A man pauses at a memorial for the 11 victims shot by a neo-Nazi at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue. Photo: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

Relatives of the 11 victims slaughtered by a neo-Nazi gunman at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in Oct. 2018 openly confronted the killer on court on Thursday, one day after a federal jury sentenced him to the death penalty.

As US District Judge Robert Colville prepared to formally sentence the gunman — 50-year-old Robert Bowers, a trucker from Baldwin, Pa., — relatives of those murdered delivered victim impact statements that described the effect of the atrocity on their lives.

Peg Durachko, the wife of 65-year-old Dr. Richard Gottfried, a dentist who was shot and killed, testified: “Mr. Bowers, you met my beloved husband in the kitchen. Your callous disregard for the person he was repulses me. Your hateful act took my soulmate from me.”

Mark Simon, whose parents, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, were also murdered, told the court that he was still in possession of their bloodstained prayer shawl. He added that he was still  haunted by the 911 emergency call placed by his mother, whom Bowers shot while she was on the line.

“My parents died alone, without any living soul to comfort them or to hold their hand in their last moments,” said Simon, who condemned “that defendant” as “evil” and “cowardly,” urging the Judge Colville to show him no mercy.

“You will never be forgiven. Never,” Simon told Bowers.

As he carried out the worst antisemitic atrocity in American history, Bowers burst into the Tree of Life Synagogue, which housed three congregations, screaming “All Jews must die” as he opened fire on the defenseless congregants.

Prosecutors say Bowers frequently posted antisemitic comments on right-wing social-media websites, including a post on the morning of the shooting in which he decried the work on behalf of refugees of a US Jewish charity, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

Jewish leaders and organizations expressed relief over Wednesday’s verdict, expressing the hope that the community would heal as a result.

“With the verdict announced in the trial of the perpetrator of the attack on worshippers at Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation and Tree of Life Congregation, our sympathy and prayers go to the families of the victims, survivors and first responders directly affected; to these congregations who lost loved members; and to all of the people traumatized by this crime,” said a statement from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. “We remember and honor the eleven victims: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.”

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey spoke in a separate statement of his wish “that we can use this decision to start a new chapter that uplifts and protects our city’s Jewish community.”

Expressing the hope that the memory of Bowers’ victims would be a “blessing today and every day,” Gainey urged the city’s residents to “continue to stand together as one Pittsburgh that’s stronger than hate.”

Bowers’ conviction marks the first federal death sentence since 2019 and the first secured by US President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice. Bowers can now appeal the sentence to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court.