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Defense rests in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial without calling witnesses or presenting evidence
PITTSBURGH (JTA) — Defense attorneys in the trial of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter will not be calling witnesses or presenting evidence in court, following 11 days of harrowing testimony from witnesses called by the prosecution.
The defense attorneys’ choice underscores their acknowledgement that their client committed the attack. Since the beginning of the trial, lead defense attorney Judy Clarke has made clear that her goal is to prevent the shooter, Robert Bowers, from being sentenced to death.
Judge Robert Colville dismissed the jury on Wednesday and told jurors to return on Thursday to hear closing arguments, after which the jury will deliberate and deliver its verdict. The defendant is almost certain to be found guilty, and his sentence — which will be determined in the next phase of the trial — will depend on whether the jury finds him guilty on all 63 counts he faces or just some of them. Of those charges, 22 carry the death penalty — two for each of his 11 victims.
The anticlimactic conclusion of the proceedings on Wednesday followed 11 days of graphic testimony from congregants and emergency responders who were present when the gunman perpetrated the shooting in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Oct. 27, 2018. The synagogue he attacked housed three congregations: Tree of Life, New Light and Dor Hadash.
Witnesses have described how the shooting unfolded, detail by tragic detail — and have explained the Jewish rituals and practices interrupted and desecrated by the attack. Other witnesses, including 911 call center employees and law enforcement, have recounted how they responded to the shooting.
Clarke and her team have cross-examined witnesses but revealed on Thurday that they would not be calling any of their own.
“We have no evidence,” Clarke said after Colville turned to her following the prosecution’s last witness. In her opening remarks on May 30, Clark had said that the defense team would not contest that its client committed the shooting.
“There is no disagreement, there is no dispute and there will be no doubt as to who shot the 11 congregants,” she said then. “On Oct. 27, 2018, Robert Bowers, the man seated at that table, loaded with ammunition and firearms entered the synagogue.”
Clarke is famous for keeping her clients off of death row and hopes to achieve the same result here. Her argument to jurors is that her client targeted the congregants not because of their religion, but because of a delusion that they were facilitating an immigration invasion to replace white people.
“We can at least do our best to uphold the rule of law by figuring out, to the best of our ability, what were Mr. Bowers’ motives and intent,” Clarke said in her opening statement.
The prosecution wrapped up its case before lunch on Wednesday with testimony from Andrea Wedner, one of two worshippers who were injured by gunfire in the shooting and survived. Wedner was with her mother, Rose Mallinger, when the gunman entered the chapel. Mallinger, who was 97, was killed in the attack.
Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti asked Wedner if the gunman had kept her from worshipping — the same question the prosecution has posed to other survivors who took the stand.
That question is key to half of the 22 capital charges the gunman faces: Federal law allows the death penalty in cases “of obstruction in free exercise of religious belief resulting in death.” The other 11 capital charges are for hate crimes resulting in death.
“Did you go there to worship and pray?” Rivetti asked Wedner. “Did the defendant prevent you from praying? Did the defendant come into the chapel and shoot you? Your mother, Rose Mallinger, who prayed the prayer for peace each week, was shot right next to you?”
Wedner answered “Yes” each time, with increasing emotion.
The defense rarely objected during the trial, only doing so to argue that testimony was inappropriately veering into how American Jews worship, or into what animates Jewish practice. Nearly all of the defense’s objections during the trial were overruled.
After the jury exited the courtroom on Wednesday, the defense continued arguing that their client did not seek to kill Jews while they worshipped. Speaking before the judge, defense attorneys raised objections to the phrasing of some of the charges the jury would consider.
They tried, as they had previously, to have the words “willfully” and “because of actual or perceived religion” removed from the 11 capital charges that have to do with obstruction of worship resulting in death. Colville overruled the objections.
Wedner asked not to be on the stand when the prosecution played back her 911 call from the day of the shooting in court. Instead, Rivetti asked her a series of questions about the call before she left the chamber.
“Have you actually requested that we not play that 911 call while you’re on the stand?” Rivetti asked.
“Yes,” Wedner said.
“Is that because you can hear yourself being shot?”
“Yes.”
“Is it because you can hear your mother’s quiet voice as you try to comfort her?”
“Yes.”
“Is it because you can hear her being shot?”
“Yes.” Wedner’s voice cracked.
The recording of the call played out as Rivetti had described: Werner’s whispered pleadings to a 911 operator, silence, and then two gun blasts and screams. Rivetti stopped the replay about halfway through the 9-minute recording.
During her testimony, Wedner described sensing police were in the sanctuary, and moving her legs to signal she was alive. “They were in fatigues so I knew they were the good guys,” she said.
She rose and realized she was the lone survivor in the sanctuary where the Tree of Life congregation regularly convened.
Before she left, she bid her mother goodbye.
“I kissed my fingers and I touched my fingers to her skin,” she said. “I cried out, ‘Mommy.’”
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Netanyahu: ‘Our Forces Are Striking the Heart of Tehran With Increasing Strength’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israeli forces had “eliminated the dictator Ali Khamenei” along with dozens of senior officials of Iran’s regime during a statement delivered from the roof of the Kirya, Israel’s defense headquarters.
“Yesterday, we eliminated the dictator Khamenei. Along with him, dozens of senior officials from the oppressive regime were eliminated,” Netanyahu said after a meeting with the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff, and the Director of Mossad. He added that he had issued instructions to continue the offensive.
According to Netanyahu, Israeli forces are “now striking at the heart of Tehran with increasing intensity,” a campaign he said will “increase further in the days to come.”
The Prime Minister also acknowledged the toll of the conflict on Israel, calling recent days “painful” and offering condolences to the families of victims in Tel Aviv and Beit Shemesh, while wishing a speedy recovery to those injured.
Netanyahu emphasized that the operation mobilizes “the full power of the Israel Defense Forces, like never before,” in order to “guarantee our existence and our future.” He also highlighted US support, noting “the assistance of my friend, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and of the American military.”
“This combination of forces allows us to do what I have hoped to accomplish for 40 years: strike the terrorist regime right in the face,” Netanyahu concluded. “I promised it — and we will keep our word.”
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Trump Says Iran Military Operations Are ‘Ahead of Schedule,’ CNBC Reports
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Secretary of State Marco Rubio during military operations in Iran, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. February 28, 2026. The White House/Social Media/Handout via REUTERS
US President Donald Trump told CNBC on Sunday that US military operations against Iran are “ahead of schedule.”
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Iranian Missile Strike on Beit Shemesh in Israel Kills 9
Emergency personnel work at the site of an Iranian strike, after Iran launched missile barrages following attacks by the US and Israel on Saturday, in Beit Shemesh, Israel, March 1, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
An Iranian missile strike hit the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding dozens, in what authorities described as a direct impact on a public bomb shelter.
A ballistic missile leveled the bomb shelter, leaving a large crater in its wake. Most, if not all, of those killed had been taking cover inside the shelter when it hit, Jerusalem Police Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled said at the impact scene.
Those in critical condition were airlifted to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
At least 20 people were still missing late on Sunday afternoon local time.
As you read this, an Iranian missile has just struck a residential neighborhood in Beit Shemesh, Israel, only 30 kilometers/about 18 miles from Jerusalem.
Nine people are dead.
More than 20 are wounded, including children. A
public shelter collapsed from the direct hit. An… pic.twitter.com/mEVDlPEqgf
— Ella Kenan (@EllaTravelsLove) March 1, 2026
Several buildings surrounding the shelter in Beit Shemesh, which is west of Jerusalem, were also damaged in the attack, with two collapsing entirely. A synagogue was also destroyed.
Emergency crews from Magen David Adom, ZAKA, and United Hatzalah joined fire and rescue units at the site, combing damaged buildings and debris for possible survivors. Many people were trapped under rubble or inside apartments, first responders said.
The Iranian Regime directly fired missiles toward the civilian neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, killing innocent civilians.
The Iranian regime purposely targets civilian targets while we precisely target terror targets. This is who we’re operating against—a regime who uses… pic.twitter.com/9W8Fp4T2tH
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 1, 2026
Chaim Wingarten, deputy director of operations at rescue organization ZAKA, described the scenes as “very difficult.”
“When I arrived, it was a huge chaos, with wounded people everywhere,” he said.
The strike was part of a larger volley that triggered air-raid sirens across the country. A man in his fifties was wounded by shrapnel elsewhere in central Israel.
IDF foreign media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani charged Iran with deliberately firing at civilians. “We know this is their strategy,” he said, adding that Israel would do “everything in our power to remove these capabilities from this bloodthirsty terrorist regime.”
The Beit Shemesh hit marked the highest single-incident death toll inside Israel since the confrontation with Iran began a day earlier. The previous peak came during the 12-day war in June 2025, when a missile slammed into an apartment block in Bat Yam and killed nine people.
The Beit Shemesh strike came a day after US and Israeli forces struck a compound in Tehran killing senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose death was later announced on Iranian state television.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump said 48 Iranian leaders were killed in the strikes. “Nobody can believe the success we’re having; 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” he said.
Separately, the American president told CNBC that the US operation was “ahead of schedule.”
Thousands of Iranians braved the strikes and took to the streets to celebrate Khamenei’s death on Saturday evening. Many people stood on balconies and at windows chanting “freedom, freedom,” The New York Times reported. People in the Iranian city of Shiraz were “abandoning their cars for an impromptu dance party, whistling, cheering, clapping, and screaming with joy. In many videos, celebrants joined together in a cheer that is typically reserved for weddings, symbolizing pure joy,” the report said.
GeoConfirmed Iran.
People chanting – Celebrations through the Foolad Shahr area in Isfahan with joy and jubilation over the killing of Khamenei.
Rough location – 32.48169, 51.39167
F9JR+MMF Fuladshahr, Isfahan Province, IranGeoLocated by @Mitch_Ulrich
Geolocation:… https://t.co/iv9TlSPPfS
— GeoConfirmed (@GeoConfirmed) February 28, 2026
Can you hear the joy in his voice?
“I am dreaming, hello world!” pic.twitter.com/ICq77zBerv— William Mehrvarz (@WilliamMehrvarz) March 1, 2026
Iran retaliated by firing repeated waves of missiles and drones, with launches aimed not only at Israel but also at US bases in the Middle East, including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Iran on Sunday morning also launched two missiles at Cyprus, where thousands of British military personnel are stationed, which fell short.
Later in the afternoon, the US acknowledged its first losses with US Central Command, saying three American service members were killed and five were seriously wounded during the operations in Iran.