Boston suspect’s family makes plans for funeral

Associated Press

BOSTON

The family of slain Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev made arrangements Friday for his funeral as investigators searched the woods near a college attended by his younger brother and fellow suspect.

Tsarnaev, 26, died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, a funeral director said Friday.

Worcester funeral home owner Peter Stefan has Tsarnaev’s body and read details from his death certificate. The certificate cites Tsarnaev’s “gunshot wounds of torso and extremities” and lists the time of his death as 1:35 a.m. April 19, four days after the deadly bombing, Stefan said. The body was released by the state medical examiner Thursday night.

The body initially was taken to a North Attleborough funeral home, where it was greeted by about 20 protesters. Stefan, owner of Graham Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, an hour’s drive west of Boston, said everybody deserves a dignified burial service no matter the circumstances of his or her death, and he is prepared for protests.

Tsarnaev died three days after the bombing in a furious getaway attempt in which authorities say he and his brother, ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago, killed an MIT campus-police officer and tossed homemade bombs and grenades at police. The younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, ran over his brother’s body as he drove away from the scene to escape, authorities have said.

Relatives had said they would claim the body.

Meanwhile, two U.S. officials said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told interrogators that he and his brother initially considered setting off their bombs July 4.

Boston police said they planned to review security procedures for the Independence Day Boston Pops concert and fireworks display, which draws a crowd of more than 500,000 annually and is broadcast to a national TV audience. Authorities plan to look at security procedures for large events in other cities, notably the massive New Year’s Eve celebration that takes place each year in New York City’s Times Square, Massachusetts state police spokesman David Procopio said.

Gov. Deval Patrick said everything possible will be done to assure a safe event.

“I think the most important thing is that we got them, and there’s investigation continuing about where the other leads may lead,” he said.