Those Who Fought to Keep Boston Marathon Bomber Alive

The Boston Marathon Bombing on April 15, 2013, and the nearly week-long search for those responsible shook Massachusetts and the nation to the core.

Three people died and 281 others were injured when explosives detonated by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev rocked the finish line of the 117th running of the Boston Marathon.

In the days that followed the bombing, determined to be a domestic terror attack, three others died violently, including Tamerlan Tsarnaev and two law enforcement officers.

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A Watertown resident discovered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in a boat in his backyard. Police took Tsarnaev into custody on the evening of April 19, 2013. Tsarnaev was shot and wounded by police during the arrest.

The New York Times reported Tsarnaev admitted he and his brother were "self-radicalized" and the bombing was a reaction to U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He claimed the pair learned how to make the bombs from the online magazine of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spent time in New Bedford while attending UMass Dartmouth. Three of Tsarnaev's New Bedford housemates faced lesser charges of covering for Tsarnaev.

Tsarnaev was found guilty in 2015 of 30 charges including the use of a weapon of mass destruction and was sentenced to death. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed Tsarnaev's death sentence in 2020 but the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it two years later.

Bill and Denise Richard of Dorchester, Massachusetts lost their eight-year-old son Martin in the Boston Marathon Bombing. The couple's six-year-old daughter Jane lost a leg in the explosion. Denise was blinded in one eye.

The Richards opposed the death penalty for Tsarnaev.

The Guardian reported, "The Richards used a front-page editorial in the Boston Globe to beg the government to abandon its push for execution, in part because the endless appeals that would likely ensue would give them and other victims little chance for closure."

The Catholic Currier reported, "Reaction was mixed to the May 15 jury sentencing of death for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing."

In a statement, the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty wrote, "Catholic Mobilizing Network prays for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, their families, and all those whose lives have been touched by violence."

However, the statement said, "We believe in the dignity of all human life. Our faith calls us to be hopeful for the salvation of all."

Tsarnaev is currently held on death row at a federal supermax facility in Colorado.