In Massachusetts, they've run the gamut from Quakers to witches, pirates, anarchists and gangsters. Each high-profile execution here seemed to mirror the deepest fears of its time.

For federal prosecutors, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is the perfect monster for the post-9/11 era. He's an accused terrorist; authorities say he downloaded al Qaeda literature on his laptop before he and his brother set off two pressure cooker bombs at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon.

No cameras are allowed at the Tsarnaev trial. But CNN's Ann O'Neill will be there every day. Think of her as The 13th Juror , bringing insights here weekly. And follow @AnnoCNN on Twitter daily.

Massachusetts abolished the death penalty more than 30 years ago and last carried out a death sentence in 1947. But a place that hanged 26 people for practicing witchcraft can't deny its brutal, eye-for-an-eye past.

Still, there's plenty of ambivalence about capital punishment in Boston's DNA, and that makes picking a jury to decide Tsarnaev's fate all the more challenging. The state might not have the death penalty, but the feds do. And they think Tsarnaev is a poster boy for capital punishment. His crimes, if he is convicted, include the murder of an 8-year-old boy -- raising the bar for heinousness and cruelty.

Asked whether they'd be able to sentence Tsarnaev to die by injection, the answers from his potential jurors range from "absolutely" to "no way" to somewhere in between: "I'm not wicked opposed to the death penalty."

The people with the strongest opinions -- those on the extreme ends of the juror questionnaire rating scale -- are the least likely to make the jury here. But as the past 19 days of juror quizzing has shown, there's a whole lot of middle for such a hot-button topic.

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It's no surprise, really. A 2013 poll by the Boston Globe showed that just a third of Boston's residents favor the death penalty for Tsarnaev; two-thirds would choose life in prison as his sentence.

It's a story that has been underscored, one by one, by those called to serve on Tsarnaev's jury. They sit at the end of a long wooden conference table, surrounded by lawyers and a jury consultant as they answer questions posed by U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole. When he is finished, he passes the prospect off to the lawyers. We can't see their faces, but with many potential jurors, their body language says "deer in the headlights."

When the questioning turns to the death penalty, some are certain in their answers, while others squirm and waffle and even cry.

It has taken 19 days of juror interviews to reach this point: The court announced Friday that it expects to empanel a jury early next week. The trial itself, with opening statements and the first witnesses, is expected to begin the week of March 2.

Massachusetts as a state hasn't executed anyone since 1947 and wiped the death penalty off its books in 1984. But its past is far more biblical. It was one of the first colonies to carry out the death penalty, hanging murderer John Billington in Plymouth in 1630. In all, Massachusetts has executed 345 people. Until 1951, first-degree murder carried a mandatory death sentence, and it's surprising to hear from Tsarnaev jury prospects who, some 60 years later, still think that is the case.

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The death penalty is supposed to be reserved for the worst of the worst.

Indeed, the executions in Massachusetts seem to reflect the worst fears of their times. Mary Dyer was one the so-called "Boston martyrs" hanged in 1660 under a law that banned Quakers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Then came the pirates and witches: 19 women were hanged in 1692 alone in the infamous Salem witch trials. Two Italian-born anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were executed in the electric chair in 1927 amid a huge public outcry spurred by writers, academics and celebrities of the time; many people believed them innocent.

The last people executed here, Phillip Bellino and Edward Gerlson, were reputed gangsters -- the bogeymen of the 1940s and '50s. They were sentenced to die for the kidnapping and murder of an ex-Marine.

The reporter who witnessed their 1947 executions in the electric chair was so shaken by the experience, he changed his position on the death penalty.

"The body stiffened so hard he almost came out of the chair," Russ Dallaire told the Boston Herald in 1997, 50 years later. "And with each succeeding charge, the body jerked with lessening effect until there was none at all." He remembers smelling burning flesh.

Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? Jury selection in the trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has taken longer than the judge had expected. For several weeks, prospective jurors have each taken a turn in the hot seat, being questioned by U.S. District Judge George A. O'Toole and attorneys for the prosecution and defense, as Tsarnaev, second from right in this court sketch, listened. But this case isn't the longest jury selection ever, by far. Although no one appears to keep official records on such matters, several infamous cases over the years have taken months to pick a jury, and longtime jury consultant Jo-Ellan Dimitrius recalls one jury selection that took the better part of a year. Click through the gallery to learn more: Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? Dimitrius helped pick the jury that eventually acquitted O.J. Simpson of murder charges in 1995. Simpson didn't face the death penalty, and it took about three months to pick a jury in his Los Angeles trial. Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? It took only 10 days to select a jury in the 2011 murder trial of Casey Anthony despite public sentiment against her. Anthony was accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, but the jury acquitted her of first-degree murder and the other most serious charges against her. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? The jury that heard the 2013 case against George Zimmerman, center, was picked in a day. The six-woman panel acquitted the Florida night watchman of charges he intentionally killed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? It took about four months to seat a jury to hear the 2004 case against Scott Peterson, right, accused of murdering his wife and unborn son. Peterson was represented by prominent Los Angeles defense attorney Mark Geragos, left. Peterson was convicted and sentenced to death. Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? It took 47 days to empanel a jury in Connecticut to hear one of the most horrific death penalty cases in recent memory, the so-called Cheshire murders. Two ex-cons, Steven Hayes, left, and Joshua Komisarjevsky, were convicted and sentenced to death for the 2007 home invasion murders of the wife and daughters of a prominent endocrinologist. Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: How long does it take to pick a jury? Consultant Dimitrius says the longest jury selection might belong to the trial of Richard Ramirez, known as "the Night Stalker." It took nine months to seat a jury in the capital murder case against Ramirez. His spree of serial murders, rapes and home invasions terrified Los Angeles and San Francisco in the mid-1980s. He received 13 death sentences but died of cancer in prison. In this 1985 courtoom photo, Ramirez displays a pentagram symbol on his hand. Hide Caption 7 of 7

With that kind of communal backstory, it's understandable that many people here are not comfortable talking publicly about where they stand on capital punishment.

Some potential Tsarnaev jurors say they honestly don't know what they'd do until put in the position of actually having to vote for another person's death. Jury consultant Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, the original 13th Juror , tells me that's as close to a perfect juror as anybody can come. She ought to know; she's helped pick juries in high-profile cases, such as O.J. Simpson's murder trial.

For 19 days, a roomful of reporters have watched John and Jane Q. Public search their hearts and minds for answers. Many of the jury prospects quote the Fifth Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." Some quote the Golden Rule, the one about doing unto others. One woman said she could probably sign off on a death sentence but she'd never send someone to prison for 40 or 50 years because she couldn't stand it herself. And then, volunteering what seemed to be a non sequitur, she said she wouldn't shave another person's head because, "I wouldn't want to shave my head."

"All I could think of at that time was 'Holy smokes, I wouldn't want to be that guy," said an air traffic controller who, like many others, is ambivalent about whether he could vote to give someone the death penalty. "I'm saying yes, but I could wind up in an 'I'm not sure' position, based on the evidence," he said.

Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos The second of two explosions goes off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Three people were killed and at least 264 were injured in the double bombings. Hide Caption 1 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos A man comforts a victim at the scene of the first explosion. Hide Caption 2 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Runners react near Kenmore Square after the explosions. Hide Caption 3 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Rescue workers tend to the wounded on the scene. First responders tried to save lives and limbs before transporting victims to hospitals. Hide Caption 4 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos On April 16, 2013, a vigil was held at Boston's Garvey Park for 8-year-old bombing victim Martin Richard . The other victims were Krystle Campbell , a 29-year-old restaurant manager from Medford, Massachusetts, and Lingzi Lu , a 23-year-old Chinese national attending graduate school at Boston University. Hide Caption 5 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos The city was quiet the day after the tragedy. Here, a young runner, left, sits in a church near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 6 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos On April 17, 2013, a federal law enforcement source with firsthand knowledge of the investigation told CNN that a lid to a pressure cooker -- thought to have been used in the bombings -- had been found on a roof of a building near the scene. It was one of several pieces of evidence authorities found Hide Caption 7 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos The device also had fragments such as nails, BBs and ball bearings, the FBI said. Hide Caption 8 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos On April 18, 2013, the FBI released photos and video of two suspects in the bombings and asked for the public's help in identifying them. Hide Caption 9 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos The FBI later identified the suspects as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , left, and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev Hide Caption 10 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos FBI Suspect No. 2, later said to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is apparently seen in this picture, far left in white cap. The photo was taken by Boston Marathon runner David Green at the scene of the bombings. Hide Caption 11 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos The man identified as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appears in a tighter crop of Green's photo. Green submitted the photo to the FBI, he told CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview. Hide Caption 12 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Late on the night of April 18, 2013, police responded to a call that a campus officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was shot and killed. Police said a man later reported being carjacked by the brothers. The two were stopped in Watertown, Massachusetts, where police said they threw explosives and shot at the officers. One man, assumed to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, drove off. The other, later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was injured. He died at the hospital. Hide Caption 13 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis speaks to the media on April 19, 2013, and explains that the city is on lockdown until the surviving suspect is found. Hide Caption 14 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Officers scoured Watertown, Massachusetts, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was last seen. Hide Caption 15 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Frightened residents were questioned near Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 16 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos SWAT teams conducted door-to-door searches in Watertown while looking for the suspect. Hide Caption 17 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Ruslan Tsarni , uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers, gave an interview April 19, 2013, outside his home in Montgomery Village, Maryland. He urged Tsarnaev to turn himself in. Hide Caption 18 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos SWAT teams continue to search in Watertown on April 19, 2013. Hide Caption 19 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos On the evening of April 19, 2013, a Watertown resident called the police and reported seeing a man on a boat in his backyard. Residents ran from the area where police said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was hiding on Franklin Street. Hide Caption 20 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Helicopters with infrared devices detected a man under the boat tarp. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's frame is seen in this thermal image released by Massachusetts State Police. Hide Caption 21 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos Police threw "flash-bangs" -- devices meant to stun people with a loud noise -- and started negotiations with Tsarnaev. He eventually surrendered and was transported to a local hospital in serious condition. Hide Caption 22 of 23 Photos: Boston bombings: The week in photos People wave U.S. flags in Watertown after it was announced that Tsarnaev had been captured. Hide Caption 23 of 23

A former lawyer who works for a construction company struggled, too. He pointed out that it will take three or four months to try the case, and questioned whether a death sentence would ever be carried out.

"If you don't go through with it, it's a waste of time and money. But I also believe if you have a law, you follow it."

He said he knows he is "not beyond the law" and could follow it. He lived in Illinois when that state put a moratorium on the death penalty and the governor commuted the sentences of everyone on death row. "I recall wondering whether this guy would be recognized down the road someday as this was the right thing to do," he said.

The white-haired man in the striped rugby shirt likes rules he can follow. He owns a restaurant and referees baseball, basketball and soccer games as a hobby. He considers himself a fair-minded person.

"The death penalty is there for a reason. You know it when you see it," he said.

But the choice between life and death isn't so easy, and he's more comfortable using sports analogies: "It would be like giving a very, very stern warning -- life imprisonment -- and ejection from the game -- death penalty."

Two death penalty cases are being tried this year in Boston's John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse. The other involves the first death sentence imposed after the state banned capital punishment.

It took 17 days to empanel a jury to decide Gary Lee Sampson's 2003 death sentence, and then it was overturned a decade later. The reason why can't be far from the minds of the lawyers and the judge as they painstakingly question each Tsarnaev prospect.

It turns out Sampson's death sentence was tossed out because a juror lied about being a victim of domestic violence and about her daughter's drug use and criminal record.

"Juror C's inability to remain detached is especially troubling in this case because of the similarity between her distress-inducing life experiences and the evidence presented during the penalty phase hearing," Judge Bruce M. Selya wrote for the 1st Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Sampson led a double life in North Carolina as a bank robber before returning to his hometown, Abington, and going on a murder spree in July 2001. He pleaded guilty to the stabbing murders of a 19-year-old college student and a 69-year-old man, He said he wanted their cars.

Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested on April 19, 2013, after a massive manhunt. An overnight shootout with police killed the other suspect -- Tsarnaev's 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan. A jury condemned Tsarnaev to death on Friday, May 15, for his role in killing four people and wounding hundreds more. Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev On April 18, 2013, the FBI released photos and videos of two suspects and asked the public to help identify them. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found on April 19, 2013, in a boat that was dry-docked in the backyard of a Watertown home. He was covered in blood from bullet wounds. Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev The August 2013 cover of Rolling Stone featured Tsarnaev and sparked a backlash against the magazine. Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Tsarnaev stands in court, flanked by his lawyers, in this sketch from July 2013. Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev An image posted to the social sharing website Reddit purportedly shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev being detained by law enforcement officers. Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Tsarnaev was seen on this convenience store surveillance video that was released by the Boston Police Department. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev A still of the suspects from footage released by the FBI after the bombing. Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Additional photos and video were released by the FBI. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev A picture of Tsarnaev from his apparent profile on VKontakte, a Russian social network similar to Facebook. Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev The Boston Police Department also released this undated photograph of Tsarnaev. Hide Caption 11 of 11

His resentencing trial is scheduled to begin September 15. By then, the Tsarnaev trial should be over. But just like in Tsarnaev's trial, the judge and prosecutors in Sampson's case will be sure to take their time questioning potential jurors to make sure they don't create another cause for retrial.

One of Tsarnaev's defense attorneys, Miriam Conrad, engaged in an intense exchange with a proud former sailor over his posts on Facebook. One included a photo of a sign with a slogan often invoked by U.S. Marines: "It's God's job to judge the terrorists. We just arrange the meeting."

Could they be a sign of bias?

The man, who now teaches middle school math and science, bristled at the defense attorney's questions. "I have formed the opinion that terrorists deserve the death penalty," he fired back, repeatedly addressing Conrad as "ma'am." And then he added, "I don't believe in revenge. I believe in justice."