BOSTON, June 27, 2013–Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today joined US Attorney Carmen Ortiz and other local, state, and federal law enforcement officials to announce federal indictments against Dzokhar Tsarnaev in the fatal bombings at the Boston Marathon, the shooting death of an MIT Police officer, and other offenses, delivering the following remarks: 

“First and foremost, I want to extend once again my thoughts and prayers to the families of Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, and Officer Sean Collier, and to the hundreds more whose lives were changed on April 15.

“I also want to extend my most sincere appreciation to the men and women of the Boston Police Department, Boston EMS, and Boston Fire for their bravery and rapid action in the aftermath of the Marathon bombings.  I want to recognize the doctors, nurses, and clinical staff of Boston’s hospitals, and the many civilians at the scene whose efforts saved so many more lives.

“And I want to commend the police, prosecutors, and federal agents assigned to this case for preserving, collecting, and marshaling the evidence that brought us to this point.  I was at the scene that day, first as a spectator at the Marathon and later to take control of a multiple homicide investigation.  I saw first-hand just how complex a scene it was, and how massive an undertaking it was to build this case.  And over the course of the past two months, the Suffolk prosecutors assigned to our end of the investigation have briefed me on the extensive progress they’ve made in reaching this point.

“Given the facts, the circumstances, and the various statutes available at the state and federal level, the most appropriate venue for Dzokhar Tsarnaev’s trial is a federal court.  This is analogous to the Oklahoma City bombing 18 years ago.  Timothy McVeigh’s federal conviction, and the punishment he received, made any potential state prosecution purely symbolic.  In the absence of some major change to the current posture of this case, state-level indictments for the crimes in Boston would only drag out a process that will already be grueling for the victims, their families, and our city.

“Unlike District Attorney Ryan’s case, which alleges a homicide separate and apart from the Boston bombings, there is almost 100% overlap between a potential Suffolk County case and today’s federal indictments.  The US Attorney and I agree – the most effective avenue for holding this defendant accountable for the lives he took in our city is a federal prosecution under federal statutes.

“Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s justice will come in the next world.  But for his brother, the road to accountability begins here.  Thank you.”