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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was formally sentenced to death in Boston.

The Boston Marathon bomber has apologized to his victims in a federal court hearing: “I am sorry for the lives I have taken, for the suffering that I have caused you.”

On June 24, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, remained impassive as victims lined up in court to condemn his “cowardly” actions.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan killed three and injured 264 when they bombed the finish line of the marathon in 2013.

A police officer was killed during the hunt for the Tsarnaev brothers.Boston Marathon bombing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died and Dzhokhar was sentenced to death last month but he was formally sentenced by the judge on June 24.

In his first statements since the start of the trial, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said he listened to all the victims’ testimony and noted survivors’ strength, patience and dignity.

He thanked Allah and his lawyers.

Speaking outside the court following the sentencing, victim Lynne Julian said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s apology was hollow and insincere and that her sense of security is forever changed.

“I regret ever wanting to hear him speak,” she said.

“He showed no remorse.”

Before Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spoke in court, several of the injured and bereaved used what was the first opportunity for them to make public their feelings.

Ed Fucarile, the father of Marc, who lost his right leg, said: “The first time I saw you in this courtroom, you were smirking at all the victims for your unspeakable cowardly act. You don’t seem to be smirking today.”

Bill Richard, father of 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest victim, said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could have stopped his brother on the morning of the attack.

“He chose hate. He chose destruction. He chose death. This is all on him.”

Seventeen people who lost legs in the attack were present in court. Many said they feared they were going to die.

It could be years until Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s legal process is finished. Death penalty sentences in the US often take years to carry out, and there will be an appeal.

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osAzamat Tazhayakov, has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail for obstructing police after Boston Marathon bombings.

Azamat Tazhayakov, a Kazakh exchange student, tearfully apologized on June 5 for removing a backpack containing fireworks from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s room.

He denounced the Boston bomber’s actions, which killed three and injured 264 at the finishing line of the marathon in 2013.

In 2014, Azamat Tazhayakov was convicted of obstruction of justices.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s three friends went into his dormitory to collect the evidence, a backpack and a laptop.Azamat Tazhayakov jailed for Boston bombing cover up

One of them, Dias Kadyrbayev, took the lead in removing the items, texting with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as he did so, while the two other friends, including Azamat Tazhayakov and American Robel Phillipos, stood by and assisted, according to reports from the Boston Globe.

Dias Kadyrbayev pleaded guilty in 2014 to removing the backpack from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s room and was sentenced on June 2 to six years in prison.

Judge Douglas Woodlock said: “There is no question that this was a very serious offence, the failure to act properly when confronted with the devastating event.”

Azamat Tazhayakov said the decision to bomb the Boston marathon “made him sick”. His father wept as he apologized.

Robel Phillipos was sentenced to three years in prison on June 5 for lying to investigators.

The three friends all attended the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Judge Douglas Woodlock said he thought Dias Kadrybayev was “most culpable” of the three friends.

The authorities are not claiming that Robel Phillipos, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev were aware of the Boston Marathon bombing before it happened.

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s friend, Dias Kadyrbayev, has been sentenced to six years in jail for obstructing the investigation into Boston Marathon bombing attacks.

Dias Kadyrbayev, who pleaded guilty in 2014, apologized before being sentenced, and said he was ashamed.

He had removed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s backpack, containing emptied fireworks, from their student accommodation, hours after police appealed for information.Dias Kadyrbayev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Three people were killed and 260 injured in the bombings.

Dias Kadyrbayev, who is a Kazakhstan native, had been seeking a lighter sentence as part of his plea.

Prosecutors had said they would ask for no more than seven years in a federal prison for Dias Kadyrbayev, who was 20 when he pleaded guilty.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s backpack and his laptop were removed from a dormitory room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, hours after the FBI released photographs of the bombing suspects.

Later, the items were found in a Massachusetts landfill.

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Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cried in court as his sobbing aunt briefly took the stand on May 4 in his federal death penalty trial before she was asked to step down to compose herself.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, wiped tears from his eyes quickly and fidgeted in his chair as his mother’s sister Patimat Suleimanova sobbed uncontrollably.

He had maintained a disinterested expression since his trial began in January.

Patimat Suleimanova cried as she sat down about 10ft from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The tears began falling before she began to testify, and she was only able to answer questions about her name, her year of birth and where she was born.

After a few minutes, Judge George O’Toole Jr. suggested that the defense call a different witness so Patimat Suleimanova could compose herself. As she left the witness stand, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev used a tissue to wipe his eyes and nose.

Five relatives of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – three cousins and two aunts – took the stand, though it was unclear if the aunt who broke down would be allowed to complete her testimony.

As Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was led out of the courtroom before the lunch recess, he blew a kiss at family members.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial 2015

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted last month of 30 federal charges in the bombings, including 17 that carry the possibility of the death penalty.

He moved to the US with his family in 2002 and committed the bombings when he was 19.

Prosecutors say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was an equal partner in the bombings with his radicalized older brother, Tamerlan, and have urged the jury to sentence him to death.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers say Tamerlan, 26, was the mastermind of the attack and lured his brother into his plan.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died days after the bombings following a shootout with police.

A cousin testified on May 4 that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a kind and warm child, so gentle that he once cried while watching The Lion King.

“I think that his kindness made everybody around him kind,” Raisat Suleimanova said through a Russian translator.

Assistant US Attorney William Weinreb pounced, asking Raisat Suleimanova if she believes a deadly attack on innocent civilians can be considered kind.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyer objected, and Raisat Suleimanova was not allowed to answer the question.

Shakhruzat Suleimanova, another sister of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s mother, Zubeidat, testified that Dzhokhar, Tamerlan and their two sisters were well-behaved as children.

“They were so good. They wouldn’t hurt a fly. My sister’s children were such good children,” she said.

Shakhruzat Suleimanova said the family was crushed when Zubeidat Tsarnaeva moved to the US with her husband and children.

Five or six years later, when Zubeidat Tsarnaeva returned to Russia for a visit, the family was shocked to see her sister – always a fashionable dresser – covered in black clothing and wearing a jihab.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers have argued that he was influenced by his brother and his mother, who had become radicalized in the years before the bombings.

“We were all shocked. We were all in pain. We were very scared,” Shakhruzat Suleimanova said.

“We had never had people like that in our family. We prayed, we fasted, but no people like that.”

Prosecutors urged the judge last week to press Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers to make sure his relatives testify soon because 16 FBI agents have been assigned to guard and protect them while they are in the United States. The family members arrived in Boston on April 23.

“It’s an enormous expense and distraction for the agency, and that’s just part of the expense that the government has endured,” William Weinreb said during a sidebar discussion in court with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers and the judge, according to a transcript that was made public.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of bombing Boston Marathon in April 2013, has been found guilty of all 30 charges that he faced, many of which carry the death penalty.

The jury in Massachusetts will now decide what sentence Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, will receive.

Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when the bombs exploded at the finish line in April 2013.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers admitted he played a role in the attacks but said his older brother was the driving force.

The guilty conviction was widely expected. In the next phase of the trial, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s legal team will push for him to be given a life-in-prison sentence instead of death.

His chief lawyer, Judy Clarke, specializes in defending high-profile clients facing the death penalty, including the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

Although Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team had repeatedly appealed for a change of venue, Boston is not known for its support of capital punishment.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev verdict

Massachusetts abolished the practice in 1984 and has not executed anyone since 1947. But Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted of federal, not state crimes.

A police officer was killed in the days following the attack as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, who also died, attempted to flee.

As the guilty verdicts were read on April 8, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev kept his hands folded in front of him and looked down.

Nearby, the mother of one victim, 8-year-old Martin Richard, wiped tears from her face after the verdict was read. Martin Richard’s father embraced one of the prosecutors.

The governor of Massachusetts welcomed the verdict, and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said: “I hope today’s verdict provides a small amount of closure.”

The family of Officer Sean Collier, who was killed days after the attack, said: “While today’s verdict can never bring Sean back, we are thankful that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be held accountable for the evil that he brought to so many families.”

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team say he took part in the bombing, but argue that his elder brother, Tamerlan, was the mastermind of the attack who influenced Dzhokhar into participating.

Prosecutors portrayed the brothers as equal partners in a plan to “punish America” for wars in Muslim countries.

Among the most damning evidence was a video that showed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev placing a backpack bomb near to Martin Richard, and a statement scrawled inside the boat where he was found hiding days after the attack.

“Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop,” Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote, as he lay wounded and bleeding inside the dry-docked boat in suburban garden.

The jury was also shown a surveillance video of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev casually purchasing milk at a nearby supermarket less than 30 minutes after the bombs wreaked carnage at the finish line.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is an ethnic Chechen. His family moved to the US about a decade before the bombings.

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