Katherine Russell, Wife of Boston Bomber Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Doesn't Want Husband's Body [VIDEO]
Relatives of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev can now claim his body after his wife agreed to release it, according to The Associated Press.
Tsarnaev's body was at the medical examiner's office in Massachusetts since the 26-year-old died after a shootout with authorities on April 18.
Katherine Russell, his widow, said in a statement Tuesday released via her attorney that she recently learned the medical examiner's office is ready to release Tsarnaev's body. Russell, 24, wants it to be released to the Tsarnaev family, according to Rhode Island attorney Amato DeLuca. She has declined to claim the body herself.
"Of course, family members will take possession of the body," uncle Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., told the AP on Tuesday night. "We'll do it. We will do it. A family is a family."
Once the body is released a death certificate will be filed and the cause of death will be made public.
FBI agents visited Russell's parents' Rhode Island home, where she has been staying, on Monday and walked out with several bags.
"Katherine and her family continue to be deeply saddened by the harm that has been caused," DeLuca said Tuesday.
Russell had the right to claim her own husband's body, but chose not to do so. Shortly after the two bombings at the Boston Marathon, her family released a statement saying, "we never really knew Tamerlane Tsarnaev."
Russell was raised a Christian and converted to Islam after marrying Tsarnaev when she was a student at Boston's Suffolk University. She dropped out when she got pregnant with his child, a girl named Zahara who is now 3.
Tsarnaev's brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, lies in a prison hospital also accused of being involved in the Boston Marathon explosions that killed three and injured more than 200. He was charged on April 22 with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. The teen could face the death penalty.
