In this courtroom sketch, William Campbell, Jr., father of Boston Marathon bombing victim Krystle Campbell, is depicted on the witness stand during the first day of the penalty phase in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tuesday, April 21, 2015, in federal court in Boston. Krystle Campbell was one of three who died after two bombs went off near the marathon finish line in 2013. (Jane Flavell Collins via AP)
Family members of Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, trying to keep him from death row, said he was a kind and caring young man who once cried while watching “The Lion King.”
His sobbing aunt briefly took the stand to tell jurors about his fawning relationship with his radicalized older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
“Dzhokhar loved his older brother very much,” the aunt, Patimat Suleimanova, said through tears. “You always listen to your older sibling and follow his example.”
Tamerlan died days after the bombings after a shootout with cops.
For the first time during the trial, Tsarnaev, 21, got choked up and wiped away tears as his mother’s sister wailed away on the witness stand. She was forced to leave the stand to compose herself.
Did he also cry before, during, or after killing three and injuring 264 others with a pair of homemade bombs set to detonate among the runners and audience members of the Boston Marathon?
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