Boston bombing survivor on Tsarnaev: ‘I think the death penalty is ultimately what he wants’

The Boston Marathon bombing survivor whowrote an open letter to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hours after testifying at his federal death penalty trial says she hopes the guilty verdict will help her and other victims of the 2013 terror attack heal.

 “I hope with this we can move forward,” Rebekah Gregory said on Wednesday, shortly after the jury found Tsarnaev guilty on all 30 counts for his role in the April 15, 2013, bombings that killed three people and injured nearly 300 others. “I may be standing on one fake leg,” she told reporters outside her Katy, Texas, home, “but I am standing here stronger than ever because someone tried to destroy me, and he failed.”

An emotional Gregory mourned the “innocent lives” that were lost. “There have been children taken, and parents that will never get to put them to bed at night again,” she said. “I am still so jumbled up by it.”

“What he blew up really did blow up,” Gregory told KTRK-TV. “He has given myself along with the other survivors a chance and a platform to help other people and do our parts in changing the world for the better.” The 27-year-old, who had her left leg amputated below the knee in November after 17 surgeries failed to save it, said she is still coping with emotional stress as a result of the blasts.

“I have nightmares every night that someone is trying to kill me,” Gregory told ESPN. “So it’s very much a part of me still, and I know it’s always going to be there.” She said she isn’t sure whether Tsarnaev should receive the death penalty.

“I feel like he doesn’t really care,” Gregory said. “I think the death penalty is ultimately what he wants. So I don’t know — life in prison alone with your thoughts — I think that might be ... I don’t know. I’m glad I’m not the jury.”

The penalty phase of Tsarnaev’s trial is expected to start next week. It’s hard,” Gregory said. “There’s no justice that can be brought to this, ever.” Source: happy girl