It’s been over two weeks since Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev allegedly detonated two pressure cooker bombs at the Boston Marathon; an act of terror that killed three and injured more than 200.
Since April 15, authorities have shut down and reopened the city of Boston, engaged in a shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers, captured the youngest of the two and charged him with using a weapon of mass destruction. He is now being held in a small cell in a federal medical detention center.
Authorities also arrested three of Dzhokhar’s friends on charges of falsifying information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The young men are accused of destroying Dzhokhar’s laptop and a backpack that held fireworks and potential explosives in order to protect him.
Police have also said that the brothers’ originally planned the bomb attacks for July 4, but moved the date up to Patriots Day.
Here are the latest updates in the ongoing case.
1. DNA on Bombs Is Not Katherine Russell’s
An analysis of DNA obtained from pieces of the Boston Marathon explosives found no matches to the widow of dead suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev or to either of the suspects, a law enforcement official said Friday.
The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said the source of the DNA is “unknown,” adding that it could belong to any one in a number of people, from the point of the bomb-component’s manufacture and distribution to sale.
Read about it here.
2. Bombs Were Made In Tamerlan’s Apartment
The bombs that caused the massive destruction at the marathon were constructed in the apartment Tamerlan lived in with wife Katherine Russell and their daughter, an unnamed U.S. law enforcement official told CNN Thursday. However, Russell denied knowing about her late husband’s suspected involvement in the marathon bombing.
3. Tamerlan’s 2009 Mugshots Released
This mugshot, taken in 2009, of Tamerlan Tsarnaev is giving investigators a look into his abusive past before the deadly blasts. Tsarnaev was arrested in 2009 for hitting his then-girlfriend following an argument about another woman, prompting assault and battery charges that were dismissed before trial.
4. Tamerlan To Be Buried In Boston
Yesterday, officials released Tamerlan’s body to his family, and today, it is being reported that instead of taking him back to Russia, he will be buried in Boston. The decision has caused outrage and backlash from Bostonians. A representative of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home in North Attleboro, Mass., confirmed to The Sun Chronicle that Tsarnaev’s body was brought to the funeral home from the Boston Medical Examiner’s office by one of its hearses. The medical examiner determined Tsarnaev’s cause of death on Monday, but officials said it wouldn’t become public until his remains were released and a death certificate was filed.
5. Victims To Get Paid
Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney in charge of The One Fund, the charity set up for the victims of the blasts, said the families of the three people who died could get more than $1 million apiece as part of a tentative compensation proposal set to be delivered next week. Those who lost multiple limbs could get comparable payouts, Feinberg said, while victims who lost one limb could get nearly $1 million.
Story developing.
