Final phase of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial begins with opening arguments, family testimony
Jurors returned to the courtroom Monday morning as the final phase of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial begins.
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial: Complete Coverage
In the final phase of the trial, family members have the opportunity to speak for the first time about their loss and grief.
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center Director, told Channel 11 it’s likely we will see some repeat witnesses from the defense as they dive deeper into Bowers’ mental health.
The judge anticipates another two to three weeks before the jury makes its final decision on whether Bowers will be sentenced to life in prison or death.
>>> Tree of Life, community react to guilty verdict in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial
Judge gives instructions
The judge gave the jury instructions, telling them there is no parole in federal court, and that they may consider any evidence at any point during the trial.
The aggravating factors for the prosecution include:
Victim impact — he caused impact and injury to the victims and family and friends
Killings motivated by religious hate
Selection of site — he targeted them and impacted most damage
Lack of remorse
Injury to surviving victims — serious physical and emotional injury.
Some of the 112 mitigating factors for the defense include:
Impact of his childhood and upbringing
Increased risk of Bowers committing suicide because his father committed suicide
His only friend died in October 2016 and he became more isolated
He has brain abnormalities
He has schizophrenia
His brain is impacted by epilepsy
If he gets life in prison, it will allow him to one day have redemption and change.
The judge said he will give detailed instructions on how to weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors before they begin to deliberate at the end of the phase.
Prosecution delivers opening statement
Opening statements from the prosecution were given by Nicole Vasquez Schmitt, who told the jurors that Bowers made the decision to kill again and again.
“You found him guilty. You found him eligible for the death penalty. Now it is time to hold him accountable for his decisions,” she said.
Vasquez Schmitt said each of the 11 people Bowers murdered was so much more than a victim.
“They were loved, they were unique and left behind loved ones who’ve had to endure the crushing weight of their loss,” she said.
Bowers caused harm because he hated Jews, in his own words, she said.
The court has talked about the weighing of factors. These are factors that set his crimes apart, she said.
Bowers put so many people in danger of death, Vasquez Schmitt said. He killed 11 and attempted to kill congregants and law enforcement alike.
“These were not victims who could run away or fight back. They were easy prey for the defendant who came armed with rifles and handguns and killed the old and challenged,” she said.
The prosecution will argue that the weight of each of these factors is enormous, she continued.
Vasquez Schmitt named each victim and said the jury will hear more about them. She said jurors will hear more about the impact the shooting had on the survivors.
She said the jurors will also be asked to consider the synagogue as a target and Bowers’ lack of remorse.
“We will ask you to return a verdict of death, a verdict of justice,” she said. “He made his decisions and must be held accountable.”
Defense delivers opening statement
Elisa Long gave the opening statement for the defense.
Long told the jury they will soon be asked to make a decision few people are asked: if a fellow citizen will live or die.
She said the defense is not asking for the jury to excuse Bowers.
“More death is just more death,” she said.
Life in prison is a punishment, she said, you will be holding him accountable.
Long told the jury about Bowers’ life, starting with his birth to a father who had attempted suicide. She painted a picture of an unstable upbringing, at one point describing Bowers as “cold and hungry, fearful and anxious.”
She said that his troubles continued into adulthood, and at 33, he reported he had depression and social anxiety.
“Why does all of this matter? Why does it matter if the time of the offense the person was 46 years old?” she asked. “Chronic exposure to trauma damages and undermines a child’s ability to navigate the world and trust people.”
Long told the jurors Bowers has been locked in a cell for 20 to 24 hours a day for the past four years and while he still maintains beliefs that may be irrational, he has not sought a fan club. He has received letters and not responded to any of them, she continued.
“Keep an open mind and listen to Mr. Bowers’ history and look in your heart and conclude enough is enough,” Long said. “There has already been enough death, and another death will not make things right.”
Shooting survivor, sister of Richard Gottfried takes the stand
Carol Black, sister of Richard Gottfried and a survivor, takes the stand.
Photos of Gottfried were shown in the courtroom.
Gottfried ran the Great Race several times.
He was 15 months younger than Black. They grew up in Uniontown. Gottfried also had a twin sister, Debbie, and an older sister, Bonnie.
Black said faith was very important to her father and grandfather. On the Sabbath, her mother would light candles and the kids would get grape juice.
It was an important ritual to her brother.
They both went to the University of Pittsburgh and often had classes together. Their circle of friends overlapped.
Later, they were Pitt football fans and had season tickets.
Both were members of New Light Congregation.
Gottfried was president for a few years. He was on the religious committee. He started going regularly in 1992.
“He never requested, but it was very clear to me that it would make him happy if I found my way back to Judaism,” Black said.
In 2014, when she started going and sat with him, “He was very pleased,” she said.
The day of the shooting, she said she knew where she was and he was, but she would not let her brain go there until they met with the medical examiner that night.
“I had hoped, I didn’t really know. I wouldn’t let my brain go there,” she said.
Black said Gottfried’s death was a huge loss. She said she heard gunfire for months after the shooting and couldn’t sleep.
“It was a devastating loss to me,” she said.
Richard Gottfried’s wife takes the stand
Peg Durachko, Richard Gottfried’s wife, takes the stand next.
She and Gottfried were married for almost 38 years.
“I called him Rich most of the time, I had pet names but I don’t want to share those with the court,” Durachko said.
The pair met in dental school.
“He was very kind and loving, very generous, really smart. Very innovative, had lots of common sense not just smart. Good looking,” she explained.
In 1984, they opened a dental practice in the North Hills and practiced there up until he was killed.
“He was excellent, patients would drive across state lines just to be in his chair. He had a very gentle touch. I still hear from the patients who miss him still to this day,” Durachko recalled.
The couple volunteered their dental services to Catholic charities and helped at the Squirrel Hill healthcare center with part-time work.
“He loved to play golf, in his younger days he played softball with his friends. He really enjoyed ping pong with his family. His mom was sort of a championship player at Pitt. Every time we went to visit, there was a match,” Durachko remembered.
After 2018, she didn’t want to run the dentist’s office by herself, so she closed the practice.
“Half of me was gone,” she said. “My whole world was turned upside down. He was my whole family, we never had children, he was my whole family and it was wiped out in a second.”
FBI special agent takes the stand
Samantha Bell, an FBI special agent, is the third witness to take the stand.
Bell has worked for the FBI for 17 years and is one of the case agents for the synagogue shooting investigation.
Bell obtained a search warrant for Barbara Bolt, Bowers’ mother, and found an email from Robert to Barbara on May 18, 2018. The subject line was “the chosen ones.”
Another email on May 19, 2018, read, “While they push for the US and Europe to open theirs. What is good for a Jew is not for you.”
Bell looked at Gab posts where he posted another video about his hatred of Jews.
There was another email to his mother on August 26th, 2018, about “South Africa and other kill whitey stuff.”
In the body of an email on September 10, 2018, he included a link to something on Israel TV.
His mother responded on that day “This might be the most horrible video I’ve ever watched.” Bowers responded with another video, saying he could up the ante.
Bell interviewed Bolt on Bowers’ views on Jewish people.
“Robert Bowers started to develop a bias to Jews four to six months before the shooting,” Bell explained.
According to Bell, Bolt told her she talked to Bowers the night before the shooting about a caravan of immigrants.
Sister of Cecil, David Rosenthal takes the stand
Diane Rosenthal, a sister of Cecil and David Rosenthal, takes the stand next.
She said both brothers had fragile X syndrome, which causes emotional and behavioral problems.
Their parents are not able to emotionally and physically able to be at the trial, so Diane and her sister are representing the family.
Her brothers were diagnosed as young children after seeing several physicians. It was important to her parents for the family to grow up in the house together. In the 60s, it was advised to put them in an institution.
“Cecil was always laughing, always smiling with a zest for life,” Diane said. “Cecil wasn’t quite athletic, he was a little bigger, but you’d always see him on the porch with my mom and the other ladies on the street gabbing about life.”
“David was very shy, but wanted to be part of the group,” she said. “He’d always say, ‘Let’s go out for a beer,’ even though he’d only order a Shirley Temple.”
“Every Friday night, my brothers always went to spend the weekend with my parents for the Shabbat dinner. They loved weddings and bar mitzvahs,” Diane said. “Even funerals were important to them because if they were in the synagogue. It was the place they wanted to be.”
Diane said David was enthralled by the fire department.
“They could never hold a career, nothing that was more than simple-minded, they knew their capabilities, but they were proud of what they were able to do. By associating with the fire department, David felt he was contributing to the team. He would have dinner with them sometimes,” Diane said.
Diane said their deaths have taken a large toll on her parents.
“My parents have aged, my mom is 85 and dad is 91. The death of my brothers took a toll. My mom questioned that day, ‘Why am I alive and my sons aren’t?’ My parents gave 100 percent of themselves to my brothers, their lives revolved around my brothers. They would never be able to say goodbye to them,” she said.
Cecil had a fascination for flowers and would always buy his mom flowers for Mother’s Day, even if it was just $2, going into the flower shop and the family would supplement the rest of the money.
“It’s changed my life completely. They were the glue that kept our family together. From the time we were little, they were always someone we were going to protect,” Diane said. “It left a huge hole in our hearts. To this day, I don’t think a day goes by that we don’t talk about Cecil and David.”
Diane said the massacre has torn her family apart.
“I try to get out and walk and exercise every day, but I probably cry a couple times a week and I know my parents cry every, every day,” she said. “Emotionally and physically, they couldn’t get here for the trial. They want to be here, but couldn’t be there.”
A video statement from Cecil and David’s mother was played in court.
“A big part of me died on October 27, 2018. I woke up in the morning having two loving sons and went to bed that night with only memories. They were kind to a fault and innocent and an integral part of the Squirrel Hill community,” their mother said in the video. “I couldn’t be more proud to be their mom and my only hope is that they rest in peace.”
SWAT officer takes the stand
Anthony Burke, a SWAT officer who was injured on the day of the shooting, is next on the stand.
Burke suffered a gunshot wound to his right hand and wrist area.
“Seeing the inside of my wrist was shocking, hanging on my barely anything. I thought they were going to amputate my hand,” Burke said. “In later surgeries, they told me there were bullet fragments in my wrist.”
Doctors took a cadaver nerve and put it inside Burke’s wrist. He said that the procedure was not successful.
“Months of occupational therapy, it was not working. Instead of replacing the nerve, they removed a tendon from my leg,” he explained.
Burke underwent multiple surgeries and said after the third or fourth, occupational therapy helped him gain strength back in his hand.
His hand still does not work the way it did before he was shot.
“Getting dressed today, like buttoning the top button on my shirt, is now my wife’s permanent job,” Burke explained. “It’s a confidence issue, I am not as confident as I was before. The moment of hesitation, now I think about it before I do it, and it’s just not good in my line of work.”
Burke said he used to play sports, lift weights and play with his kids.
“I’ll never be able to throw a football with a spiral,” Burke said. “It’s difficult to wiggle a 1-and-a-half-year-old with a wrist injury. It’s something you have to consider when you have to hold them for a long time.”
Mel Wax’s daughter takes the stand
Jodi Kart, the daughter of Mel Wax, took the stand next.
She said Mel would go in every Saturday, he was one of their most dedicated employees.
Baseball statistics, he knew them all, the Pittsburgh Pirates in particular. He watched the weather, too. He had a thing for numbers.
“It was just part of his light-hearted personality. If you knew him, you knew one of his jokes,” Kart said.
People knew his obsession with jokes, they would always buy him joke books.
“Faith and family were the two most important things to him. Even though he worked six days a week, he still served at New Light,” Kart said.
Kart said her son and her father had a special bond.
“Every weekend, they were together,” she said, talking about her son and her father.
When she lived away from Pittsburgh for six years, her son and father were pen pals for years. She brought one of the letters from her father to court.
A photo was shown of Mel holding her son.
“That smile just says it all, he loved him so much. He was his best buddy from day one,” Kart said. “He never got to see our son graduate from college, he never got to see his first job he got and the work that he does.”
“I think about him every day. I lost my mom in 2016 and I can say this is very different from losing my mom. There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t think about my Dad, Saturdays in particular. There is always a reminder.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing mental health effects from the trial, go to 1027healingpartnership.org to find help resources. As always, call 911 to report threats.
Phone: 412-697-3534
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