Jurors in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial heard testimony Thursday from a witness described by experts as perhaps one of the most important in the case against the accused Boston Marathon bomber.
Dun Meng, a Chinese engineer, described Tsarnaev emptying money from his bank account at an ATM while Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his brother, twice pointed a gun at Meng's head during a car jacking in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 18, 2013.
Meng said he was sitting in his Mercedes SUV near the Charles River around 10:30 p.m. when Tamerlan knocked on the window. Meng lowered the window and Tamerlan reached in and opened the passenger side door.
According to Meng's testimony, after taking about $40 in cash, Tamerlan asked Meng, “Do you know the Boston Marathon explosion? … I did it and I just killed a policeman.” Prosecutors say one of the brothers fatally shot MIT Police Officer Sean Collier earlier that night.
“The whole world, everybody is looking for them,” Meng testified. “My hands were shaking.”
What Meng says could influence whether jurors buy the defense’s claim that Tsarnaev, 21, was under the thumb of his older brother or whether they agree with federal prosecutors that the siblings were “partners” in staging the attack at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Though the brothers spoke to each other in a foreign language, Meng said it did not seem that Tamerlan Tsarnaev yelled at or threatened his brother.
Defense briefly cross-examined Meng, getting him to admit that he never saw Tsarnaev brandish a gun. Unlike Tamerlan, who threatened Meng, Tsarnaev asked if Meng's car was equipped to play music from an iPhone.
Jurors saw surveillance footage from a Shell gas station showing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev buying snacks. Cameras outside the store showed Meng flee from the SUV and run across the street to another gas station.
Footage from the second store shows an animated Meng gesturing wildly. He testified that he told the attendant two men were trying to kill him.
“I was very scared.”
Earlier, jurors saw photos of Sean Collier’s body taken at his autopsy. District Judge George O’Toole ruled Wednesday that those pictures would not be made available to the public like other evidence.
Medical examiner Renee Robinson, who performed the autopsy, described the six gunshot wounds she found on his body.
“There is a big hole” between his eyes, she said. It was one of three bullets that struck Collier in the head.
Another shot entered his skull through his cheek, and one hit him near his left ear.
“He’s essentially dead right away,” Robinson said.
The photos, which were not released to the public out of concern for Collier's family, had a visible effect on several jurors.
Three bullets also hit Collier in the hand.
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Dun Meng, a Chinese engineer, described Tsarnaev emptying money from his bank account at an ATM while Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his brother, twice pointed a gun at Meng's head during a car jacking in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 18, 2013.
Meng said he was sitting in his Mercedes SUV near the Charles River around 10:30 p.m. when Tamerlan knocked on the window. Meng lowered the window and Tamerlan reached in and opened the passenger side door.
According to Meng's testimony, after taking about $40 in cash, Tamerlan asked Meng, “Do you know the Boston Marathon explosion? … I did it and I just killed a policeman.” Prosecutors say one of the brothers fatally shot MIT Police Officer Sean Collier earlier that night.
“The whole world, everybody is looking for them,” Meng testified. “My hands were shaking.”
What Meng says could influence whether jurors buy the defense’s claim that Tsarnaev, 21, was under the thumb of his older brother or whether they agree with federal prosecutors that the siblings were “partners” in staging the attack at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Though the brothers spoke to each other in a foreign language, Meng said it did not seem that Tamerlan Tsarnaev yelled at or threatened his brother.
Defense briefly cross-examined Meng, getting him to admit that he never saw Tsarnaev brandish a gun. Unlike Tamerlan, who threatened Meng, Tsarnaev asked if Meng's car was equipped to play music from an iPhone.
Jurors saw surveillance footage from a Shell gas station showing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev buying snacks. Cameras outside the store showed Meng flee from the SUV and run across the street to another gas station.
Footage from the second store shows an animated Meng gesturing wildly. He testified that he told the attendant two men were trying to kill him.
“I was very scared.”
Earlier, jurors saw photos of Sean Collier’s body taken at his autopsy. District Judge George O’Toole ruled Wednesday that those pictures would not be made available to the public like other evidence.
Medical examiner Renee Robinson, who performed the autopsy, described the six gunshot wounds she found on his body.
“There is a big hole” between his eyes, she said. It was one of three bullets that struck Collier in the head.
Another shot entered his skull through his cheek, and one hit him near his left ear.
“He’s essentially dead right away,” Robinson said.
The photos, which were not released to the public out of concern for Collier's family, had a visible effect on several jurors.
One of the jurors breaks down in tears, hand to her face upon seeing autopsy photo #Tsarnaev
— Jessica Reyes (@jessicamreyes) March 12, 2015
One juror covers her mouth and rocks her chair while shown autopsy photo of Collier's face. Another is crying.#Tsarnaev
— Laurel J. Sweet (@Laurel_Sweet) March 12, 2015 Three bullets also hit Collier in the hand.
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