Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Federal authorities have asked to speak to the wife of Boston Marathon bomb suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a young American woman from a comfortable middle-class background who converted to Islam after she met him.
Her lawyer Amato DeLuca said his client did not suspect her husband of anything, but had not seen much of him in recent days as she was working long hours while he cared for their toddler daughter.
Mr DeLuca also offered new details of Tsarneav's movements in the days after the bombings, saying "he was home" when his wife left for work on the last day she saw him alive.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev learned her husband was a suspect by seeing it on TV, Mr DeLuca said.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother, Dzhokhar, 19, two ethnic Chechen brothers from southern Russia, are accused of planting two bombs near the marathon finish line last Monday, killing three and injuring more than 180.
Their motive remains unclear.
Ms Russell Tsarnaev did not speak to federal officials who went last night to her parents' home, where she has been staying since her husband was killed during a getaway attempt on Friday.
Mr DeLuca said he spoke with the federal officials, but he would not offer further details.
"We're deciding what we want to do and how we want to approach this," he said.
When asked whether anything seemed amiss to the wife following the bombings, Mr DeLuca said: "Not as far as I know."
Mr DeLuca said his client did not suspect her husband of anything. He said she had been working 70 to 80 hours, seven days a week as a home health care aide. While she was at work, her husband cared for their toddler daughter, Mr DeLuca said.
"When this allegedly was going on, she was working, and had been working all week to support her family," he said.
He said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was off at college and she saw him "not at all" at the apartment they shared.
Ms Russell Tsarnaev was attending university in Boston when friends introduced her to her future husband at a nightclub, Mr DeLuca said.
They dated on and off, then married in 2009 or 2010, he said.
She was raised Christian, but at some point after meeting Tamerlan Tsarnaev, she converted to Islam, he said.
When asked why she converted, he said: "She believes in the tenets of Islam and of the Koran. She believes in God."
She had a comfortable middle-class upbringing. Her parents, a doctor and a nurse, live in a detached house in North Kingstown, an attractive and well-to-do town in Rhode Island south of Boston.
She was seen collecting belongings from the house at the weekend, wearing a headscarf and sunglasses.
AP
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments