No State Death Penalty in Massachusetts - What is next for Tsarnaev

There currently is no state death penalty in Massachusetts, life without the possibility of parole being the only punishment for first-degree murder.

The federal government prosecutes capital cases within Massachusetts, however. What this means is that federal government prosecutors can overlook the case, and if the case moves to federal prosecution, then the Boston marathon bomber will face the possibility of execution, most likely by lethal injection. But as Richard Dieter, an authority on capital punishment at the Death Penalty Information Center, said that should prosecutors decide to seek execution for Tsarnaev, success was by no means assured. "It is not at all a foregone conclusion that if they seek it, they will persist in seeking it, and that if they persist in seeking it they will achieve it." That quote sounds like what the president is thinking concerning the failed gun control bill. As the President mentioned in a speech almost immediately after the failure of the gun control bill, he would continue to seek more gun control regulations until they are passed.
Recently the 2nd bomber who was captured a few days after the bombings in Boston, is now in a prison that can tend to his wounds. But also since then, the accused bomber has been given his Miranda rights, and now he seems to have clammed up, and not speaking at all, most likely at the request of his two defense attorneys. His attorneys know that he cannot possibly be executed in the state of Massachusetts. Because of legal issues, most likely the outcome of his sentence may not be fully realized for years later, and maybe not at all.
The Federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, and the most notable and famous of those executed since then was Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, who in effect volunteered to die by suspending his appeals and was executed in 2001.
As far as I can tell, we are years away from ever seeing justice executed in this case.
One thing is for sure. Until he is either executed or receives a reduced sentence, he most likely will stay confined and not mixed with the general population in any prison. His amenities will include a bed mattress, a sink and a toilet, confined in a small jail cell. He will be confined to his cell at least 23 hours each day. Hell on earth. But does a guy like him even deserve that?!?!?!? His heart still ticks, he still breaths air, but the people that he killed were robbed of their lives. This doesn't include the dozens of people that had to have an amputation or still in the hospital or the 170+ people that ended up in the hospital because of his radical actions at the Boston Marathon. Even if he doesn't receive a death penalty, it is safe to say that when convicted, he will never live outside of a jail cell again for the rest of his life.