Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial: Robert Bowers apartment photos

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Before jurors in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial were dismissed for a long weekend Thursday, they heard testimony from nine more witnesses, one of whom was the FBI supervisory special agent in charge of an Evidence Response Team that searched Robert Bowers' apartment hours after the attack.

FBI Agent Cedric Jefferson testified Thursday that the ERT searched Bowers' apartment for about eight hours, arriving shortly after 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27, 2018, and leaving close to 4 a.m. Oct. 28.

The prosecution entered into evidence more than 30 exhibits related to that initial canvass by the FBI. All of the exhibits were photographs capturing different parts and angles of Bowers' apartment.

Bowers is on trial in the Oct. 27, 2018, shooting that killed 11 Jewish worshippers and injured others, including police, at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation building in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Two other congregations, New Light Congregation and Congregation Dor Hadash, were also observing Shabbat services in the building during the attack.

Jefferson said that when his team arrived, the front door to Bowers' unit was already open, having been breached hours earlier by police officers who were tasked with clearing the space for safety purposes.

Several exhibits are pictures of the same space but taken at different angles. Jefferson testified that it is standard to try to get a panoramic view during a search.

One of the first of these exhibits shared in court was a picture of Bowers' living room. On the right side of the photograph is a paper shooting target below an air conditioning unit.

Another photograph shows a computer on a desk, along with three coding cheat sheets. Jefferson said that text appearing on the computer's monitor appeared to be changing as agents conducted their search.

A digital forensic expert contacted by Pittsburgh's Action News 4 Friday examined the photographs. He is not associated with the case, but he said the user of this computer appears to be a "computer hobbyist."

Jefferson testified that FBI agents found a "substantial" amount of ammunition inside Bowers' bedroom. Agents took photographs of a rifle case, as well as cases of three Glock handguns. Three Glock handguns were among the weapons seized at the Tree of Life building after the attack.

The rifle case was shown on the bottom of a metal shelf, which is next to a mattress on the floor.

Another photograph is a picture of three DVD cases, all with different titles but one common label – USCCA, the acronym for the U.S. Concealed Carry Association. One of the DVD cases is entitled: "How to ensure you're physically and mentally prepared to protect yourself from a deadly threat."

Additional exhibits include a lease agreement for Bowers' small apartment – revealing that he was paying $485 per month – and a transfer agreement for a Colt AR-15 from 2014.

Testimony in the trial will resume Monday.