BOSTON –Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been found guilty of multiple charges in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing.

Tsarnaev, 21, was first  found guilty of count one: conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, resulting in the deaths of Krystal Campbell, Lingzi Lu, Martin Richard and MIT campus officer Sean Collier.  That guilty verdict alone makes Tsarnaev eligible for the death penalty. 

The verdicts were returned after over 11 hours of deliberations over two days. Tsarnaev faced 30 charges in all. 

Prosecutors and defense attorneys made their closing arguments Monday, and the jury began deliberating Tsarnaev’s guilt or innocence beginning Tuesday morning.

Twin blasts near the finish line of the April 2013 marathon killed three people, including eight-year-old Martin Richard, and injured some 260 others.

“The defendant brought terrorism to backyards and main streets,” prosecutor Aloke Chakravarty told the court, arguing that Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, “felt they were soldiers” who were “bringing their battle to Boston.”

Meanwhile, defense attorney Judy Clark said that although there was no denying her client had “fully participated,” she maintained that “if not for Tamerlan it wouldn’t have happened.” 

Tsarnaev stands accused of 30 counts related to the bombing as well as the murder of a police officer days after the blasts. Although Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty, his attorney admitted from the start that the 21-year-old suspect and Tamerlan were responsible for the death and destruction.  However, the defense argued that Dzhokhar was only acting under the influence of Tamerlan, whom they painted as the violent extremist.

A later sentencing hearing by the same jury could hand down capital punishment in any of the convictions that are eligible for the death penalty.

(Source: ABC Air Power)