Residents in Massachusetts who would like to see Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev executed are finding themselves increasingly in the minority, a new Boston Globe poll shows.

While about a third of Bay Staters say they support the death penalty for "egregious crimes," fewer than 20% of them would like it carried out in Tsarnaev's case.

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In Boston, support for the death penalty is even lower, with just 25% in support of capital punishment. Only 15% believe Tsarnaev should be executed for his role in the bombing.

A significant majority of Bay Staters (63%) and Bostonians (66%) prefer a life sentence for Tsarnaev in lieu of the death penalty.

Demonstrator Joe Kebartas, of Boston, left, displays a placard while protesting against the death penalty outside federal court during the penalty phase for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Thursday, April 23, 2015, in Boston.

As the pollster put it:

“It seems that voters have concluded that Tsarnaev does not deserve a quick death, but rather should spend the remainder of his days in a windowless cell contemplating the heinous acts that put him there,” said Frank Perullo, president of Sage Systems LLC, which conducted the poll. “To voters, it would seem death is too easy an escape.”

The poll comes as Tsarnaev's defense lawyers on Monday began their attempt to save him from the death penalty, following days of emotional testimony from victims and their families.

Three people were killed and over 260 others were wounded in the Boston attacks on April 15, 2013. Tsarnaev, 21, was convicted of all 30 counts against him, including use of a weapon of mass destruction and murder, on April 8. His older brother, Tamerlan, was killed during a shootout with police while the two were on the run days after the attacks.

Tsarnaev's attorney, David Bruck, reportedly told the jury on Monday that there is no punishment his client can receive that would be equal to the suffering of his victims.

"There is no point in trying to hurt him as he hurt because it can't be done," CBS News quoted Bruck as saying. "There is no evening the scales."

Bruck: The choice is between "death, or a lifetime of unrelenting punishment..." — Jim Armstrong (@JimArmstrongWBZ) April 27, 2015

Support for the death penalty in Tsarnaev's case in Massachusetts has declined steadily since the bombing.

A Boston Globe poll taken a few months after the attacks in September 2013 showed that 33% of residents statewide favored death for Tsarnaev. A WBUR poll conducted after his conviction this month showed 26% would like to see him sentenced to die.

The new Boston Globe poll, which was based on telephone interviews with 804 people — about half of them in Boston — on April 22 and 23, shows just 18.9% now favor death for the bomber.

One reason for the recent decline in support of execution could be the vocal outcry against it by the parents of two victims.

Powerful @BostonGlobe front page: The parents of Matin Richards asking DOJ to drop the death penalty for Tsarnaev pic.twitter.com/sMSjkyqCh5 — Matt Viser (@mviser) April 17, 2015

Bill and Denise Richard, whose son Martin was killed and whose daughter, Jane, lost a leg in the blasts, made a public plea on the April 17 front page of the Boston Globe for prosecutors to drop the death penalty in Tsarnaev's case.

"To end the anguish, drop the death penalty," the couple said. Nationwide, however, it is a different story, with polls showing Americans seem to want Tsarnaev to die for his crimes.

A CBS News poll released on April 15 found 60% of Americans would like to see a death sentence handed down to Tsarnaev. Thirty percent of people surveyed said they were against capital punishment in this case.