`It was him`, admit Boston bomber’s lawyers

Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went on trial Wednesday, with prosecutors saying he used a backpack to plant a bomb designed to “tear people apart and create a bloody spectacle” and defence lawyers admitting he carried out the attack.

His life on the line, a shaggy-haired Tsarnaev, 21, stared straight ahead as prosecutor William Weinreb launched into his opening statement in the most closely watched terrorism trial in the U.S. since the Oklahoma City bombing more than 20 years ago.

Prosecutors tried to show in their opening arguments that they have enough evidence to prove their case, CBC’s Paul Hunter reported from court.

“They have all kinds of evidence. They have video of Dzhokhar dropping his backpack behind the eight-year-old that was killed,” Hunter said. “He makes a phone call to his brother and then all the heads snap left, you assume upon seeing the first explosion down the street.”The defence said they won’t sidestep his guilt, calling the attack senseless, although Tsarnaev has entered a plea of not guilty. The prevailing theory among legal analysts is that this trial will be about whether Tsarnaev lives or dies, as 17 of the 30 charges laid against him carry the possibility of the death penalty.

“It was him. So why are we here? Where we differ is, Why? How did we get from this to this?” Clark asked, holding up a photograph of Tsarnaev as a happy teenager, followed by one of him and his brother Tamerlan at the time of the attack. Older brother Tamerlan died in a shootout with police days after the bombings.”The evidence will not establish and we will not argue that Tamerlan put a gun to Dzhokhar’s head or that he forced him to join in the plan,” Clarke said. “But you will hear evidence about the kind of influence that this older brother had.”

Three people were killed and more than 260 hurt when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the marathon’s finish line seconds apart on April 15, 2013.