Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body buried – police

Worcester police have announced that Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body was “entombed,” ending confusion about how to lay Tsarnaev to rest, as his body remained unburied for three weeks amid mixed public reaction.

Through help from a “courageous and compassionate individual,” it was possible to properly bury Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with officers on April 19, local police said in a statement. Authorities connected the unnamed individual to their “public appeal for help,” they said.

“His body is no longer in the city of Worcester and is now entombed,” the statement said, without specifying where Tsarnaev had been buried.

Many US cemeteries had refused to accept the bombing suspect’s remains over fears of bad publicity.

While some reacted by bashing Tsarnaev – some went as far as holding a protest against burying “this terrorist on American soil” – others questioned the morality of the vitriolic outbursts. The public resistance to Tsarnaev’s burial was unprecedented in recent US history, with criminals such as Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza buried without protest.

Tsarnaev’s body was released by the state medical examiner on May 1, with his death certificate listing the cause of death as “gunshot wounds of torso and extremities,” as well as “blunt trauma to the head and torso.” Tsarnaev was killed four days after he and his younger brother Dzhokhar allegedly detonated explosives near the Boston Marathon’s finish line. The attack killed three people and injured 264 others.

Meanwhile, the surviving Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told authorities that his sister-in-law, Katherine Russell, “played no role in the April 15 blasts,” NBC said quoting a federal law enforcement official.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow, Russell is still under scrutiny of federal authorities, who are pushing for “as much information as possible regarding whether the bombing suspects had ties to a terrorism network or accomplices working domestically or abroad,” according to legal experts quoted by AP.

Russell’s attorney Amato DeLuca on Wednesday said she hired a criminal lawyer Joshua Dratel, who previously has previously defended terrorism suspects. His “unique, specialized experience” will help ensure that Russell “can assist in the ongoing investigation in the most constructive way possible,” DeLuca added in a statement, stressing that her client will continue to meet with investigators.