Nun: Tsarnaev 'sorry' about Boston blast
Sister Helen Prejean testified on Monday
William Thomas Cain/Getty Images
William Thomas Cain/Getty Images
A Roman Catholic nun famous for counseling the condemned on death row took the witness stand in federal court Monday and vouched for a Muslim jihadist facing a possible death sentence.
Sister Helen Prejean was the final defense witness at the death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. She said she believed Tsarnaev was "genuinely sorry" for the pain and suffering he inflicted on his victims.
Prejean is a staunch opponent of the death penalty, but that is not why she testified. Instead, she spoke briefly about five meetings with Tsarnaev since March, when testimony in his trial began. Tsarnaev was convicted of 30 counts, including setting off weapons of mass destruction in a pubic place; 17 counts involve the possibility of the death penalty.
Prejean counsels death-row prisoners, and one of her books was the basis of the 1995 movie "Dead Man Walking." Actress Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for playing the role of the death-row nun.
Prejean said she agreed to meet with Tsarnaev "for the same reason I visit with other people who have done really terrible crimes." Her goal is not to convert the prisoners, but to "accompany them and be with them" and give them some dignity
Prejean first met with Tsarnaev, who is 21, at the request of his defense team as testimony began in March. He is being held under strict security measures at a federal prison outside Boston.
"I walked into the room and I looked at his face, and I remembered thinking, 'Oh my God, he's so young, which he is,' " Prejean said.
In the smooth drawl of her native New Orleans, Prejean told jurors how she studied up on Islam and talked religion with Tsarnaev until they developed a rapport over five meetings. Only then did he reveal his feelings about the three spectators killed by the blasts -- two women and an 8-year-old boy.
"He said it emphatically: 'No one deserves to suffer like they did.' "
She added that she was convinced he was sincere by the "pain in his voice," and the way he "kind of lowered his eyes" when he spoke about his victims.
"I had every reason to think he was taking it in and was genuinely sorry for what he did," Prejean said. "The groundwork and the trust was there. And I knew. I felt it."
She acknowledged under cross-examination that she was a nationally known opponent of the death penalty with no ties to Massachusetts.
But she said she wasn't being paid to testify, "not a dime."
The defense rested after Prejean's testimony.
Sister Helen Prejean was the final defense witness at the death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. She said she believed Tsarnaev was "genuinely sorry" for the pain and suffering he inflicted on his victims.
Prejean is a staunch opponent of the death penalty, but that is not why she testified. Instead, she spoke briefly about five meetings with Tsarnaev since March, when testimony in his trial began. Tsarnaev was convicted of 30 counts, including setting off weapons of mass destruction in a pubic place; 17 counts involve the possibility of the death penalty.
Prejean counsels death-row prisoners, and one of her books was the basis of the 1995 movie "Dead Man Walking." Actress Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for playing the role of the death-row nun.
Prejean said she agreed to meet with Tsarnaev "for the same reason I visit with other people who have done really terrible crimes." Her goal is not to convert the prisoners, but to "accompany them and be with them" and give them some dignity
Prejean first met with Tsarnaev, who is 21, at the request of his defense team as testimony began in March. He is being held under strict security measures at a federal prison outside Boston.
"I walked into the room and I looked at his face, and I remembered thinking, 'Oh my God, he's so young, which he is,' " Prejean said.
In the smooth drawl of her native New Orleans, Prejean told jurors how she studied up on Islam and talked religion with Tsarnaev until they developed a rapport over five meetings. Only then did he reveal his feelings about the three spectators killed by the blasts -- two women and an 8-year-old boy.
"He said it emphatically: 'No one deserves to suffer like they did.' "
She added that she was convinced he was sincere by the "pain in his voice," and the way he "kind of lowered his eyes" when he spoke about his victims.
"I had every reason to think he was taking it in and was genuinely sorry for what he did," Prejean said. "The groundwork and the trust was there. And I knew. I felt it."
She acknowledged under cross-examination that she was a nationally known opponent of the death penalty with no ties to Massachusetts.
But she said she wasn't being paid to testify, "not a dime."
The defense rested after Prejean's testimony.
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