Tag: Boston Marathon Bombing (page 4)

Sergeant Sean P. Murphy, the State Police tactical photographer who leaked photos of a bloodied Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with a sniper's laser aimed at his head as he surrendered and departed the boat, has been placed on leave. He will have a hearing next week. He was not authorized to release the photos.

The U.S. Attorneys office, former prosecutors, police officials, a law professor and defense lawyers have all blasted Murphy's release of the photos.

“The release of these photos was completely unacceptable,” (U.S. Attorney) spokeswoman Christina DiIorio-Sterling said in a statement. [More...]

(Song here)

I'm sure there will be people outraged by the presence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of Rolling Stone. I'm not one of them. I'm looking forward to reading the featured article about him.

[RS Editor Janet]Reitman spent the last two months interviewing dozens of sources – childhood and high school friends, teachers, neighbors and law enforcement agents, many of whom spoke for the first time about the case – to deliver a riveting and heartbreaking account of how a charming kid with a bright future became a monster.

I just wish they hadn't called him a "monster." Hopefully the article will provide some unbiased insights into Jahar from people that really knew him. It comes out August 3. [More...]

While unnamed officials continue to tell the media that Ibragim Todashev "implicated" himself in the killing of three men in Boston in 2011, his wife (from whom he was separated) and father are speaking out and disputing the media allegations.

Ms. Manukyan, an Armenian who converted to Islam before marrying Mr. Todashev, says she met her late husband in 2010 through a mutual friend in Boston. She says she separated from Mr. Todashev last November but was still in regular contact with him and was partly supporting him through their joint bank account. She says she saw him last week when he came to visit her in Atlanta and spoke to him this week.

[More...]

The FBI and Boston police were in Florida questioning Ibragim Todashev, an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, when the FBI says he got violent and an FBI agent shot and killed him in self-defense.

Here is an interview with a friend of Todashev's.

An unnamed source says Todashev is "directly involved" in the triple murder in Massachusetts, in which one of the victims was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The source says Todashev and Tsarnaev knew each other from martial arts.

Undoubtedly, there is much more to this story. [More...]

Yesterday, the Judge in the Boston bombing case of defendant Dzokhar Tsarnaev issued an order denying a motion filed under seal in which the defense asked to take periodic photographs of Dzhokhar (Jahar) at Devens Medical Facility to be able to document his evolving physical and emotional state. The court declined to interfere with BOP policy which disallows visitors to have cameras on security grounds. It ruled that the staff at the prison can take the photos which will be shared with both parties (not just the defense.) Here is the Court's order, referencing the motion which was filed under seal as Docket Number 29. The order also refers to a response the Government filed under seal.

Looking at the docket, it appears that there have been many motions filed under seal, because so many numbers are missing. Instead of listing the docket number with a descriptive notation like "Motion to Suppress, Sealed, by Defendant", there's a big nothing. See below: [More..]

RiaNovosti in Russia recently interviewed Devens Medical Center spokesman John Colautti about Dzokhar Tsarnaev's conditions of confinement.

Jahar is locked down 23 hours a day 5 days a week and 24 hours a day on weekends. He has no TV. He could listen to a walkman radio if he had $45 to buy it. His meals are brought to his cell. A book cart is brought by his cell a few days a week. He eats every meal alone in his cell. He gets three showers a week -- in his cell. He's not allowed contact with other prisons. Even if his injuries improve and he is moved to another facility, it's unlikely his living conditions will be any different -- he'll be deemed to be a "celebrity" inmate who needs to be segregated from general population. This could easily go on for a year.

The only people he sees besides medical staff are his lawyers, and they are 30 miles away. He still can't have visitors because it takes a while. He has to submit the names of visitors -- they have to be people he knew before being arrested -- and then a thorough background check is done on them.

His cell is about 10 feet by 10 feet and contains only a bed bolted to the floor, a sink and a toilet. When he is taken out for exercise, he is shackled at the hands and feet by two guards, and brought to a cage type place outdoors where he can exercise. If weather is inclement, there's an indoor room where he could exercise alone. If the prison gets put on lockdown, or staff is short (e.g. from furloughs), he doesn't get to go.

More details here.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev is buried in Richmond, Virginia. Get over it. The protests are nothing more than rank bigotry.

“He’s a Muslim. We don’t need that here,” Margaret Stevens, a 68-year-old-retiree, said.

Update 5/10/13: Here is where he is buried.

Here is the statement from the City of Worcester, MA. informing the public that Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been laid to rest.

Worcester, MA (May 9, 2013) - As a result of our public appeal for help, a courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased. His body is no longer in the City of Worcester and is now entombed.

The Police Chief would like to thank all of the officers who worked the security detail at the funeral home and acknowledge their professionalism and dedication.

[More...]

Katherine Russell, widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has added New York criminal lawyer Josh Dratel to her legal team.

Excellent choice. He's experienced in terrorism cases and is co-author of the Torture Papers: the Road to Abu Ghraib and The Enemy Combatant Papers: American Justice, the Courts, and the War on Terror.

Others he has represented:

• Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks
• Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, who was acquitted in federal court in Idaho in 2004;
• Wadih El-Hage, a defendant in U.S. v. Usama bin Laden, which involved the August 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania;
• Mohamed Suleiman al-Nalfi, also charged in the Embassy Bombings case.
• Mohamed El-Mezain, a defendant in the federal Holy Land Foundation case
• Attorney Lynne Stewart (in the appeal of her terrorism conviction)

And more leaks from anonymous law enforcement sources about what Dzokhar Tsarnaev told the FBI: Today's leak is that he said Ms. Russell wasn't involved in the bombing.

Time has a new report on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's recent trip to Russia. Shorter version: Tamerlan was more radical than his Islamist cousin who is in a protest group. He didn't get radicalized in Russia, he tried to radicalize them. No one listened to him and they tried to dissuade him of his views.

Time reports the distant cousin "has been in jail since April 27 after a brawl with police in northern Dagestan." That's not quite the whole story. According to eyewitnesses, the cousin was part of a wedding party that got stopped by police for having an Islamic flag on the car. Ten members of the party, including the cousin, were beaten by police and arrested. In all, 17 members of the wedding party were charged. They have all been sentenced to "administrative penalties" of between 5 and 10 days in jail. Tamerlan's cousin's detention was extended a few days. [More...]

ABC reports the parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev are now considering cremation since Russia is unlikely to accept his body:

[T]he family of Tamarlen Tsarnaev is now considering cremating the body and trying to transport the ashes back to Russia, then burying them. Although cremation is against Islamic law, the parents see it as the only way of burying their son's remains, according to Heda Saratova, a local human rights activist and spokeswoman for the family.

But Russia might not accept the ashes. There are companies in Boston that will do burials at sea -- both of bodies and cremated remains. I wonder if they have called New England Burials at Sea.

Worcester Police Chief Gary J. Gemme held a press conference this morning outside the funeral home that is holding Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body.

Police Chief Gary J. Gemme pleaded today for anyone with authority to provide a burial site for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Gemme said Russia is not an option and there are no viable other prospects. Federal and state officials have not been responsive.

The city is spending $10,000. a day for security around the funeral home.

Whose fault is it that Worchester has to spend $10k a day guarding the funeral home? It's not the funeral director's fault. It's not Tamerlan Tsarnaev's fault. The need for security is due to the protesters. No sympathy here.