worshippers, rabbis and religious leaders, and Pittsburgh Police. Many victims recalled harrowing moments of hiding from Bowers — who police confirmed as the gunman in the courtroom.
Prosecutors offered social media posts accessed and posted by Bowers, including many with explicitly anti-Jewish sentiments and slurs. The FBI also confirmed that a white-power gesture was found on Bowers' phone.
The trial was often emotional, with victims having to recall the worst day of their lives, or hear taped 911 calls with their desperate pleas.
“My hope is that today provides some level of comfort and helps to ease the pain, even if ever so slightly,” for survivors and victims’ families, Tree of Life Congregation CEO Carole Zawatsky said Friday after the verdict.
“May their memories always be a blessing," she added. "Let us, this day, reaffirm our resolve to bring light into our world and keep the memory of each of the victims in our hearts as we do the work of Tikkun HaOlam, repairing our broken world.”
In a statement, members of the New Light Congregation noted that only the first phase of the trial has been completed and that the second phase to determine Bowers' sentence lies ahead.
"During this phase, there were no claims of innocence or mistaken identity. Eyewitnesses placed [Bowers] and his weapons in the building. He was indiscriminate in his task, shooting both worshippers and police officers. Survivors were forced to relive the day’s trauma; while family members suffered through testimony recalling the final minutes of their loved ones. He came to kill Jews and, if not for the protective equipment worn by the police, might well have killed them, too.
"There can be no forgiveness. Forgiveness requires two components: that it is offered by the person who commits the wrong and is accepted by the person who was wronged. The shooter has not asked — and the dead cannot accept."
Questions on Intent
Before issuing their verdict, jurors asked only one question of the judge during their deliberations: Around 10:45 a.m., Friday, they asked if Bowers had to have known about the presence of his surviving victims in order to be convicted of obstructing the worship of eight people who escaped uninjured from the synagogue, including Martin Gaynor, Joseph Charny, Carol Black, Audrey Glickman, Jonathan Perlman, Stephen Weiss, Barry Werber and Rabbi Myers.
Defense lawyer Michael Burt argued that Bowers did need specific knowledge of a person in order to form the intent to commit homicide, and he maintained that Judge Colville should tell the jury this. In turn, the judge asked the defense whether or not a person had the intent to kill if that person left a bomb in a car without knowing who it would kill.
The defense responded that the hypothetical bomber could be convicted of "some crime," such as homicide, under a "wanton-disregard" standard, but that the bomber couldn't be convicted of attempted murder. Colville expressed skepticism, saying "many would argue" that dropping off a bomb would be "more than reckless," but he cut himself off mid-question from asking more.
Prosecutors argued that they had proven that Bowers had the intent to kill everyone he found in the synagogue, and that included people he didn't know specifically were present. They said the definition of intent required Bowers to only have taken a substantial step — for example, driving to a location with the intent to kill someone, but that person didn't have to be there or could've escaped. That would still show intent to kill, they said.
Colville responded that it would be up to the jury to decide whether the prosecution had proved that Bowers intended to kill everyone he found. A half-hour later, the jury signaled that it had reached its conclusions.
After examining the 27-page verdict slip, Colville noted that the jury initially had written "no" for two of the counts listed on it — indicating that the prosecution hadn't met its burden to prove those charges — but then crossed out the "no" and replaced it with "yes." Those are the same counts that prompted the jury's question earlier in the morning.
Court will not resume until June 26. The lawyers will have an additional week to prepare for the next phase of the trial that will determine whether Bowers receives the death penalty or life in prison. Up until now the expert psychological evaluations of Bowers have been hidden from the opposing side's lawyers but those reports will be made available to both sides on Sunday.
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