Last week, as Boston spent almost 24 hours shut down during a manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, details about the alleged bombers began to emerge. One of the more interesting details that surfaced was that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers accused of the bombing, was the father of a 3-year-old daughter.
This week, Tsarnaev’s family life has been confirmed. According to a report from the North Kingstown, Rhode Island Patch, Tsarnaev was married to 26-year-old Katherine Russell. Russell’s family released a statement to the press that confirms Tsarnaev was the father of Russell’s daughter.
The statement, in full:
Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child
We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred. In the aftermath of the Patriot’s Day horror, we know that we never really knew Tamerlane Tsarnaev.
Our hearts are sickened by the knowledge of the horror he has inflicted.
Please respect our family’s privacy in this difficult time.
Though other details about Tsarnaev and his life are sparse, a Boston University photo essay from 2010 shows that he was a competitive boxer. The essay states that Tsarnaev and his family fled Chechnya in the early 90s, and lived in Kazakhstan before moving to the U.S. Tsarnaev also told the author that he didn’t “have a single American friend. I don’t understand them.”
Tsarnaev was shot and killed in a shootout with police last week. A graphic image of what is purported to be his body has since leaked onto the internet.
(Image courtesy the comment/Johannes Hirn)