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Boston Marathon bomber faces death penalty or life in prison

DZHOKHAR Tsarnaev has been convicted of the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon.

A federal jury found Tsarnaev guilty on Wednesday over the terror attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260. He kept his hands folded in front of him and looked down at the defence table in the Boston courtroom as the guilty verdicts were read.

The jury will now decide whether the 21-year-old former student should be sentenced to death or receive life in prison.

Tsarnaev's conviction was widely expected, given his lawyer's startling admission during opening statements that he took part in the bombing. But the lawyer also argued that Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan, masterminded the attack and enlisted his then 19-year-old brother to help.

Prosecutors portrayed the brothers as full partners in a plan to retaliate against the US for its wars in Muslim countries.