Developments in the case of the Boston Marathon bombing are still breaking quickly as the massive investigation continues. The newest, via CNN: the original target date for a bombing was July 4 and it is now believed the bombs were built in killed bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s apartment:
The bombs used in the Boston Marathon attack were built in the apartment that suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev shared with his wife and child, a U.S. law enforcement official with first-hand knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Thursday. The official was not authorized to release the information.
Katherine Russell, Tsarnaev’s widow, has remained largely out of view inside her parents’ North Kingstown home since her husband’s death.
It remains unclear what, if anything, Tamerlan’s widow might have known or suspected, the source added.
According to her attorney, Amato DeLuca, the 24-year-old widow knew nothing of plans to bomb the race, and reports of her husband’s involvement came as an “absolute shock” to Russell and her family.
Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, initially planned to carry out a suicide-bomb attack on July 4, a U.S. law enforcement official told CNN. The source said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told investigators their bombs were ready earlier than they expected and they decided to move up the date.
It is unclear which specific event would have been targeted but one of the biggest July Fourth celebrations in the country is held in Boston. The annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular hosts 500,000 spectators, according to the event’s website. It is televised live nationally on CBS.
That would have been massive international exposure.
In other developements:
–The FBI has now recovered Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s laptop.
Dias Kadyrbayev’s attorney Robert Stahl told NBC News that the feds have the machine but did not elaborate as to where or when it was recovered.
Kadyrbayev and a second pal, Azamat Tazhayakov, were charged yesterday with helping Tsarnaev cover up his role in the April 15 attack. A third, Robel Phillipos, was charged with lying to the feds about the alleged conspiracy. All four men are 19.
Last week Kadyrbayev, driving to the New Bedford, Mass., apartment he shares with Tazhayakov, got a call from a panicked Phillipos, saying a suspect in newly released surveillance footage looked familiar.
The three college friends went to Tsarnaev’s UMass-Dartmouth dorm to see if the news was true, Phillipos claimed, according to the affidavit, but the bomber’s roommate told them that he had left hours earlier.
They hung around and watched a movie — then noticed a backpack that held spent fireworks, Kadyrbayev said.
“[He] knew when he saw the empty fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the marathon bombing,” the affidavit says. “[He] decided to remove the backpack from the room in order to help his friend Tsarnaev avoid trouble.”
He also grabbed the terrorist’s laptop, and a jar of Vaseline he believed was used to make the bombs.
–The family of Tamerlan Tsarnaev picked up his body.
Terrel Harris, a spokesman for the office, said the body was picked up at 5:30 p.m. Local television helicopters followed the hearse, reporting that it went to a funeral home in North Attleborough.
Harris would not say whether the family has made any funeral arrangements, and would not identify the family members who made the arrangements to pick up the body.
Harris said that the cause of death of the 26-year-old Tsarnaev would be made public once a funeral service provider files a death certificate.