GOOD RIDDANCE: A hearse (above) bearing the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev yesterday arrives at a Massachusetts
funeral home. (AP)
GOOD RIDDANCE: A hearse bearing the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right) yesterday arrives at a Massachusetts funeral home. (
)
The Boston Marathon bombers originally planned to launch their attack on the Fourth of July — but moved up the date when they finished building their arsenal sooner than they expected, it was revealed yesterday.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wanted to set off the explosives on Independence Day, officials told NBC.
Dzhokhar, 19, told investigators the homemade pressure-cooker bombs were assembled in Tamerlan’s basement.
The latest twist in the case came as Tamerlan’s body was finally claimed by his family last night.
The remains were initially taken to the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home in North Attleboro, Mass.
The hearse was met last night by 50 demonstrators shouting and waving American flags.
“This is my hometown. It’s unimaginable to me that he’s here,” said Shannon Silzestri, who was at the marathon on April 15 with her two teenage children when the bombs detonated.
Silzestri went to the marathon to watch her husband cross the finish line, and lost partial hearing when the bombs went off.
“I haven’t slept a full night,” she said outside the funeral home. “I’m in disbelief. This is terrorizing me all over again.”
Other residents were appalled that the funeral home would take Tamerlan’s remains.
“This is a slap in the face to the Boston police, to the victims, to our town,” said Debbie Horner. “This is a well-known establishment, but now I hope they lose business.”
Timothy Nay of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home said this morning that he is no longer in possession of the body amid reports Tamerlan’s remains had been moved to a facility in Worcester.
Peter Stefan, owner of Graham Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester confirmed his facility will handle Tamerlan’s funeral arrangements but he could not confirm whether he has possession of the body.
That mortuary is familiar with Muslim services. Stefan said everybody deserves a dignified burial service no matter the circumstances of their death and he is prepared for protests. He added that arrangements have yet to be worked out.
Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with cops last month as he and Dzhokhar led authorities on a wild chase.
The exact cause of death has not been disclosed but could be known as soon as today, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety.
Just before the chaos, Dzhokhar, who was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction in the attack that killed three and injured more than 260, texted “LOL” to a pal who said Dzhokhar resembled a suspect in surveillance pictures made public.
The pal and another Dzhokhar friend were collared Wednesday in an alleged scheme to cover up Dzhokhar’s involvement in the attack, and another man was charged with lying to authorities about the alleged plot, feds said.
With AP