CARA RUBINSKY, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — In a busy year that saw a Red Sox World Series win and an end to the James “Whitey” Bulger saga, the bombings at the Boston Marathon dominated Massachusetts headlines in 2013.
Three people died, more than 260 were injured and a cherished Boston institution was shaken. At least 16 spectators lost limbs when two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line as runners streamed across.
Authorities say the culprits were two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had emigrated from the Russian republic of Dagestan a decade or so earlier.
They apparently acted alone, and their motive is still not known.
Authorities say the brothers killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer on that school’s Cambridge campus. Tamerlan died later in a shootout with Watertown police.
Dzhokhar is in federal prison, awaiting a decision on whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. He was captured after a manhunt that shut down Boston and its suburbs for the better part of a day. He has pleaded not guilty.
Organizers are already looking ahead to the 2014 marathon. They have added 9,000 spots to accommodate runners who were stopped on the course when the bombs went off. They also made a few hundred more spots available to people who submitted essays about how the bombings affected them.
Other notable stories of 2013:
— Bulger was convicted in August in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other crimes, many of them committed while he was apparently an FBI informant. The 84-year-old mobster was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011 after 16 years on the run. He has been sentenced to life in prison.
— Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, 23, was indicted on murder and weapons charges in August in the death of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player who was dating his girlfriend’s sister. Lloyd’s body was found in June not far from Hernandez’s mansion in North Attleborough. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty. Four others, including his girlfriend, also face charges.
— The process of deciding which companies get to build casinos in Massachusetts began in earnest. Several cities and towns voted down potential projects, casting doubt on whether all three resort-style casinos and one slots parlor allowed by law will be built anytime soon. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission hopes to grant the slots parlor license in early 2014 and casino licenses in the eastern and western regions later in the year.
— In January, the Senate confirmed U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state. The appointment ended Kerry’s nearly three decades representing Massachusetts and set up a race to replace him that was handily won by then-U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, also a Democrat. Democrat Katherine Clark later won the race to replace Markey in the U.S. House.
— A 14-year-old was accused of killing his popular high school math teacher at Danvers High School in October. Police say Colleen Ritzer’s body was found in woods near the school with her throat slit and a note reading, “I hate you all.” Student Philip Chism, who had recently moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and aggravated rape.
— Thomas Menino, Boston’s longest-serving mayor, announced in March that he would not seek a sixth term, saying he could not keep up his grueling schedule after a series of health problems. State Rep. Martin Walsh won the November election to replace him.
— A former chemist at a Massachusetts drug lab who admitted faking test results in criminal cases pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to three to five years in prison. The scandal surrounding chemist Annie Dookhan has jeopardized thousands of convictions and cost the state millions of dollars as the court system has been flooded with drug case defendants who want new trials.
— The Red Sox won their third World Series championship in 10 seasons and their first at home since 1918.
— In a highly unusual move, lawmakers in September repealed a tax on technology that had been in effect just two months, a reversal prompted by an outcry from tech companies.
