Revealed: Tamerlan Tsarnaev went to Dagestan in 2012 to try and join a militant group but had a change of heart and returned to U.S.  

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 21:40 EST, 24 May 2013 | UPDATED: 21:40 EST, 24 May 2013

 
 
 

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'Wimped out:' Tamerlan Tsarnaev is believed to have traveled to Dagestan last year with the intent of joining a radical Islamist group, but he never followed through with his plan

Officials investigating the Boston bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev say that he travelled to the volatile Russian republic of Dagestan last year with the intent of joining a radical Islamist group, but he never followed through with his plan.

Tsarnaev, 26, was shot dead during a police gun battle just four days after officials claim he and his 18-year-old brother, Dzhokahr, had set off two homemade bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Last year, officials say the older Tsarnaev sibling, whom they described as a ‘typical lone wolf,' went to Dagestan after becoming radicalized in the US.

While staying abroad, however, Tsarnaev did not join the ranks of an international terror group, and it appears that the two brothers were acting of their own accord when they set off the deadly explosions, officials close to the matter told ABC News.

Investigators also found no manifesto written by Tamerlan while he was staying in Dagestan, which would have provided a clear motive for the attacks.

Similarly, no evidence was found so far to suggest that Tamerlan Tsarnaev reached out to Islamist leaders on his earlier trips to Chechnya to visit his father's relatives.

In this undated photo provided by the Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service William Plotnikov, (right), poses for a photo. Security officials suspected ties between elder Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Canadian

During his recent visit to Dagestan, where his parents currently reside, Tamerlan did make contact with Mahmud Mansur Nidal, who has been suspected of having militant ties, according to officials.

The two were frequently seen at a Salafist mosque in the capital of Makhachkala, which is popular among insurgents.

However, while Nidal eventually ended up joining a radical Islamist organization in the southern Russian region, Tsarnaev did not follow him and later returned to the U.S.

Nidal, a man who was both Palestinian and Kumyk, was killed in May 2012 after refusing to give himself up to security forces that had surrounded a house in Makhachkala, according to official police records.

An FBI probe has revealed that Tsarnaev had social networking ties with Muslim convert William Plotnikov, a Russian national from Canada, which brought Tsarnaev to the attention of Russian security services for the first time in late 2010.

In this undated photo provided by the Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service, the Canadian, William Plotnikov, (left), poses for a photo

Plotnikov had been detained in Dagestan in December 2010 on suspicion of having ties to the militants and during his interrogation was forced to hand over a list of social networking friends from the United States and Canada who like him had once lived in Russia, Novaya Gazeta reported.

Plotnikov was among seven suspected militants killed on July 14 during a standoff with police in the Dagestani village of Utamysh, according to the official police record.

After Plotnikov's death, Russian security agents lost track of Tsarnaev and went to see his father in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, who told them that his son had returned to the U.S., Novaya Gazeta said.

The Russians later determined that Tsarnaev had flown to Moscow on July 16 and to the United States the following day, the newspaper said. Tsarnaev arrived in New York on July 17.

Investigators also looked into Tsaranev's relationship with a distant cousin with ties to extremists group, who is suspected of playing a role in the 26-year-old former boxer's radicalization.

Magomed Kartashov is founder and leader of a group called The Union of the Just which reportedly promotes the application of Islamic Sharia law and has protested against the United States.

The body of William Plotnikov, killed in a standoff with police in Dagestan. Security officials suspected ties between elder Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Canadian, an ethnic Russian

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of Tamerlan, confirmed her son met with Kartashov and the two became 'very close'

Tsarnaev is said to have met Kartashov for the first time in Dagestan. Tsarnaev’s mother, Zubeidat, told TIME Magazine that the two kinsmen 'became very close.'

The Union of the Just publicly renounces violence, but several of its members have ties to militants.

A lawyer for Kartashov confirmed to ABC News that Russian security agents recently interviewed her client about his links to Tsarnaev.

Kartashov admits that the two were close but insists that it was Tsarnaev who tried to 'pull him into extremism'.

Kartashov is currently in jail on charges of resisting police after waving an Islamists flag during a wedding procession. His lawyer expects he will remain there for at least two more months.

Magomed Magomedov, another member of Union for the Just, told ABC News that he saw Tsarnaev on several occasions at the Makhachkala mosque, but the American transplant appeared out of place.

This Monday, April 15, 2013 photo shows bombing suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, center right in black hat, and his brother, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, center left in white hat, approximately 10-20 minutes before the marathon blasts

'He was sticking out, it was obvious he is not local. He liked to draw attention with his expensive and fancy clothes. His haircut was something no one has seen before,' he said.

According to some accounts, Tsarnaev would put on airs by claiming that he knew more about Islam than he actually did. In conversations with other congregants, he would often recite things he had picked up online in a bid to impress the locals, who grew annoyed with him.

But according to officials, the 26-year-old budding extremist was not as strict a practitioner of Islam as he appeared to be.

According to one investigator, Tamerlan, like his younger brother, would often indulge in marijuana while living in Massachusetts, spending hours high.

The FBI is to meet with nearly a dozen people who had known Tamerlan, including relatives, childhood friends and acquaintances from the mosque, hoping to shed light on the events that led to the bombings.

A general view of the school where suspected Boston bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnayev used to attend, on April 25, 2013 in Makhachkala, in the Russian region of Dagestan

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2330721/Revealed-Tamerlan-Tsarnaev-went-Dagestan-2012-try-join-militant-group-change-heart-returned-U-S.html#ixzz2UHAaOSx4
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3 Jewish Boys murdered by Boston Bomber and their friend Ibragim Todashev..Hate Crime Against Jews.

'I sent him to his death:' Father of Ibragim Todashev speaks out as friends mourn victims of 2011 triple murder 'that Todashev confessed to'

• Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot dead by an FBI agent Wednesday after he reportedly turned violent during questioning
• He had allegedly confessed to the FBI that he had played a role in a triple slaying in the Boston area in 2011
• His father says he sent his son to the U.S. to escape war-torn Chechnya and that he had bonded with Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev
• Son planned to visit Chechnya this week but FBI made him delay trip
• Todashev’s estranged wife denied husband's involvement in 2011 murders, but noted that he did travel back to Boston in the summer of that year

By HAYLEY PETERSON and ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 08:47 EST, 23 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:45 EST, 23 May 2013

 The father of a Chechen immigrant shot dead by U.S. law enforcement agents while being questioned about his ties to a Boston Marathon bombings suspect said Thursday that he regrets allowing his son to go to the United States.

Deceased: Ibragim Todashev was fatally shot by 

an FBI agent just after midnight on Wednesday

Ibragim Todashev, 27, was a mixed martial arts fighter who had trained with Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Boston, and his father said they had bonded because of their shared interests and heritage as Chechens from southern Russia. Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shootout with police days after the April 15 terrorist attack.

Todashev was killed Wednesday after an altercation with an FBI agent during a meeting with the agent and two Massachusetts state troopers at his home in central Florida. Law enforcement officers say that during the meeting, he had implicated himself in a unsolved 2011 triple slaying.

Todashev's father, Abdul-Baki Todashev, said he was worried that with his son was dead, the FBI could now pin any crime on him.

'Out of fear of the lawlessness in Chechnya, I sent him to the U.S., because it seemed like the safest country at the time,' the distraught father told the Associated Press. 'Now I'm thinking about how to bring home his body. As it turns out I sent him to his death.'

He said his son, who has a previous arrest for aggravated battery after he left a man unconscious following a fight over a park spot, is 'not capable' of killing anyone.

'There is a clear picture emerging that this is all fabricated,' Todashev told the Boston Globe. 'They killed my son and then they made up a reason to explain it.'

Friends and family members of the 2011 murder victims reacted to news of Todashev's alleged confession on social media.

On a Facebook memorial for victim Raphael Teken, the moderator of the page wrote, 'Whether we ever know exactly what happened, there is one thing we surely know and that is that Rafi deserved a much better fate.

 

Confession: Todashev had allegedly admitted to being involved in a 2011 slaying and that he was preparing to sign a written statement based on his confession when he turned violent and was subsequently shot dead

The FBI had questioned Todashev in the past regarding his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right). Tsarnaev's younger brother, Dzhokhar, (left), has been charged in connection with the bombings

Investigation: An FBI evidence response team enters an apartment after an FBI agent shot and killed a man who was questioned in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings

 

VIDEO COURTESY OF RUSSIA TODAY.

'He was funny, kind, joyful and generous,' the message continued. 'All of us that knew him knew [his death] couldn't have been about anything he did, but are now horrified by what it may have been about.'

Facebook user Tony Porter wrote, 'I'm disappointed that we will never really get to experience true justice for our friend or know the reasons for what happened despite the fact that both alleged suspects are now deceased. 

'I don't know how you are supposed to feel when your friend's killer gets killed, but I don't feel "relieved" like I thought I would.'

 Moderators of a Facebook memorial for victim Erik Weissman wrote, 'Hoping for some closure' and posted a photo of him with the caption, 'Forever young, forever beautiful, forever in our hearts.'

A friend who said he went to high school with Weissman commented, 'That playful grin is the Erik that will live on in my memory... Let's hope [this] represents at least a small step towards some kind of "closure" - if that even exits - for his nearest and dearest.'

Todashev’s estranged wife, Reniya Manukyan, denied her husband's alleged involvement in the 2011 triple slayings, but she noted that he did travel back to Boston in the summer of that year. 

He 'had nothing to hide,' she told ABC News. 'He wasn't involved.  So he was not even nervous [to talk with the FBI].'

Manukyan and her husband separated in November. She said they lived in Atlanta before moving to Orlando in late 2011. 

She also said that agents had questioned her several times and even stopped her at the airport when she returned from a trip to Chechnya several weeks after the Boston bombings. 

Ibragim Todashev is pictured in 2009 with injuries from boxing at the Massachusetts gym where Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev trained

Abdul-Baki Todashev said his son – the second of 12 children – was at university when he got an opportunity to go to the United States to study English about five or six years ago. He said he later agreed to his son's request to remain in the U.S. 'because it seemed like the safest country.'

Chechnya has been ravaged by two wars between separatist fighters and Russian federal troops since 1994, and remains troubled by periodic outbreaks of violence. The family's red-brick house on the outskirts of Grozny, the Chechen capital, still bears the marks of shrapnel.

The elder Todashev said his son gave up martial arts because of an injury and later held a number of jobs, including as a driver at a retirement home, before moving to Florida within the last year. His father said his son had planned to come to Chechnya this week to visit his extended family, but was asked by the FBI to delay his trip.

Abdul-Baki Todashev said he had learned of his son's death from a phone call from one of his son's friends, who also had been questioned by the FBI. He said the friend, whom he didn't name, told him that both of them had been pressured to confess to the murders, but that they were innocent.

Victim: Brendan Mess was one of three victims in a triple slaying that Todashev allegedly confessed to

The FBI gave no details on why it was interested in Ibragim Todashev except to say that he was being questioned as part of the Boston investigation. However, two officials briefed on the investigation said he had implicated himself as having been involved in a 2011 triple-slaying in a Boston suburb; investigators now suspect that Tsarnaev may have been involved in the unsolved crime.

Law enforcement officials believe, partly based on Todashev's alleged confession, that Todashev and Tsarnaev carried out the 2011 killings after a drug deal turned violent. The suspects didn't want the three victims to be able to identify them, so they slit their throats, sources told NBC.

Authorities had gone to Todashev's home late Tuesday with evidence suggesting that Todashev, 26-year-old Tsarnaev, and Tsarnaev's younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the 2011 killings, according to reports.

No suspects had been arrested in that case, in which three men were found in an apartment in Waltham, Mass. on the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks with their throats cut and marijuana covering their bodies.

Massachusetts investigators had reported earlier this month that they were uncovering 'mounting evidence' that Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the slaying. One of the victims, Brendan Mess, was a close friend of Tamerlan's.

Authorities said they have no reason to believe that Todashev had any involvement in the marathon bombings.

The FBI has been investigating Todashev for the last month, questioning him several times regarding his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed by police in a shootout following the deadly April 15 marathon bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has been charged in connection with the bombings and is being held at a prison medical center outside Boston.

Murdered: Raphael Teken (left with a friend) and Erik Weissman (right) were also killed in the 2011 triple slaying

Khusen Taramov, a friend of Todashev's, confirmed that Todashev and Tsarnaev knew each other. He said they had been in contact via phone or Skype about a week before the bombings.

In an interview with Orlando television station WESH, Taramov said that the two met while Todashev was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing. 

Todashev 'wasn't like real close friends [with Tsarnaev], but he just happened to know him,' Taramov said. 'But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know what I mean?'

Taramov says the FBI has been following him and Todashev since the bombings. He said that they were both being interviewed by agents late Tuesday before Todashev was killed.

Todashev was arrested in an unrelated incident on May 4 for aggravated battery after he left a man unconscious in the parking lot of a shopping mall.

According to the arrest affidavit, Todashev had gotten into an altercation with a man and his son over parking space.

Todashev told police that the man 'got into his face' so he pushed him and then the man's son 'got involved' and Todashev began fighting him.

Todashev met Tsarnaev while he was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing

 

Blasts: The April 15 explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured more than 240

'Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had surgery in March,' the affidavit states.

A mall security officer arrived on scene to find the son unconscious and lying in a pool of blood on the ground just as Todashev was pulling away in a white Mercedes.

The officer chased down the Mercedes, ordered Todashev out at gunpoint and arrested him.

The son was later treated at a hospital with a split upper lip, several teeth knocked out and head injuries.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2329629/Ibragim-Todashev-I-sent-death-Father-Chechen-immigrant-shot-dead-FBI-regrets-sending-U-S-fears-blamed-crimes-didnt-commit.html#ixzz2UBKcSXgp
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Tamerlan Tsarnaev friend implicates himself and Tamerlan as murders in an unsolved Cold Case.

When I lived in Florida there was a Mosque commonly knows as the Orlando Mosque which held many charity events for Hamas, The Muslim Brotherhood and the Holy Land Foundation all noted terrorist groups embraced by Obama. One of the famous converted Muslims George Galloway was a guest of this Mosque for the pure purpose of collecting money for Hamas to purchase arms to kill Israelis. I am wondering if this Ibragim Todashev "prayed" there.

Friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev implicates himself and the Boston bombing suspect in a 2011 triple homicide just before he is shot dead by an FBI agent

• Ibragim Todashev, 27, reportedly turned violent during an FBI interview 

• He had allegedly confessed to the FBI that he and Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had played a role in a triple slaying in the Boston area in 2011

• Initially, officers claimed that Todashev lunged at the agent with a knife, but they later backtracked and said he may not have had a knife

• Todashev, from Chechnya, was shot dead by the agent just after midnight Wednesday

• Todashev had met Tsarnaev while he was living in Boston and last spoke him about a week before the bombing

By HAYLEY PETERSON

PUBLISHED: 16:20 EST, 22 May 2013 | UPDATED: 16:57 EST, 22 May 2013

A friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev implicated himself and Tsarnaev in a 2011 triple slaying just before he was killed by an FBI agent early Wednesday, NBC and CBS News are reporting.

Authorities were pressuring Chechan immigrant Ibragim Todashev, 27, to make a full confession to the murders when he suddenly turned violent, according to CBS. An FBI agent responded by firing his weapon and killing Todashev.

The incident happened at Todashev's Orlando apartment, not far from Universal Studios. Initially, authorities claimed that Todashev had lunged at the agent with a knife, but they later backtracked, saying it was no longer clear whether he was armed.

Law enforcement sources tell NBC that Todashev and Tsarnaev carried out the 2011 killings when a drug deal that turned violent. The suspects didn't want the three victims to be able to identify them, so they slit their throats, according to the network.

Authorities had gone to Todashev's home late Tuesday with evidence suggesting that Todashev, 26-year-old Tsarnaev, and Tsarnaev's younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the 2011 killings.

No suspects had been arrested in that case, in which three men were found in an apartment in Waltham, Mass. on the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks with their throats cut and marijuana covering their bodies.

Confession: Todashev had allegedly admitted to being involved in a 2011 slaying and that he was preparing to sign a written statement based on his confession when he turned violent and was subsequently shot dead

Ibragim Todashev is pictured in 2009 with injuries from boxing at the Massachusetts gym where Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev trained

The FBI had questioned Todashev in the past regarding his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right). Tsarnaev's younger brother, Dzhokhar, (left), has been charged in connection with the bombings

Investigation: An FBI evidence response team enters an apartment after an FBI agent shot and killed a man who was questioned in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings

Massachusetts investigators had reported earlier this month that they were uncovering 'mounting evidence' that Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the slaying. One of the victims, Brendan Mess, was a close friend of Tamerlan's.

Authorities said they have no reason to believe that Todashev had any involvement in the marathon bombings.

More...

• Friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev shot dead by FBI after 'pulling a knife as he prepared to sign a confession to 2011 triple homicide'

Friends and family members of the 2011 murder victims reacted to news of the alleged confession on social media. 

On a Facebook page dedicated to victim Raphael Teken, someone wrote, 'Whether we ever know exactly what happened, there is one thing we surely know and that is that Rafi deserved a much better fate. 

Victim: Brendan Mess was one of three victims in a triple slaying that Todashev allegedly confessed to

'He was funny, kind, joyful and generous,' the message continued. 'All of us that knew him knew [his death] couldn't have been about anything he did, but are now horrified by what it may have been about.'

Facebook user Tony Porter wrote, 'I'm disappointed that we will never really get to experience true justice for our friend or know the reasons for what happened despite the fact that both alleged suspects are now deceased. 

'I don't know how you are supposed to feel when your friend's killer gets killed, but I don't feel "relieved" like I thought I would.'

Tsarnaev's mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, confirmed to the New York Times on Wednesday that her older son knew Todashev.

In a telephone interview from Dagestan, Tsarnaeva said Todashev moved from Boston to Florida about two years ago. She said she is devastated to learn that he has been killed.

'Now another boy has left this life,' she told the newspaper. 'Why are they killing these children without any trial or investigation?'

The FBI has been investigating Todashev for the last month, questioning him several times regarding his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed by police in a shootout following the deadly April 15 marathon bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has been charged in connection with the bombings and is being held at a prison medical center outside Boston.

Murdered: Raphael Teken (left with a friend) and Erik Weissman (right) were also killed in the 2011 triple slaying

Khusen Taramov, a friend of Todashev's, confirmed that Todashev and Tsarnaev knew each other. He said they had been in contact via phone or Skype about a week before the bombings.

In an interview with Orlando television station WESH, Taramov said that the two met while Todashev was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing. 

Todashev 'wasn't like real close friends [with Tsarnaev], but he just happened to know him,' Taramov said. 'But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know what I mean?'

Taramov says the FBI has been following him and Todashev since the bombings. He said that they were both being interviewed by agents late Tuesday before Todashev was killed.

Todashev was arrested in an unrelated incident on May 4 for aggravated battery after he left a man unconscious in the parking lot of a shopping mall.

According to the arrest affidavit, Todashev had gotten into an altercation with a man and his son over parking space.

Todashev told police that the man 'got into his face' so he pushed him and then the man's son 'got involved' and Todashev began fighting him.

Todashev met Tsarnaev while he was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing

 

Blasts: The April 15 explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured more than 240

'Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had surgery in March,' the affidavit states.

A mall security officer arrived on scene to find the son unconscious and lying in a pool of blood on the ground just as Todashev was pulling away in a white Mercedes.

The officer chased down the Mercedes, ordered Todashev out at gunpoint and arrested him.

The son was later treated at a hospital with a split upper lip, several teeth knocked out and head injuries.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2329278/Ibragim-Todashev-Friend-Tamerlan-Tsarnaev-implicates-Boston-bombing-suspect-2011-triple-homicide-just-shot-dead-FBI-agent.html#ixzz2U4s2ajen
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Va. woman has no regrets over role in burial Follows in Satan's path

They still don't want his body. Martha Mullen only did it to get on the News and Attention as Satan promised her. She claims she's a follower of G-d but she helped Satan. 

Martha Mullen buried a demon who not only killed during the Boston Marathon but also killed 3 innocent Jewish males 1 1/2 years before the bombing. Martha Mullen made a martyrs grave and the Jihadist will worship him at his grave. Martha Mullen  should have demonstrators out side her home pointing their fingers at her for the rest of her life. 

Va. woman has no regrets over role in burial

By LARRY O'DELL and BOB LEWIS | Associated Press – 14 hrs ago
http://news.yahoo.com/va-woman-no-regrets-over-role-burial-064738508.html

• 
  View PhotoAssociated Press/http://www.chrisowensphoto.com, Chris Owens - In this undated photo released by Chris Owens, Martha Mullen, right, of Richmond, Va., prepares to arm wrestle an opponent, in Richmond, Va. Mullen …more in Virginia told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview that she offered to help in the burial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a rural cemetery in Virginia, after seeing news reports about the refusals. She said she is not the only person who helped with arrangements. Tsarnaev was killed April 19 in a getaway attempt after a gun battle with police. (AP Photo/http://www.chrisowensphoto.com, Chris Owens) less

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DOSWELL, Va. (AP) — The Virginia woman whose actions led to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev being buried about 30 miles north of her Richmond home said the angry backlash from local officials, some cemetery neighbors and online critics has been unpleasant, but she has no regrets.

"I can't pretend it's not difficult to be reviled and maligned," Martha Mullen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday. "But any time you can reach across the divide and work with people that are not like you, that's what God calls us to do."

Tsarnaev, 26, was quietly buried Thursday at a small Islamic cemetery in rural Caroline County. His body had remained at a Worcester, Mass., funeral parlor since he was killed April 19 in a gunfight with police, days after the bombings that killed three and injured more than 260 in downtown Boston. Cemeteries in Massachusetts and several other states refused to accept the remains. With costs to protect the funeral home mounting, Worcester police appealed for help finding a place to bury Tsarnaev.

Mullen said she was at a Starbucks when she heard a radio news report about the difficulty finding a burial spot for Tsarnaev.
"My first thought was Jesus said love your enemies," she said.
Then she had an epiphany.
"I thought someone ought to do something about this — and I am someone," Mullen said.

So Mullen, a mental health counselor in private practice and a graduate of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, sent emails to various faith organizations to see what could be done. She heard back from Islamic Funeral Services of Virginia, which arranged for a funeral plot at the Al-Barzakh cemetery. "It was an interfaith effort," she said.

Mullen, a member of the United Methodist Church, said she was motivated by her own faith and that she had the full support of her pastor.
"Nobody is without sin," she said. "Certainly this was a horrific act, but he's dead and what happened is between him and God. We just need to bury his body and move forward. People were making an issue and detracting from the healing that needed to take place."
There was little talk of healing among Caroline County officials and the cemetery's neighbors, however.

Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa said late Saturday that officials had examined paperwork necessary to move Tsarnaev's corpse from Massachusetts for its Virginia burial, and the interment appears legal. But he said his small department lacks the money and personnel to provide round-the-clock stakeouts at the cemetery as deputies did Friday night, which passed without incident.

"The Sheriff's Office will offer the same amount of protection — no more and no less — to this site as any other cemetery in Caroline County," Lippa said in a press release, noting that the owners can hire private security to guard Tsarnaev's grave from vandals if they wish.
Lippa was unhappy that he was blind-sided Friday by the covert burial, and he wasn't alone. Even some people within the area's Islamic community were incensed that they were not consulted about the burial in advance.
Imam Ammar Amonette, of the Islamic Center of Virginia, said that his group was never consulted and that Mullen had reached out to a separate group, the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond.
"The whole Muslim community here is furious. Frankly, we are furious that we were never given any information. It was all done secretly behind our backs," Amonette said, adding that it "makes no sense whatsoever" that Tsarnaev's body was buried in Virginia.
"Now everybody who's buried in that cemetery, their loved ones are going to have to go to that place," he said.
The Islamic Society of Greater Richmond didn't respond to an email seeking confirmation that it was involved in the burial.
Some readers responding to online reports about the burial and Mullen's role were supportive, others sharply critical.
Jaquese Goodall, who lives less than a quarter-mile from the cemetery, was unhappy that Tsarnaev was buried there.
"If they didn't want him in Boston, why did they bring him all the way down here against our wishes?" said Goodall, 21. "I am worried because his people may come down here to visit and there will be a whole lot of problems from him being here."
Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa was concerned, too, that the grave site could become a target for vandals and a shrine for those who sympathize with Tsarnaev.
"I know of no Virginia law enforcement agency that was notified," Lippa said. "No one in county or state government was aware of this."

Floyd Thomas, the chairman of Caroline County's board of supervisors, considered Tsarnaev's possible burial a black mark against the county where President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was cornered and killed 148 years ago.

"We feel as far as this particular burial is concerned, we feel the same way that most of the people in the county feel — most of the way America feels. We're very angry over the bombing ... that's not something that's supposed to happen," he said.
"We don't want the county to be remembered as the resting place of the remains for someone who committed a terrible crime."
Peter Stefan, director of the Worcester funeral home where Tsarnaev's body was held, had some sympathy for the Caroline officials.
"What I really didn't care much for was the fact that the city or town wasn't notified," he said. "Once the family takes over, it's their responsibility. But there's a moral issue here."
Local officials asked Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to look into whether any laws were broken in carrying out the hushed burial. If not, there's likely nothing they can do.
"If there were, I think we'd try to undo what's been done," Thomas said.

Lane Kneedler, an attorney who represented the Virginia Cemetery Association when the law was drafted to regulate for-profit cemeteries in the late 1990s, said private and church burial grounds are not regulated by the state and only have to meet local zoning requirements. He said that once a cemetery is approved and operating, only its owner controls who is buried there.

The cemetery where Tsarnaev is buried contains 47 graves, all covered Friday with reddish-brown mulch except for two that appeared newly dug and were unmarked. On one of the new graves lay a vase full of roses at one end and a single red rose at the other end. The other new grave was bare.
State police cruisers, county sheriff's cars and black unmarked sedans with their emergency lights concealed cruised back and forth past the cemetery, officers inside them eyeing everything for any sign of trouble as reporters on the ground and those in helicopters high overhead broadcast the gravesite's location to the world.
Meanwhile, Tsarnaev's death certificate was released Friday. It shows he was shot by police in the firefight the night of April 18, run over and dragged by a vehicle, and died a few hours later on April 19. Authorities have said his younger brother, Dzhokhar, ran over him in his getaway attempt.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured later and remains in custody. The brothers are accused of setting off two shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs April 15 near the marathon finish line, an attack that killed three people and injured more than 260. The brothers are also suspected in the shooting death days later of an MIT police officer.
Their uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., took responsibility for the body after Tamerlan's wife, Katherine Russell, said she wanted it released to her in-laws. He said his nephew was buried in the Doswell cemetery with the help of a faith coalition.
"The body's buried," he said. "That's it."
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O'Dell reported from Richmond. Lewis reported from Doswell. Associated Press writers Denise Lavoie and Jay Lindsay in Boston and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.