Boston Marathon bombing trial: Victim reveals how he 'locked eyes' with suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev

Jeffrey Bauman told the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev that he had noticed the 'odd' behaviour of the defendants' elder brother shortly before the twin blasts

Jeffrey Bauman says he noticed Tamerlan Tsarnaev, pictured, standing alone, not watching the race (AP)

A victim who lost his legs in the Boston marathon bombing said today that he locked eyes briefly with the elder brother of the suspect now on trial for the attack and thought something about him was “odd”.

The testimony from Jeffrey Bauman came on the second day of the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is charged with placing one of two home-made devices that went off close to marathon’s finishing line in April 2013 killing three people. The other bomb was placed by his elder brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

“He was alone. He wasn’t watching the race,” said Mr Bauman. “I looked at him, and he just kind of looked down at me. I just thought it was odd.”

Earlier, Judge George O’Toole rejected a request by the defence to curb the prosecution’s strategy of opening its case with searing testimony about the moments of carnage that immediately followed the twin blasts, coupled with video footage.

The defence team had argued that the testimony was prejudicial and that it should be presented only during the second phase of the trial, when the jury decides on the punishment.

After opening statements on Wednesday, prosecutors began calling survivors who shared stark memories of the horror and bloodshed. One of those Rebekah Gregory, who finally lost her left leg in November, told the court: “My bones were literally laying next to me on the sidewalk”.

Karen Rand McWaters, who lost her left leg, described the last moments of her friend Krystle Campbell, one of three who died in the blasts. She said Ms Campbell “very slowly said that her legs hurt,” as the two held hands. “Shortly after that, her hand went limp... and she never spoke again.”

“He didn’t look like he was fun like everyone else,” Mr Bauman said on the stand of the moment he saw Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was to die three days later during a running battle with police.

Mr Bauman, who was seen by television viewers around the world being pushed to an ambulance in a wheelchair, was later to describe the elder brother to the FBI as the manhunt began.