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NYC bike path attacker to spend life in prison after jury fails to reach unanimous verdict on death penalty

Prosecutors called Sayfullo Saipov a 'proud terrorist' who murdered eight people in New York City on behalf of ISIS

By Marta Dhanis , Paul Best Fox News
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Video shows moment before NYC truck attack driver Sayfullo Saipov is shot by police Video

Video shows moment before NYC truck attack driver Sayfullo Saipov is shot by police

WARNING GRAPHIC FOOTAGE: Federal prosecutors have released footage showing the moment New York City truck attack driver Sayfullo Saipov was shot by police in 2017.

The convicted murderer who killed eight people and wounded 11 others by speeding down a bike path in Manhattan six years ago will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the death penalty Monday. 

Sayfullo Saipov, a citizen of Uzbekistan who admitted to FBI agents that he carried out the attack on behalf of ISIS on Oct. 31, 2017, was convicted in January of 28 counts, including murder and supporting a terrorist organization. 

  • Sayfullo Saipov mugshot
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    Jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the death penalty in the trial of Sayfullo Saipov.  (St. Charles County, Mo., Department of Corrections/KMOV via AP, File)

  • Saipov
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    Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbek man charged with using a truck to kill eight people on a Manhattan bike path on Halloween in 2017, listens to testimony from New York City Police officer Ryan Nash at his federal trial in New York City, U.S., January 9, 2023 in this courtroom sketch.  (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo/File Photo)

The jury, which was made up of nine men and three women, deliberated for nine hours over two days before informing the judge on Monday that they could not reach a unanimous decision in the penalty phase of Saipov's trial. 

His defense attorney, David Patton, argued that "meeting death with more death is not the answer," telling jurors that Saipov will be sentenced to one of the most "isolated, solitary" facilities in America in Florence, Colorado. 

DRAMATIC NEW VIDEO SHOWS MOMENTS BEFORE NYC TRUCK ATTACK DRIVER SAYFULLO SAIPOV IS SHOT BY POLICE

Prosecutors, meanwhile, told the jury that Saipov is "a proud terrorist" who has shown no remorse for his crimes. 

"He chose to come to this country and fight for an enemy," Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Houle told jurors. "And it is his choices that call for the most significant punishment that the law provides: the sentence of death."

  • bike path terror attack scene
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    A law enforcement officer walks by a crime scene Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, after a driver mowed down people on a riverfront bike path near the World Trade Center on Tuesday in New York.  (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

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    Sayfullo Saipov is seen exiting the rented truck allegedly used in the attack and is carrying what appears to be two pistols, one in each hand. (US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York)

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    New footage released by the U.S Attorney's Office fo.r the Southern District of New York shows Sayfullo Saipov, center, in the moments just before he was shot by police. (US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York)

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New York has not executed an inmate for a federal crime in nearly 70 years. President Biden announced a moratorium on federal executions in 2021, but prosecutors can still seek the death penalty in cases from previous administrations. 

Former President Trump tweeted the day after the attack that Saipov "SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!"

Marta Dhanis is a reporter based in New York who focuses on criminal justice and the courts. Follow her on Twitter: @MartaDhanis​​​​​