Jury selection has begun for the trial of Ahmad Khan Rahimi – a man already serving two life sentences for bombings in Manhattan in 2016.
Rahimi was sentenced last year after a jury convicted him of setting off a pressure cooker device, injuring 30 people.
That explosion in Chelsea happened hours after a small pipe bomb exploded along the race route for the Seaside Semper Five Marine Charity race in Seaside Park. No one was injured in that bombing.
The bombings triggered a two-day manhunt that ended in a shootout with police in Linden.
The Afghanistan-born naturalized U.S. citizen now faces attempted murder and other charges in New Jersey stemming from his arrest after the bombings.
The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.