Penalty phase for Tsarnaev opens; survivors tell stories

— First, the jury BOSTON was shown large, vibrant pictures of the four people killed in the Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath. Then prosecutors pulled out the photo they saved for last: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev giving the finger to the security camera in his jail cell.

“This is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — unconcerned, unrepentant and unchanged,” federal prosecutor Nadine Pellegrini told the jury that will decide whether the 21-yearold former college student should be executed.

The penalty phase in the Boston Marathon bomber’s trial opened in dramatic fashion Tuesday, with prosecutors portraying Tsarnaev as a coldblooded killer and “America’s worst nightmare.”

The government then began trying to drive home the horror of the attack by calling to the stand witnesses who lost legs or loved ones in the April 15, 2013, bombing.

“I remember hearing just bloodcurdling screams. I just remember looking around, just seeing blood everywhere, sort of like debris falling from the sky,” said Celeste Corcoran, who made her way to the stand on artificial limbs.

Several jurors shed tears as the father of Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager killed in the bombing, described how he called his daughter “princess.” “Krystle was the light of my life,” William Campbell Jr. said, “every father’s dream.”

Campbell described a heartbreaking mix-up that led his family to believe that Krystle had survived the bombing and was undergoing surgery. One of the doctors asked Campbell to accompany him to see Krystle in her room.

“It wasn’t Krystle. I passed out on the floor,” Campbell said. “I couldn’t remember anything after that until I woke up about five minutes later and I realized that Krystle was gone and they made a mistake.”

Gillian Reny told the jury she was an 18-year-old high school senior when she went to watch her sister run her first marathon. She said the first blast knocked her to the ground, and when she looked down, she could see her legs were covered in blood, and a bone that had snapped in half was sticking out. “It was the most horrifying image I could even imagine ... and to see that on my own body was terrifying,” she said, breaking down in tears. Doctors managed to save both legs.

Slouching in his seat, Tsarnaev stared straight ahead and showed no reaction during the proceedings. Tsarnaev was convicted earlier this month of all 30 charges against him.