NEWS Student groups host weeklong activities to address conflicts in the Middle East. pg. 2
INBIZ Boston-based tech firm Thync recently peeled away the shroud from the proprietary research behind its killer app. Why don’t more companies follow suit? pg. 5
SPORTS Like Bach-work: Freshman Victoria Bach tries to help BU win its fourth straight Hockey East Championship pg. 12
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THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLIV. VOLUME LXXXVIII. ISSUE VII.
Testimony begins in case of Boston Marathon bombing suspect BY FELICIA GANS AND SAMANTHA GROSS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
In a trial that could cost him his life, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sat in Courtroom 9 in the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in a beige shirt and dark suit jacket Wednesday, observing silently as his defense team and the prosecution delivered opening statements and began formal witness questioning. The 2z-year-old former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth student, along with his 26-year-old deceased brother Tamerlan, is accused of placing two bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15, 2013, killing three people and injuring more than 260. Following the marathon, a four-day search led police to Watertown, where Tsarnaev, in the midst of a police chase, ran over his older brother with a car and was later found hiding in a boat. After 24 days of jury selection, the jury took oath at 9:34 a.m., and the trial was officially underway by 9:36 a.m. Tsarnaev has been charged with 30 federal counts — all of which he has pled not guilty to — for the events that occurred at the marathon and in the four days following the bombing. The counts include those of conspiracy, use of weapons of mass ILLUSTRATION BY REBECCA NESS/DAILY FREE PRESS CONTRIBUTOR destruction, property destruction, A courtroom sketch depicts Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev attending opening possession and use of firearms, statements at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse Wednesday. carjacking, robbery and the deaths of Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old Weinreb described the weap- threw several pipe bombs and a Marathon bombing and the events from Medford, Martin Richard, an ons used — homemade bombs pressure cooker bomb at officers, that followed as “senseless, horri8-year-old from Dorchester, Lingzi crafted from pressure cookers — all of which missed them narrowly, bly misguided acts carried out by Lu, a 23-year-old Boston University as a weapon designed to harm. The Weinreb said. two brothers.” graduate student from China and bomb was filled with thousands As the elder Tsarnaev attemptClarke plainly told the jury: Sean Collier, a Massachusetts Inof nails, tacks and BBs in order to ed to kill the officers trying to re- “It was him.” stitute of Technology police officer “shred flesh, shatter bone, set vic- strain him, Dzhokhar slammed on Clarke told a different story who was fatally shot in Watertown tims on fire and disfigure.” Tsar- the gas pedal of his vehicle, riding of the relationship between the several days after the bombings. naev planted the bomb behind a “right over his brother and [drag- defendant and his older brother. In the courtroom, prosecutors row of children when no one was ging] his body about 50 feet down She described Dzhokhar as deprovided a detailed account of the looking and then proceeded to the street.” Weinreb confirmed in spondent, struggling in school and bombings, disclosing previously walk briskly away. the courtroom Wednesday that Ta- looking to his brother for support. unknown information about the “He pretended to be a spec- merlan’s death was, in fact, due to Tamerlan, Clarke said, planned the events leading up to the explosion tator, but he had murder in his the impact of the car, rather than a “horrific acts” and convinced his as well as what followed — Tsarheart,” Weinreb said. police shootout, as had previously brother to join him. naev’s casual trip to Whole Foods In the days following the mar- been announced to the public. The younger Tsarnaev brothfor milk, rendezvous with friends athon, Weinreb told the jury TsarWeinreb put a special empha- er was “drawn into his brother’s at the gym and a tweet that hauntnaev ran from police with his older sis on the fact that the Tsarnaev passion and plan,” Clarke said. ed those in attendance: “I’m a brother, allegedly committing a brothers were “partners in crime,” The defense team concluded stress-free kind of guy.” series of other crimes as they fled, but noted that in the end, the jury its opening statements after 20 Assistant U.S. Attorney Wilincluding the carjacking of Dung does not need to determine which minutes, less than half the time liam Weinreb told jurors graphic Ming, who until Wednesday’s brother played each role, only that taken by the prosecution. Clarke details about the shrapnel that opening statements had only been they worked hand-in-hand and made a request to the jury before drained all the blood from Richknown to the public as “Danny.” “committed the crime together.” leaving the stand: “Hold your quesard’s four-foot frame, ripped Lu’s On April 19, the brothers When defense attorney Judy tions throughout the trial … intestines from her body and left were confronted by police in Wa- Clarke took the stand, she opened open your hearts and your Campbell full of gaping holes. tertown. The younger Tsarnaev by describing the 2013 Boston minds to thinking about the
evidence all the way.” After a brief mid-morning break, the first witness, Thomas Grilk, Boston Athletic Association executive director, took the stand. His testimony provided the basis for understanding the logistics of the Boston Marathon. He told the jury about the history, costs and attendance of an average race. When asked to describe the 2013 Boston Marathon, he said briefly, “2013 began as any marathon had.” The second witness called to the stand was Shane O’Hara, the store manager of Marathon Sports, a store near the finish line where Tamerlan Tsarnaev set off the first two bombs. A teary-eyed O’Hara confirmed his presence in surveillance videos of the bombing, where he is shown rushing to use merchandise in the store to help stop victims’ bleeding. “Things that haunt me was making decisions,” O’Hara said. “Who needed help first? Who is more injured than the other? It was like anything you see in the movies that I never thought I would see in real life.” The third witness was Colton Kilgore, a self-employed auto detailer from North Carolina who was at the 2013 Boston Marathon to watch his mother-in-law finish the race. At the time of the explosion, Kilgore and his family were at the finish line. He had a camera around his neck and when he understood the reality of it all, he pressed the record button. The high-definition videos were presented as evidence and shocked jurors with graphic details — a first-person narrative of the screaming, bleeding and terrorized people around him. Some were his friends. Some were family. The fourth witness called to the stand was Colton Kilgore’s brother-in-law’s wife — Rebekah Gregory, of Texas. “I remember being thrown back. I remember trying to get up, and I couldn’t. I was looking all around to figure out what was going on. I looked down, and I couldn’t see my leg,” said Gregory, who lost her left leg in the explosion. “My bones were literally laying next to me on the sidewalk. At that point, I felt like that was the day I would die.” Gregory was with her 5-yearold son, Noah, when the bombs detonated. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Cuba Alternative Spring Break offered to students for the first time BY AMANDA BURKE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
After three years of planning and preparation, 13 Boston University students will travel to Havana, Cuba on Sunday for a five-day Alternative Spring Break, arranged by the university’s Latin American Studies
program. This trip, which will incorporate education with sightseeing, is BU’s first ASB trip to Cuba. U.S. President Barack Obama announced in a Dec. 17, 2014 White House statement intentions to reevaluate the United States’ foreign policy with Cuba. Relaxing travel restric-
tions implemented in past administrations is one of Obama’s goals, the release stated. “Cuba is changing. Havana is changing. It’s a time that students can capture that change,” said Linda Heywood, ASB’s head coordinator and a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, who will accom-
pany the 13 students on the trip. Students will earn one credit for the course called Experiencing Cuba: History, Politics and Culture at the University of Havana, Heywood said. They will also get the opportunity to explore the museums and historical sites in Cuba’s capital city.
“[This is the] first step ... to formalizing and strengthening cross-cultural ties, especially at the level of university exchange,” she said. John Thornton, a professor and director of the African American CONTINUED ON PAGE 4