Jurors hear graphic accounts of Boston Marathon bombing

It this courtroom sketch, U.S. Attorney William Weinreb, left, is depicted delivering opening statements in front of U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr., right rear, on the first day of the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, in Boston. Tsarnaev, depicted seated second from right between defense attorneys Judy Clarke, third from right, and Miriam Conrad, right, is charged with conspiring with his brother to place two bombs near the marathon finish line in April 2013, killing three and injuring 260 people. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins) It this courtroom sketch, U.S. Attorney William Weinreb, left, is depicted delivering opening statements in front of U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr., right rear, on the first day of the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, in Boston. Tsarnaev, depicted seated second from right between defense attorneys Judy Clarke, third from right, and Miriam Conrad, right, is charged with conspiring with his brother to place two bombs near the marathon finish line in April 2013, killing three and injuring 260 people. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)

By Associated Press March 5, 2015 1 min read

BOSTON (AP) – Jurors in the Boston Marathon bombing trial spent the first day of testimony listening to heartbreaking stories from victims and watching graphic videos of blown-off limbs, bloody sidewalks and chaos after the 2013 attack.

Prosecutors on Wednesday asked three women who were severely injured to describe their memories of the bombing, their wounds and the terror they felt in the moments after the blast.

One of them, Karen Rand McWatters, described holding the hand of her friend, Krystle Campbell, as Campbell died on the pavement. McWatters lost her left leg.

A lawyer for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev bluntly told the jury that her client committed the crime, but said he fell under the influence of his now-dead older brother, Tamelan. The defense said Tamerlan was the mastermind.

Testimony resumes Thursday.