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Boston Marathon bombing suspect will go to trial on November 3rd

Boston Marathon bombing suspect will go to trial on November 3rd

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cropped FBI mugshot
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cropped FBI mugshot

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will head to trial on November 3rd, according to NBC News. The United States government is pursuing the death penalty in its case against Tsarnaev, who is accused of helping to orchestrate an attack that shook the nation last April. Three people were killed in the blasts that targeted marathon onlookers; more than 260 others were wounded. The planned trial date is much sooner than Tsarnaev's defense team would have liked. His lawyers originally requested that Tsarnaev's day in court arrive no earlier than September 2015, but Judge George A. O’Toole sided in favor of the government's fall time frame.

Prosecutors allege that Dzhokhar and older brother Tamerlan planted two homemade pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the popular Boston Marathon. They are also accused of murdering an MIT police officer during an attempt to flea the area. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was later killed in a shootout with police; Dzhokhar escaped that confrontation but was eventually captured after a local resident realized the suspect was hiding in a boat in his backyard. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has since pled not guilty to 30 federal counts including using weapons of mass destruction.