Bomb suspect's death certificate details aired
Funeral home says it cites gun wounds, head trauma.
BOSTON - A suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, his death certificate says.
Worcester funeral home owner Peter Stefan has the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and read details from his death certificate on Friday. It cites "gunshot wounds of torso and extremities," Stefan said.
Tsarnaev died last month after a gunfight with authorities a few days after the attack. Police have said he ran out of ammunition before his brother dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing the scene.
Tsarnaev's family was making arrangements for his funeral as investigators searched the woods near a college attended by his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, on Friday.
The funeral parlor in Worcester familiar with Muslim services said it will handle arrangements for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, whose body was released by the state medical examiner Thursday night.
The body was taken initially to a North Attleborough funeral home, where it was greeted by about 20 protesters.
As part of the bombing investigation, federal, state and local authorities were searching the woods near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student. Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, could not say what investigators were looking for but said there is no threat to public safety.
The brothers considered setting off their bombs on July Fourth but decided to carry out the attack sooner when they finished assembling the bombs, the surviving suspect told interrogators after he was arrested, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the investigation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Boston police said they planned to review security procedures for the Independence Day Boston Pops concert and fireworks display, which draws a crowd of more than 500,000 annually and is broadcast to a national TV audience.
A benefit concert featuring Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett is scheduled for May 30 at the TD Garden in Boston. The proceeds will go to The One Fund, which has taken in more than $28 million for those injured and the families of those who were killed.
The fund's administrator, Kenneth Feinberg, said Friday that he plans to hold meetings with victims next week and begin cutting checks by the end of June.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, citing law enforcement figures, reported that officials are sharpening their focus on Katherine Russell, 24, the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, after finding al-Qaeda's Inspire magazine and other radical Islamist material on her computer.