The fate of Dzhokar Tsarnaev's life was in the hands of the 12 jurors, and on Friday, they chose the death penalty as the consequence for killing four people and injuring dozens more in the Boston Marathon bombings.
It's temporary closure, since Tsarnaev is expected appeal the decision.
"He's a coward, to maim people the way he did, to murder people the way he did, him and his brother," said Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. "He's a coward so I think he's going to take the coward's way out.
The fear of an appeal that could take as long as 10 years or more angers some, but for others, putting him to death brings another fear that other terrorists may see him as a martyr and follow Tsarnaev actions.
Peter Krause, an assistant professor at Boston College, disagrees.
"It was a lone wolf terrorist attack, in the sense that he and his brother were not a part of some broader organization. They weren't ordered or trained by another organization, and so that does make them in the minority," said Krouse. "Only about two percent of attacks since 1970 have been lone wolf attacks.
Krause has studied terrorism across the globe. He's closely followed the ISIS movement and has interviewed leaders in Turkey. He says the threat of terrorist attacks is growing worldwide, but more so for countries in crisis.
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"At the end of the day, I think the increase in lone wolf attacks will not be driven by the death sentence or by what the Tsarnaevs did. It will be driven by these organizations like ISIS and Al Queda trying to promote this stuff in the United Stated and elsewhere," he said.
Krause says there is increasing anger and frustration towards the U.S. around the world, but at the same time, he also believes there is an increasing number of outlets for political change as an option to terrorism.
