Authorities investigating the Boston Marathon bombings have found female DNA on a bomb fragment, opening questions about the possibility that the Tsarnaev brothers had a female accomplice. Since the DNA could belong anyone who came into contact with any part of the bomb, its presence doesn’t automatically mean the brothers had an accomplice. Among the numerous possibilities is that the DNA is from a female spectator wounded in the attack, or a salesclerks who sold parts used to construct the bomb.
On Monday, investigators visited the Rhode Island home of Katherine Russell, the widow of suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, to collect a DNA sample. The sample will help authorities determine if the DNA on the bomb component belongs to Russell or her 3-year-olod daughter with Tamerlan. Russell, who has claimed she knew nothing about the bomb plot, has been cooperating with investigators.
Meanwhile, authorities are still trying to determine if Tamerlan and his younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had any links to foreign terror groups. Of particular interest is Tamerlan’s visit to Russia last year. Tamerlan was in Dagestan at the same time Canadian jihadist William Plotnikov was killed in a shootout with Russian troops in July 2012. Days after Plotnikov’s death, Tamerlan left Russia.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is currently imprisoned just outside of Boston at Federal Medical Center Devens. He is being treated for a throat wound and a gunshot wound to the leg. The teen has been charged with one count of using a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and one count of malicious destruction of property resulting in death. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Dzhokhar told authorities Tamerlan, who died in a shootout with police three days after the bombings, was the mastermind of the attack. He said his brother felt jihadists needed to fight for Islam. Three people were killed and more than 170 others were wounded in the bombings on April 15. The brothers also allegedly murdered an MIT security officer.
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