Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was formally sentenced to death in Boston.
The Boston Marathon bomber has apologized to his victims in a federal court hearing: “I am sorry for the lives I have taken, for the suffering that I have caused you.”
On June 24, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, remained impassive as victims lined up in court to condemn his “cowardly” actions.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan killed three and injured 264 when they bombed the finish line of the marathon in 2013.
A police officer was killed during the hunt for the Tsarnaev brothers.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died and Dzhokhar was sentenced to death last month but he was formally sentenced by the judge on June 24.
In his first statements since the start of the trial, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said he listened to all the victims’ testimony and noted survivors’ strength, patience and dignity.
He thanked Allah and his lawyers.
Speaking outside the court following the sentencing, victim Lynne Julian said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s apology was hollow and insincere and that her sense of security is forever changed.
“I regret ever wanting to hear him speak,” she said.
“He showed no remorse.”
Before Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spoke in court, several of the injured and bereaved used what was the first opportunity for them to make public their feelings.
Ed Fucarile, the father of Marc, who lost his right leg, said: “The first time I saw you in this courtroom, you were smirking at all the victims for your unspeakable cowardly act. You don’t seem to be smirking today.”
Bill Richard, father of 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest victim, said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could have stopped his brother on the morning of the attack.
“He chose hate. He chose destruction. He chose death. This is all on him.”
Seventeen people who lost legs in the attack were present in court. Many said they feared they were going to die.
It could be years until Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s legal process is finished. Death penalty sentences in the US often take years to carry out, and there will be an appeal.
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Three people were killed and 260 were injured when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan placed bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon in 2013.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, now 21, is likely to be moved to a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, to await execution, but there could be years of appeals.
Victims sobbed as the sentence was read, but Dzhkhar Tsarnaev showed no emotion.
“Now he will go away and we will be able to move on. Justice. In his own words, <<an eye for an eye>>,” said bombing victim Sydney Corcoran, who nearly bled to death and whose mother lost both legs.
After 14 hours of deliberations, the jury concluded that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev showed no remorse and therefore should be put to death.
“The jury has spoken. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will pay for his crimes with his life,” said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.
Massachusetts as a state ended the death penalty in 1984, but Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was tried on federal charges, meaning he was eligible for execution.
After the sentence was announced, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said: “The ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime and we hope that the completion of this prosecution will bring some measure of closure to the victims and their families.”
However, not all of the victims supported the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The parents of Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy killed in the blast, wrote an article in the Boston Globe newspaper last month asking the government to not seek a death sentence as it would delay their emotional closure.
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has expressed remorse over the bombings, a defense witness testified as his lawyers finished their case to spare his life.
Forty witnesses testified for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, including anti-death penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean.
Helen Prejean testified on May 11 that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told her of the bombing victims: “No one deserves to suffer like they did.”
The April 2013 bombings killed three people and injured more than 260.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, has expressed genuine regret and sorrow over the bombings, the Roman Catholic said.
Prosecutors pushed to exclude her testimony, but a judge decided to allow it.
Helen Prejean began prison ministry in 1981 in New Orleans and corresponded with Patrick Sonnier, a death row inmate who had been convicted of killing two teenagers.
She wrote a best-selling book on her experiences called Dead Man Walking, which was later turned into a movie.
Prosecutors will now call rebuttal witnesses. Both sides will deliver closing arguments before the jury decides Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s fate.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers have admitted he played a role in the attacks but said that his older brother, Tamerlan, was the driving force.
The defense emphasized on young age of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who was 19 at the time of the attacks.
Lawyers also highlighted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s rough family life. The Tsarnaevs – ethnic Chechens – had lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and the volatile Dagestan region of Russia, near Chechnya, before moving to the US in 2002.
Teachers called Dzhokhar Tsarnaev “sweet” and “hardworking” while other witnesses said his mother was obsessed with religion and his father had post-traumatic stress disorder, contributing to his actions.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of bombing Boston Marathon in April 2013, has been found guilty of all 30 charges that he faced, many of which carry the death penalty.
The jury in Massachusetts will now decide what sentence Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, will receive.
Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when the bombs exploded at the finish line in April 2013.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers admitted he played a role in the attacks but said his older brother was the driving force.
The guilty conviction was widely expected. In the next phase of the trial, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s legal team will push for him to be given a life-in-prison sentence instead of death.
His chief lawyer, Judy Clarke, specializes in defending high-profile clients facing the death penalty, including the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.
Although Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team had repeatedly appealed for a change of venue, Boston is not known for its support of capital punishment.
Massachusetts abolished the practice in 1984 and has not executed anyone since 1947. But Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted of federal, not state crimes.
A police officer was killed in the days following the attack as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, who also died, attempted to flee.
As the guilty verdicts were read on April 8, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev kept his hands folded in front of him and looked down.
Nearby, the mother of one victim, 8-year-old Martin Richard, wiped tears from her face after the verdict was read. Martin Richard’s father embraced one of the prosecutors.
The governor of Massachusetts welcomed the verdict, and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said: “I hope today’s verdict provides a small amount of closure.”
The family of Officer Sean Collier, who was killed days after the attack, said: “While today’s verdict can never bring Sean back, we are thankful that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be held accountable for the evil that he brought to so many families.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team say he took part in the bombing, but argue that his elder brother, Tamerlan, was the mastermind of the attack who influenced Dzhokhar into participating.
Prosecutors portrayed the brothers as equal partners in a plan to “punish America” for wars in Muslim countries.
Among the most damning evidence was a video that showed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev placing a backpack bomb near to Martin Richard, and a statement scrawled inside the boat where he was found hiding days after the attack.
“Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop,” Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote, as he lay wounded and bleeding inside the dry-docked boat in suburban garden.
The jury was also shown a surveillance video of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev casually purchasing milk at a nearby supermarket less than 30 minutes after the bombs wreaked carnage at the finish line.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is an ethnic Chechen. His family moved to the US about a decade before the bombings.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev “wanted to punish America” when he and his brother Tamerlan planted bombs at the Boston Marathon, the prosecutor has told the jury at his trial.
The comments came as closing arguments commenced at the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who allegedly perpetrated the bombings.
Judge George O’Toole outlined the law to the 18-person jury ahead of last-ditch arguments from the lawyers.
If found guilty, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is charged with 30 counts, will face life imprisonment or execution.
His lawyers admit he carried out the attacks but say he was under the influence of his radicalized brother.
Prosecutors are expected to remind the jury of the attack’s brutality.
Judge George O’Toole explained to the jury how the 30 separate counts were related to the different elements involved – the bombings during the race, the murder of a police officer, a car jacking and a shoot-out with police.
Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, died after two pressure cooker bombs packed with nails, ball bearings and other shrapnel detonated in April 2013.
More than 260 people were injured, with many losing limbs.
Earlier in the trial, the defense made the surprise admission that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, now 21, had participated in the attacks.
Defense lawyers argue that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died during a massive manhunt, had orchestrated the attacks and by doing so they hope to spare their client the death penalty.
If convicted, a second phase will determine the punishment, and the jury will have to decide whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be put to death.
Boston Marathon attacks were the deadliest terror attack on US soil since 9/11.
The trial of Boston Marathon suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev has began in the city where three people died and more than 260 were injured in the terror attack two years ago.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, denies more than 30 counts of using a weapon of mass destruction.
Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed after two pressure cooker bombs packed with nails, ball bearings and other shrapnel detonated.
It was the deadliest terror attack on US soil since 9/11.
More than 260 people were injured, with many losing limbs.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is also accused of killing a police officer in the days after the bombing.
A huge police man hunt followed the attacks, culminating in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s arrest and the death of his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan, who was also suspected of the bombings.
It took the court more than two months to select a jury.
Over 1,300 potential jurors were considered, with many rejected on the grounds they had already made their minds up about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s guilt, or were not willing to vote for execution if he is found guilty – something prosecutors are pushing for.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team repeatedly tried to have the hearing moved out of Boston, saying a fair trial would be impossible in the city.
They are expected to argue that his elder brother was the driving force behind the attack.
The prosecution will argue that the brothers – both ethnic Chechens – set off the bombs as an act of retaliation against the US for its military action in Muslim countries.
They plan to show jurors panels of the boat which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found by police in, where he had allegedly scrawled anti-US messages.
Jury selection has begun in the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is accused of killing three people and injuring more than 260 in April 2013.
He faces the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted of detonating a pair of homemade bombs.
The attack near the marathon’s finish line was the largest on American soil since 9/11.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to all 30 charges against him.
His trial is expected to last at least three months.
Jury selection alone is expected to take several weeks as Judge George O’Toole selects 12 jurors and six alternates from about 1,200 prospective jurors who have been summoned to the court in Boston.
The process could be made more complicated if potential jurors express objections to the death penalty.
Testimony is unlikely to begin until February, the Boston Globe reported, and a verdict may not be announced until late spring or early summer.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers say they have not had sufficient time to prepare for the trial.
They also argue that appointing impartial jurors in the same city where the bombs were detonated is impossible.
Correspondents say the prosecution will be one of the most important for the government since Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death in 1997 for detonating a truck bomb in Oklahoma City two years earlier.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan lived in the Massachusetts town of Cambridge, home to Harvard University, after emigrating to the US in 2002 from the Caucasus region of southern Russia.
The prosecution will argue that the brothers set off the bombs as an act of retaliation against the US for its military action in Muslim countries.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a shootout with police days after the bombing.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was wounded and eventually found by police hiding inside a boat in a residential neighborhood.
He will be defended by a team of five lawyers, including Judy Clarke, an expert in capital punishment cases.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is due in court on January 5, has made two other brief court appearances since his arrest.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has appeared in court for the first time over the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
The final pre-trial hearing in the case was held in Boston ahead of jury selection for a federal trial, which is due to begin on January 5.
Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, faces the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted of the April 2013 bombings.
Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two bombs detonated near the marathon’s finish line.
The Associated Press news agency reports that the courtroom for Thursday’s hearing was packed with FBI agents, police who worked on the case, and survivors and family members.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was led into the courtroom by US marshals, was wearing a black sweater and grey trousers and sporting a beard, the agency adds.
Prosecutors allege that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, built and planted the two pressure-cooker bombs.
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev lived in the Massachusetts town of Cambridge, home of the prestigious Harvard University, after emigrating to the US in 2002 from the Caucasus region of southern Russia.
Officials believe the brothers set off the bombs as an act of retaliation against the US for its military action in Muslim countries.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a shootout with police days after the bombing.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was wounded and was eventually found by police hiding inside a boat in a residential neighborhood.
Ailina Tsarnaeva, the sister of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was arrested Wednesday, August 27, on suspicion of threatening to bomb a woman who previously had a romantic relationship with her boyfriend.
Ailina Tsarnaeva, who lives in North Bergen, New Jersey, made the threat against an upper Manhattan woman via telephone on Monday, police said. She turned herself in at a Manhattan police precinct, and police charged her with aggravated harassment.
Several media outlets reported Ailina Tsarnaeva told the Harlem woman she had “people who can go over there and put a bomb on you”.
Officers gave Ailina Tsarnaeva an appearance ticket and released her pending a September 30 court date.
Ailina Tsarnaeva was arrested on suspicion of threatening to bomb a woman who previously had a romantic relationship with her boyfriend (photo Boston Herald)
A telephone number linked to Ailina Tsarnaeva was disconnected. Her lawyer, George Gormley, said he had left his office and would speak Thursday.
Ailina Tsarnaeva has been required to check in with Massachusetts probation officers since prosecutors said she failed to cooperate with a 2010 counterfeiting investigation.
Prosecutors said Ailina Tsarnaeva picked up someone who passed a counterfeit bill at a restaurant at a Boston mall and “lied about certain salient facts during the investigation.”
At a hearing last October, George Gormley said Ailina Tsarnaeva was pregnant with her second child and was unlikely to flee.
Ailina Tsarnaeva once lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at an apartment linked to her brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who were the subjects of an intense manhunt in the Boston area in the days after the deadly April 2013 marathon bombing.
Records show Ailina Tsarnaeva now lives with a sister, Bella Tsarnaeva.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is charged with building and planting the two pressure cooker bombs that exploded near the marathon’s finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others. He has pleaded not guilty.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after a gunbattle with police.
Azamat Tazhayakov, a college friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was convicted Monday of impeding the investigation into Boston Marathon bombing.
Azamat Tazhayakov was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy, with prosecutors saying he agreed with a friend’s plan to remove Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s backpack containing altered fireworks from his dorm room a few days after the 2013 bombing.
His trial was the first stemming from the bombing, which killed three and injured more than 260 near the marathon’s finish line. Azamat Tazhayakov’s mother sobbed loudly and rocked in her seat as the jury announced the guilty verdicts, which it reached on the third day of deliberations.
Azamat Tazhayakov’s lawyers argued that it was the other friend, Dias Kadyrbayev, who removed the items from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth dorm room and then threw them away.
Prosecutors told the jury that both men shared in the decision to remove the items and get rid of them to protect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Diaz Kadyrbayev faces a separate trial in September. A third friend, Robel Phillipos, is charged with lying to investigators.
Azamat Tazhayakov was convicted of impeding the investigation into Boston Marathon bombing
During Azamat Tazhayakov’s trial, FBI agents testified that he told them he and Dias Kadyrbayev decided to take the backpack, fireworks and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s laptop computer hours after Kadyrbayev received a text message from Tsarnaev that said he could go to his dorm room and “take what’s there”. The items were removed hours after the FBI released photos and video of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, and identified them as suspects in the bombing.
Azamat Tazhayakov’s lawyer, Matthew Myers, said his client was a naive college kid who was prosecuted because he was a “friend of the bomber”.
Matthew Myers said Azamat Tazhayakov and another friend, Robel Phillipos, sat passively watching a movie in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dorm room as Dias Kadyrbayev took the backpack.
Prosecutors acknowledged that Dias Kadyrbayev is the one who actually threw away the items taken from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s room, but they said Azamat Tazhayakov agreed with the plan.
The backpack and fireworks were later recovered in a New Bedford landfill. Prosecutors said the fireworks had been emptied of their explosive powder – an ingredient that can be used to make bombs.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev escaped, but was found later that day, wounded and hiding in a boat parked in a backyard in nearby Watertown.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty in the bombing and is scheduled to stand trial in November. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
Azamat Tazhayakov is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16. He faces a five-year maximum for conspiracy and 20-year maximum for obstruction but likely will get a lot less under sentencing guidelines.
According to court documents, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote a note declaring “we Muslims are one body” as he emerged from the boat where he had hidden from investigators.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, wrote about his dead brother, Tamerlan: “I do not mourn because his soul is very much alive. God has a plan for each person. Mine was to hide in this boat and shed some light on our actions.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote a note as he emerged from the boat where he had hidden from investigators
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died on his way to the hospital after the bombings in April 2013. Dzhokar Tsarnaev is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction resulting in the deaths of a boy and three other people.
In his note, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev added: “…we Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all… know you are fighting men who look into the barrel of your gun and see heaven, now how can you compete with that.”
The court documents cited by WHDH were filed Wednesday by prosecutors opposing a motion from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers to suppress statements he made at the time of his arrest, claiming he had made them under duress.
During those interviews, court documents allege, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev “readily admitted involvement” in the bombings and remained “responsive, coherent, and clearheaded” throughout the questioning.
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev joked with a friend not to text him hours after the FBI released Tsarnaev’s photo as a suspect in the deadly attack, text messages showed.
Dias Kadyrbayev texted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shortly after the FBI publicly released photos of Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, as suspects in the deadly 2013 attack.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev responded that he had seen the news, then texted: “Better not text me my friend.” Then: “Lol.”
In another text, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told Dias Kadyrbayev he could go to his room and “take what’s there” followed by a smiley face.
Some of the messages had been released previously, but a complete transcript of Dias Kadyrbayev’s text messages in the days after the bombing was released by prosecutors Thursday.
Dias Kadyrbayev texted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shortly after the FBI publicly released photos of Tsarnaev brothers (photo VKontakte)
Dias Kadyrbayev and another friend, Azamat Tazhayakov, are accused of removing a backpack containing fireworks and a laptop from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth several days after the bombings. A third friend, Robel Phillipos, is accused of lying to investigators.
None of the three men are accused of participating in the bombing or knowing about it ahead of time.
Azamat Tazhayakov and Robel Phillipos declined to testify this week during a hearing over statements they made under questioning by federal agents.
US District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock said Thursday he would not throw out their statements.
Dias Kadyrbayev had been expected to testify Friday, but Judge Douglas Woodlock said that will be postponed until after testimony from an expert witness.
The judge did not rule on Dias Kadyrbayev’s request to suppress statements he made to investigators; his suppression hearing is expected to resume in two weeks.
Prosecutors and the men’s attorneys are arguing over whether the statements were voluntary and can be used as evidence in the upcoming trials. Prosecutors have said the men willingly spoke to federal agents after being told of their right to remain silent and to contact a lawyer. Dias Kadyrbayev’s lawyer, Robert Stahl, has argued that his client, who is from Kazakhstan, did not have a complete command of the English language and did not fully understand the waiver forms he signed.
Three people were killed and more than 260 others injured in two bomb attacks at Boston Marathon in April 2013.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges and is awaiting trial in November. His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, also a suspect in the bombings, died following a shootout with police several days later.
Boston honored three killed and more than 260 injured in the last year’s bomb attack as thousands of marathoners took to the city’s streets for this year’s race.
Dignitaries, spectators and more than 36,000 runners observed a moment of silence before the race began.
The heavy security operation included a ban on rucksacks and screening at checkpoints.
US runner Meb Keflezighi and Rita Jeptoo from Kenya won the men’s and women’s races.
Athletes with disabilities were the first competitors to set off, at 08:50 local time.
The elite women’s race started at 09:32, with the elite men setting off half an hour later, followed by thousands of other runners.
Boston honored three killed and more than 260 injured in the last year’s bomb attack as thousands of marathoners took to the city’s streets
Meb Keflezighi won the men’s race, clocking in at 2 hours, 8 minutes and 37 seconds.
He is the first US runner to take the title since 1985.
Rita Jeptoo was the first to cross the finish line in the women’s race, marking her third win in the competition.
She finished the course in a record 2 hours, 18 minutes and 57 seconds.
The 26.2-mile (42.2 km) route was tightly guarded in a massive mobilization of law enforcement agencies, including police units, bomb squads and tactical assault teams from other states.
The Boston police department erected 8,000 steel barricades, 1,200 more than last year.
Many people in the city have been wearing “Boston Strong” T-shirts.
Last year’s winner of the men’s elite race, Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, was competing again and met several victims of the blast.
Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is due to stand trial in November. He has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges, including 17 that carry the death penalty.
Thousands of participants are preparing to take part at this year’s Boston Marathon amid tight security following last year’s bombings.
In last year’s race two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and wounding more than 260.
But the attack has not deterred runners from Monday’s event. More than 36,000 will start – 9,000 more than normal.
Half a million spectators are expected to turn out. They will pass through checkpoints and will not be allowed to bring rucksacks – only clear bags.
Never before has the marathon been run amid so many layers of security.
Thousands of participants are preparing to take part at this year’s Boston Marathon amid tight security following last year’s bombings
Protecting the 26.2 mile route has involved a massive mobilization of law enforcement agencies, including police units, bomb squads and Swat teams from other states.
The Boston police department has erected 8,000 steel barricades, 1,200 more than last year.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick told CBS television on Sunday that the added security measures would assure a “very safe” atmosphere.
Runners and their families posed at the finish line on Sunday, determined to take part in the event.
Many people in the city have been wearing “Boston Strong” T-shirts.
Last year’s winner, Lelisa Desisa, returns to compete again. He has met several victims of the blast, calling them “an inspiration”.
The event will begin with a moment’s silence at the start line at 08:45.
Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is due to stand trial in November. He has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges, including 17 that carry the death penalty.
Prosecutors allege that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev set off two pressure cooker bombs with his older brother Tamerlan, 26, who later died in a police shoot-out.
Boston is holding a tribute event on the anniversary of the deadly bombing at last year’s marathon.
Vice-President Joe Biden told survivors they were an example of “pure courage”.
Boston’s leaders thanked those who saved lives in the frenzied aftermath.
Three people were killed and some 264 injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line at last year’s Boston Marathon.
“I know that no memorial, no words, no acts can fully provide the solace that your hearts and soul still yearn to acquire,” Joe Biden said at a midday memorial program.
“I hope it eases your grief a little bit.”
Participants in Tuesday’s ceremonies included representatives from families of the victims, members of the city’s fire, police and ambulance services, government agencies and civic organizations.
Boston is holding a tribute event on the anniversary of the deadly bombing at last year’s marathon (photo LA Times)
Dignitaries in attendance included Joe Biden, former Mayor Thomas Menino, current Mayor Martin Walsh, Governor Deval Patrick, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and others.
This year’s Boston Marathon is due to take place on April 21.
Tuesday’s memorial events began with a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the explosions, attended by the families of the three bombing victims – Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lu Lingzi.
Relatives of university police officer Sean Collier, who was killed during a manhunt for the suspects, also attended the solemn ceremony.
An invitation-only audience of about 2,500 people gathered at the city’s convention centre at midday to remember victims and honor those who responded to the attack.
“This day will always be hard, but this place will always be strong,” Thomas Menino said.
“Even though the memory still brings tears to our eyes and our heart aches for those we have lost, it’s a comfort to be here with family and friends who got us through that tragic day.”
Several survivors spoke at the event, including Patrick Downes and dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, both of whom lost their lower left legs in the bombings.
“We should have never met this way, but we are so grateful for each other,” Patrick Downes said, describing the sense of community that has developed among those who were injured.
The program finished with remarks from Joe Biden, who said last year, “the whole world witnessed ordinary people doing extraordinary things”.
The vice-president ended the tribute to loud applause: “We are Boston. We are America. We respond. We endure. We overcome, and we own the finish line.”
As the race approaches, officials have warned residents and visitors to expect a larger than normal police presence in the city streets.
However, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said it would be “the Boston Marathon as it has always been”.
“Our goal is for everyone to enjoy the race,” he said.
City health officials say they have also made preparations to help those affected by the bombings cope with the anniversary.
Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is due to stand trial in November. He has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges, of which 17 carry the possibility of capital punishment.
Prosecutors allege that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev set off two pressure cooker bombs with his older brother Tamerlan, 26, who later died in a police shoot-out.
The Boston FBI agent that killed Ibragim Todashev – a friend of Boston Marathon suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was justified in fatally shooting him, a Florida prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said Ibragim Todashev was a “fearless fighter” who brandished a long metal pole as he attacked the agent and a Massachusetts state trooper who had been interviewing him in his Orlando apartment.
Shortly afterward, the Department of Justice’s civil rights division also cleared the agent.
Ibragim Todashev sustained seven gunshot wounds in the incident, according to an autopsy.
“My conclusion, based upon the facts presented to me in this investigation, is that the actions of the Special Agent of the FBI were justified in self-defense and defense of another,” State Attorney Jeffrey L. Ashton said in a letter communicating the findings of his investigation to FBI Director James Comey.
Ibragim Todashev, a 27-year-old mixed-martial arts fighter, had allegedly just confessed to a role in the 2011 killings of three Waltham men, a crime in which Tamerlan Tsarnaev has also been eyed as a suspect.
The letter said that two Massachusetts state troopers and the FBI agent interviewed Ibragim Todashev for 4½ hours during which he admitted “some involvement in the triple homicide that was under investigation”.
Ibragim Todashev had allegedly just confessed to a role in the 2011 killings of three Waltham men, a crime in which Tamerlan Tsarnaev has also been eyed as a suspect (photo Wikipedia)
One of the troopers left the room after Ibragim Todashev agreed to prepare a written statement describing his involvement. Ibragim Todashev’s demeanor changed at that point, the letter said.
While neither the trooper nor the agent left in the room was looking, a coffee table “is propelled into the air” striking the FBI agent in the head. Ibragim Todashev ran to the kitchen and could be heard rummaging through drawers, apparently looking for something, the letter said.
The trooper then allegedly saw Ibragim Todashev “moving in his direction carrying a long pole of some sort … with the end of the pole pointed toward him as if intended to be used to impale rather than strike,” the letter said.
The FBI agent fired three to four shots from his .40-caliber Glock 23 pistol at Ibragim Todashev as he advanced. Ibragim Todashev was dropped to his knees but was not incapacitated and “immediately sprung toward the officers in what the [trooper] describes as a low angled lunge”. The FBI agent fired three to four more shots, incapacitating and killing Ibragim Todashev, the letter said.
The law enforcement agents knew of Ibragim Todashev’s history as a skilled martial arts fighter, having reviewed his fights on video. They were also aware of recent violent confrontations he had been in both Florida and in Massachusetts, the letter said.
At the moment of the final fray, Ibragim Todashev had easy access to a door behind him to flee, but instead of fleeing, he appeared to choose to fight, the letter said.
“There is no evidence of close range firing in any of the gunshot wounds,’’ the report said. The medical examiner said six bullets were recovered from Ibragim Todashev’s body.
The report marked the first detailed public findings about the fatal shooting of Ibragim Todashev since the May 22 incident. The FBI’s own internal review was completed months ago, and it was awaiting the final review by the Department of Justice.
For more than 10 months, the bureau refused to release the autopsy results or basic details, such as whether Ibragim Todashev was armed, leading to widespread skepticism about the integrity of the investigation.
Ibragim Todashev’s father, Abdulbaki Todashev, a government official on leave in Todashev’s native Chechnya, a region in southern Russia, has said in the past that he would consider a wrongful death lawsuit against the bureau. He has also sent photos of his son’s bullet-ridden body to President Barack Obama and urged him to investigate the case.
Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is facing the death penalty in the US.
Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement: “The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision.”
Seventeen of 30 charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, carry the possibility of capital punishment, including using a weapon of mass destruction to kill.
The bombings killed three and injured more than 260 in April 2013.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty and no trial date has been set.
Prosecutors allege that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his deceased older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, built and planted two pressure cooker bombs near the finish line of the marathon.
Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is facing the death penalty in the US
The brothers lived in the Massachusetts town of Cambridge, home of the prestigious Harvard University, after emigrating to the US in 2002 from the Caucasus region of southern Russia.
Officials believe they set off the bombs in retaliation against the US for its military action in Muslim countries.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during a shootout with police days after the bombing. The younger brother was wounded and was eventually found inside a boat in a residential neighborhood.
Prosecutors allege Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote about his motivation for the bombing on the inside of the boat.
He allegedly wrote the US government was killing “our innocent civilians” and “I can’t stand to see such evil go unpunished”.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is also charged with killing a university police officer and carjacking.
He will be charged under the federal death penalty law; Massachusetts abolished the use of capital punishment in 1984.
Since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, 70 people convicted have been placed on death row.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, the widow of Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, still faces the threat of criminal charges and remains “of interest” to Federal and State investigators four months after the terror attack.
Katherine Russell, 24, has met with investigators several times since the bombs were detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.
A source close to the investigation has told MailOnline that law enforcement officials “still want to know what she knows”, and have not ruled out bringing charges.
The source said: “We are still very interested to know what she knows and can’t rule out anything at the moment in terms of future charges or where the investigation will take us.
“So no we’ve not ruled out bringing charges. This is an ongoing investigation and she’s of interest. We are proceeding carefully and thoroughly. It’s not over.”
Her attorney, Amato DeLuca said: “Katie has co-operated with the government extensively. Hopefully, they will conclude that Katie should not be charged.”
Katherine Russell did not meet with Federal investigators until April 22 – a full seven days after the bombings – when several agents spent just 15 minutes speaking with her lawyers at the Russell family’s Rhode Island home.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev still faces the threat of criminal charges and remains “of interest” to Federal and State investigators after Boston Marathon attack
In the months since the bombs that killed four and wounded 264, with many suffering horrendous wounds including loss of limbs, Katherine Russell’s behavior and movements have been a source of great interest and scrutiny.
In May, CNN reported one key area of interest is a telephone call made by Katherine Russell to her husband shortly after authorities released his and his brother’s picture to identify them as suspects during the manhunt in the days after the bombings.
The FBI is believed to have retrieved the content of that conversation. Although information collected in this way is rarely presented in court, it can inform the course of investigations and interviews.
In May, Katherine Russell added New York attorney Joshua Dratel to her legal team, a criminal lawyer with experience in defending terrorism cases.
Until then Katherine Russell had been content to be represented by Amato DeLuca, a longtime family friend and a specialist in civil cases such as personal injury law.
Joshua Dratel’s expertise is very different. He has represented terrorism suspects in federal courts and military commissions with Guantanamo Bay detainee, David Hicks, one of his most famous clients.
David Hicks attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. He spent more than five years in Guantanamo and went onto serve a nine-month sentence in Australia having pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in March 2007.
Speaking at the time, Amato DeLuca explained Katherine Russell’s decision and said: “Mr. Dratel’s unique, specialized experience will help insure that Katie can assist in the ongoing investigation in the most constructive way possible.”
The move to bring Joshua Dratel on board came after it was reported by the Washington Post that investigators had discovered radical Islamist files on Katherine Russell’s computer.
It remains unclear whether the extremist files found on Katherine Russell’s home computer belonged to her or were downloaded by her late husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev or his younger brother Dzhokar, 19, who is currently awaiting trial.
They included content from al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, which has featured articles such as, Make A Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.
Investigators have speculated that this may have provided the blueprint for the homemade bombs – two pressure cookers packed with shrapnel – which were detonated with such devastating effect.
Despite submitting not guilty pleas to 30 charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction to kill, Dzokhar Tsarnaev allegedly told arresting officers that he and his older brother built the pressure cooker bombs in the basement of the Cambridge, Massachusetts, apartment building in which Tamerlan and Katherine Russell lived.
Boston bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was in possession of right-wing American literature in the run-up to the attack, it was emerged today.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev subscribed to publications espousing white supremacy and government conspiracy theories.
He also had reading material on mass killings.
Until now Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar were widely perceived as just self-styled radical jihadists.
It was reported that Tamerlan Tsarnaev possessed articles which argued that both 9/11 and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing were government conspiracies.
Another in his possession was about “the rape of our gun rights”.
Reading material he had about white supremacy commented that “Hitler had a point”.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev also had literature which explored what motivated mass killings and noted how the perpetrators murdered and maimed calmly.
There was also material about US drones killing civilians, and about the plight of those still imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.
Boston bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was in possession of right-wing American literature in the run-up to the attack
The Tsarnaev brothers, ethnic Chechens, spent their early years moving around a troubled region of Russia torn by a violent Islamic insurgency.
But for the last decade they lived in Cambridge, near Boston.
It appears Tamerlan Tsarnaev turned against the country and became passionate about Islam after becoming frustrated when his boxing career faltered because he did not have American citizenship.
A spokesperson for Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s mosque in Cambridge, Nicole Mossalam, said Tamerlan only prayed there occasionally. She portrayed him as an angry young man who latched onto Islam.
“As far connecting with the Islamic community here, to actually praying, being involved, doing acts of charity….all of those were pretty much lacking.
“I would say he was just a Muslim of convenience,” she said.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tamerlan’s younger brother who has been charged with the bombings, scrawled a note shortly before his capture stating: “We Muslims are one body. You hurt one you hurt us all.”
The brothers had been reading militant Islamic websites before the bombings.
The FBI has been investigating the brothers, and possible connections Tamerlan Tsarnaev might have had in the troubled Russian republic of Dagestan which he visited last year.
The House Intelligence Committee in Washington is being briefed on his connections.
The committee chairman, Mike Rogers said he believes the brothers’ mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, was involved in Tamerlan’s radicalization.
“He had family members encouraging, we know that for sure,” he said.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva denies the allegations.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in April following a gun fight with police which ended when his younger brother ran him over while trying to escape.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, recently brought to court, denied all charges.
If convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev made his first court appearance denying all 30 charges against him while he blew a kiss to his sisters.
But to the disgust of the victims of the April Marathon bombing who had come to the South Boston courtroom to stare down the “face of evil”, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, failed to even glance in their direction.
He was dressed in an orange jump suit, with his arm in a cast as he was led into the court in handcuffs by a police officer in black gloves.
Despite the near fatal injuries following a dramatic shoot-out with police that killed his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, he was able to stand up and enter a not guilty plea to the charges against him – 17 of which carry the death penalty. He is accused of killing three and injuring 264 others.
It had been unclear what Dzhokhar Tarnaev’s current condition was until those in the audience saw him.
Previously at the brink of death following a bloody shootout with police, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was able to stand in the courtroom and enter his pleas.
In spite of this, and what some called his “cocky” attitude as he entered, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had some apparent lingering physical problems in addition to the obvious issue with his cast hand.
The Boston Marathon alleged bomber continued to peer back at his family over the seven-minute hearing. He was led away in handcuffs and shackles as swiftly as he’d been led in.
But not before he repeated “Not guilty”, seven times over in an obvious Russian accent.
Four hours earlier, for an arraignment that took less than 10 minutes, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev arrived in a four-vehicle motorcade that included a van, a Humvee, and a state police car.
Prosecutors William Weinreb, Aloke Chak Ravarty, and Nadine Pellegrini said they intend to call between 80 and 100 witnesses to the stand over the course of a trial they said will likely last three to four months.
A huge police presence was in force and the courthouse jammed for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s appearance.
Space was reserved in the main courtroom for victims’ families, and emotions were high during the brief hearing as around 30 were in attendance alongside a dozen or so supporters.
One of the victims, MIT Police Chief John DiFava, who was also in the courtroom, said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev looked “smug”.
“I didn’t see a lot of remorse. I didn’t see a lot of regret,” he said.
“It just seemed to me that if I was in that position, I would have been a lot more nervous, certainly scared.”
John DiFava added: “I just wanted to see him. I wanted to see the person that so coldly and callously killed four people, one of whom being an officer of mine.”
Others who survived the two bombs exploding at the finishing line in April were in court.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev made his first court appearance denying all 30 charges against him
Martin Richard, 8; Krystle Marie Campbell, 29; and Lingzi Lu, 23 were killed by the bombs, which were improvised from pressure cookers. Authorities say the Tsarnaev brothers also killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology officer Sean Collier days later while they were on the run.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s two sisters, both dressed in Muslim attire, sobbed as the charges against their brother were read.
One carried a baby, the other wiped away tears with a tissue. His parents remained back in Russia.
A group of about a dozen Dzhokhar Tsarnaev supporters cheered as the motorcade arrived. The demonstrators yelled: “Justice for Jahar,” as Tsarnaev is known. One woman held a sign that said: “Free Jahar.”
Brittney Gillis, a student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev attended, came to the courthouse because she wanted to see the suspect. She said he used to walk her friend home in the evenings because he was worried about her being alone.
“He would walk her from the campus library to her dorm at night,” she said.
Some former high school wrestling teammates in attendance weren’t sure what to make of the accusation against their old friend.
One of them, Hank Alvarez, said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was calm, peaceful and apolitical in high school.
“Just knowing him, it’s hard for me to face the fact that he did it,” said Hank Alvarez, 19, of Cambridge.
Another ex-teammate, Shun Tsou, 20, of Cambridge, called Dzhokhar Tsarnaev “a silent warrior type”.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces three murder charges from the bombing and a fourth from killing a police officer who was shot before the teen and his elder brother engaged in a gun battle before being captured.
It was the worst mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001 and could bring a sentence of the death penalty.
The biggest challenge for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s attorney, public defender Miriam Conrad, will be sparing him the death penalty, one observer said.
“I suspect that Miriam will start tomorrow by trying to change his image and make him look like the normal, average, clean-cut young kid,” Walter Prince, a former federal prosecutor in Boston who is now a partner with the law firm Prince Lobel told Reuters.
Security was tighter than usual on Wednesday outside Boston’s U.S. District Courthouse, which is also the site of the ongoing murder and racketeering trial of mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, now in its fifth week.
Police set a line of metal barriers around the front of the fog-shrouded waterfront building, and uniformed officers with dogs were patrolling its perimeter. In addition to well over a dozen police cars and trucks, a Boston Police boat was moored close to the building’s side entrance – the normal entry point for suspects in custody.
The hearing is due to be brief, with Miriam Conrad perhaps entering a not guilty plea on his behalf, Walter Prince said.
Miriam Conrad did not respond to a request for comment.
According to court papers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scrawled a note on an inside wall and beams of the boat in which he hid.
“The U.S. Government is killing our innocent civilians,” the note read, according to court papers.
“We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all.”
“Now I don’t like killing innocent people it is forbidden in Islam but due to said it is allowed,” he wrote, according to court papers.
“Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was badly wounded during the gun battle and arrest. After initially being confined at a city hospital, he was moved to a prison west of Boston. Prosecutors have declined to comment on his current condition or if he is still being held at the Fort Devens, Massachusetts, facility.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s ethnic homeland of Chechnya, a mainly Muslim area that saw centuries of war and repression, no longer threatens to secede from Russia. But it has become a breeding ground for a form of militant Islam whose adherents have spread violence to other parts of Russia.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, the widow of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was pictured leaving her parents home wearing a traditional Muslim headscarf yesterday – countering reports that she has turned her back on her adopted religion.
Katherine Russell, or Karima Tsarnaeva by her married name, is living at her parents’ home in Rhode Island with her daughter by Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
According to reports, her Christian parents have been encouraging her to turn her back on the religion she adopted when she married Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a Chechen who encouraged his wife to join him in a strict interpretation of his faith.
However, Katherine Russell, 24, countered any suggestion they had won her over yesterday – leaving their suburban home fully covered and wearing a headscarf.
Katherine Russell, or Karima Tsarnaeva by her married name, is living at her parents’ home in Rhode Island with her daughter by Tamerlan Tsarnaev
A report by the National Enquirer earlier this week said she had been turned away from the religion since her husband’s death in the bombings he allegedly perpetuated alongside younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
“Katherine is slowly starting to change,” a source told the National Enquirer, adding that she is already wearing fingernail polish and eating at fast food restaurants.
She also changed her name back to Katherine Russell, according to the report.
However, if she is converting back to Christianity it is indeed happening slowly, according to her appearance yesterday morning.
Katherine Russell was seen getting into a car with her 2-year-old daughter.
Her mother Judith Russell loaded the vehicle with a child seat wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
Katherine Russell then emerged wearing sunglasses, carrying her keys and a can of soda cutting a stark contrast to her mother’s summery look with her body fully covered in a floor length purple skirt and black long sleeve jumper.
It had previously been reported that she drastically changed after meeting Tamerlan Tsarnaev while at a club during her college years.
“Katherine was completely subservient to him,” a source told the Enquirer.
“She cowered around him.”
She is cooperating with officials in the investigation, but claims she had no idea her husband was plotting to bomb the Boston marathon as she was working 80 hours a week as a health care aide.
Katherine Russell has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but the FBI have questioned her to find out if she had any clue as to Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s plans.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, the widow of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has reportedly started to reject the strict Muslim rules her husband forced upon her.
Katherine Russell, 24, is living at her parents’ home in Rhode Island with her daughter by Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and her family is encouraging her to convert back to Christianity, according to reports.
She has also changed her name back to Katherine Russell from Karima Tsarnaeva, the name she adopted after marrying Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed earlier this year following a police shootout.
“Katherine is slowly starting to change,” a source told the National Enquirer, adding that she is already wearing fingernail polish and eating at fast food restaurants.
It had previously been reported that she drastically changed after meeting Tamerlan Tsarnaev while at a club during her college years.
Katherine Russell is cooperating with officials in the investigation, but claims she had no idea her husband was plotting to bomb the Boston marathon as she was working 80 hours a week as a health care aide.
“Katherine was completely subservient to him,” a source told the Enquirer.
“She cowered around him.”
Katherine Russell has started to reject the strict Muslim rules her husband Tamerlan Tsarnaev forced upon her
Katherine Russell has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but the FBI have questioned her to find out if she had any clue as to her husband’s plans.
The bombing at the marathon’s finish line on April 15 killed three people and injured more than 260.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar, originally from Chechnya, are believed to have carried out the attacks due to their radical jihadist beliefs.
Katherine Russell’s lawyer Joshue Dratel, from New York, said that he joined Russell’s legal team to help her navigate the criminal justice system and to protect her interests.
He said she had spoken with investigators and planned to keep co-operating.
“I don’t see that changing in the foreseeable future,” he said.
“There’s no inconsistency between that and her interests at this point.”
Katherine Russell was widowed when Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a police shootout on April 19 – four days after he and his younger brother Dzhokhar allegedly set off bombs during the Boston Marathon. Three people were killed in the cowardly attack and 264 more were wounded, several of whom lost limbs.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is in a prison hospital facing charges that could bring the death penalty.
Tamerlan tsarnaev, 26, died on April 19 after a shootout with police.
Katherine Russell had been living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and two-year-old daughter, but has been staying with her parents in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, since the day her husband was killed.
Among the questions about Katherine Russell is what she knew or saw in the weeks leading up to the bombing, and in the days after it.
Two U.S. officials have said that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told investigators the bombs were assembled in the small apartment Katherine Russell shared with her husband.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, has been formally charged with killing four people and using a weapon of mass destruction.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, faces 30 total charges in the April 15 Boston Marathon blasts, which killed three and injured more than 260 others.
A fourth victim, a policeman, was shot dead by him and his brother during the hunt for them, federal prosecutors say.
Seventeen charges could bring life in prison or even the death penalty, US prosecutors said.
In Boston, US Attorney Carmen Ortiz described the Tsarnaev brothers’ preparation for the attack.
They went to a firing range to take target practice, bought electronic material online that could be used to make bombs, and downloaded a publication that could provide instructions on building explosives, Carmen Ortiz told reporters.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, has been formally charged with killing four people and using a weapon of mass destruction
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also faces charges for a carjacking days after the attacks and for interfering with commerce, prosecutors said.
His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shoot-out with police days after the twin blasts.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was injured in the manhunt and has been held in a prison hospital near Boston since his capture on April 19.
He was found hiding in a boat parked in a residential garden in Watertown, Massachusetts, where according to the indictment, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote a message reading: “The US Government is killing our innocent civilians” and “I can’t stand to see such evil go unpunished.”
According to the indictment, the Tsarnaev brothers made bombs from pressure cookers, low-explosive powder, ball bearings, nails, adhesive, electronic components and other material.
It adds that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev aided and abetted his brother by planting and detonating one of the bombs.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are from a family of ethnic Chechen Muslims from Russia and had been living in the US for about a decade.
Abdul-Baki Todashev, father of Ibragim Todashev, who was shot by an FBI agent a week ago while being quizzed over his links to the Boston bombers, revealed the extent of his son’s injuries in photographs of his dead body today.
Abdul-Baki Todashev called for an investigation and possible legal action against the agent involved at a press conference in Moscow where he showed the images of his son’s body lying in a morgue with up to seven gunshot wounds, including one to the back of the head.
His angry calls for justice came as a report claimed the 27-year-old native Chechen was unarmed in the clash with a federal agent in Florida on May 22.
Previous reports claimed the US citizen went for the agent with a knife while being interrogated in his home.
However, a report by the Washington Post yesterday cited law enforcement officials saying he had no weapon.
Ibragim Todashev allegedly did become violent when police quizzed him over links to Tamerlan Tsarnaev and an unsolved 2011 triple homicide but he did not have a knife as previously claimed.
“Today I want justice. I want an investigation, so that these people [the FBI] are sued under US laws,” Abdul-Baki Todashev said.
“These are not FBI agents. These are bandits and they must appear in court.”
Abdul-Baki Todashev said he received the 16 images of his son’s body from a friend in the US.
Abdul-Baki Todashev, father of Ibragim Todashev, revealed the extent of his son’s injuries
Ibragim Todashev is pictured lying in a Florida morgue. His father claims they show brutal injuries from up to seven bullets including one to the back of the head.
“This is not a shot that you fire when you come under attack. This is a shot you fire to execute someone,” he said.
“Couldn’t they just handcuff him? At the very least, they could have wounded him in the foot or shoulder. And here he was – killed execution style.”
He added that his son must have had information they didn’t want him to reveal.
“They silenced him,” he added.
Abdul-Baki Todashev now plans to journey to the US to pick up his son’s body and said he had been to the US embassy in Moscow to apply for a visa to do so.
Authorities were pressuring Ibragim Todashev to make a full confession to the murders of three men found in an apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts on the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001.
It is known Tamerlan Tsarnaev was close friends with one of the victims and the FBI have been looking into whether he was involved.
Law enforcement sources toldNBC that Ibragim Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carried out the 2011 killings when a drug deal that turned violent. The suspects didn’t want the three victims to be able to identify them, so they slit their throats, according to the network.
It is that evidence which apparently led them to Ibragim Todashev and his Orlando apartment not far from Universal Studios on May 22.
He had questioned for some hours before he allegedly flipped and the shooting came as one agent stepped out of the room, leaving Ibragim Todashev alone with one officer,the Postsaid.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has recovered enough to walk, his mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said.
In an interview for the Associated Press, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said her son told her in a phone call that he and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a police manhunt after the Boston Marathon blasts, were innocent.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was shot and injured during the manhunt, is currently being held in a prison hospital.
Last month’s bombings left three people dead and more than 260 others injured.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told AP that it was the first conversation she had had with her son since he has been held in custody.
He told her he was getting better but was struggling to comprehend what had happened.
“He didn’t hold back his emotions either, as if he were screaming to the whole world: <<What is this? What’s happening?>>” Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said.
“I could just feel that he was being driven crazy by the unfairness that happened to us, that they killed our innocent Tamerlan.”
The Tsarnaev family has continued to claim the men’s innocence in the bomb attacks, which targeted the finishing line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has recovered enough to walk
The family, who are ethnic Chechen Muslims from Russia, spoke from an apartment in the Russian republic of Dagestan which reportedly belonged to 26-year-old Tamerlan, who was hit in a shoot-out with police in the aftermath of the bombings.
The suspects’ father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said they bought the apartment in anticipation of Tamerlan and his family moving to Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
“All I can do is pray to God and hope that one day fairness will win out, our children will be cleared, and we will at least get Dzhokhar back, crippled, but at least alive,” he told AP.
Meanwhile, the father of a Chechen immigrant Ibragim Todashev, who was shot and killed during a violent confrontation with Boston Marathon investigators, has accused agents who killed his son of being “bandits”.
Ibragim Todashev, 27, admitted a role in a triple murder near Boston in 2011 and implicated Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the crime.
However, no evidence has emerged to link Ibragim Todashev to the bombings.
On May 22, he was shot and killed in Orlando, Florida.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, his father, Abdul-Baki Todashev, showed 16 photographs that he said were of his son in a Florida morgue.
He claimed his son had six gunshot wounds to his torso and one to the back of his head. However, the photos have not been authenticated.
There are conflicting reports about the events that led to Ibragim Todashev’s death, with law enforcement officials initially saying he was shot after attacking an FBI agent with a knife but later saying they were not clear about what happened.
Ibragim Todashev’s father says his son was “100% unarmed” and has called for an investigation into his death.
“These are not FBI agents but bandits – I cannot call them anything else and they must be tried,” he said.
His son met Tamerlan Tsarnaev at a boxing gym in Boston in 2011 but they were “not particularly close friends”, Abdul-Baki Todashev adds.
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