Suspects' Aunt: "I Do Not Believe Our Boys Would Do That"

Maret Tsarnaeva says "I just hope this is not true" as Massachusetts officials launched a massive manhunt for her nephew, one of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Published

about 5 years ago

Categories

US

Topics

United States, Terrorism

People

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Maret Tsarnaeva

Places

United States of America, Boston, Massachusetts, Watertown

Transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) The aunt of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings said she doesn't believe her nephews committed the crime they are accused of on Friday (April 19). Maret Tsarnaeva said the FBI doesn't have evidence other than the pictures they released to the public of the two men walking down the street. Officials identified the suspects as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed Thursday night in the working class suburb of Watertown. "I will never accuse my relatives, my close nephews without having evidence. Evidence first because we're not talking about something small, we're talking about three dead people, hundred something injured and I do not believe, just not believe our boys would do that," Tsarnaeva said. questions the evidence authorities have on her nephews. "You may not like it but too many, too many events have been taken in these countries apart from countries back home when government agencies who lives in Toronto, told reporters she had not recently talked to the boys and has been unable to reach her brother Anzor, 46, who is the father of the two men, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. "It is totally shock to me to hear this morning that this is on our family. This is total shock," Tsarnaeva said. Tsarnaeva has lived in Canada since 1996 and became a Canadian citizen in 2003. She said she hasn't seen her nephews for five or six years but brought her brothers and her nephews with her when she left Kyrgyzstan, where she was a lawyer. Tsarnaeva said she spoke to Tamerlan two years ago when his daughter was born, and then again a year ago. She said Tamerlan was not a devout Muslim but started praying five times a day about two years ago. "Maybe two years ago he started praying five times a day which I don't see anything bad in it," Tsarnaeva said, "I would rather him praying then smoking, doing drugs and doing some other unlawful stuff." The suspect's aunt said the 26-year old Tamerlan married a Christian woman and that he's been staying at home to take care of his daughter who he said was two years old. Tsarnaeva questions the evidence authorities have on her nephews. Tsarnaeva told reporters that her brother Anzor, father to Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, lives in Makhachkala, Russia now, and that Tamerlan visited Makhachkala a year ago.