Boston: Federal
authorities are closely scrutinizing the activities of the wife of the dead Boston
Marathon bombing suspect in the days before and after the attacks.
The authorities are looking
at a range of possibilities, two senior law enforcement official said,
including that she could have – wittingly or unwittingly destroyed evidence,
helped the bombers evade captured or even played a role in planning the
attacks. As part of the investigation. Federal Bureau of investigation agents is
trying to determine whether female DNA founder found on a piece of a pressure
cooker used as an explosive device in the attacks was from Katherine Russell, the
wife of Tamerlane Tsarnaev, the officials said.
One of the officials said
a fingerprint has also been found on a bomb fragment and that
investigators had tried to collect DNA and fingerprint samples from several people
whom the authorities are scrutinizing in additional to Russell.
Federal authorities took a sample of Russell’s DNA on Monday
in Rhode Island, where she has been staying with her parents, officials said.
Her lawyer, Amato A Deluca, has said Russell was shocked
when she learned that her husband and brother-in-law were suspected of
involvement in the attack. “We want to state what we stated before: Katie continues
to assist in the investigation in any way that she can,” he said Monday in the
email. Investigators have identified
female DNA on a fragment of one of the bombs used in Boston, it’s not clear
what that means --- the DNA could have come from an injured spectator, or
perhaps from a clerk who sold the materials used in the bombs.
So far, investigators
do not know if Plotnikov and Tsarnaev ever met. And there is no evidence to
date that the Tsarnaev brothers had any connections to any wider conspiracy,
The U.S officials cautioned that there could be multiple for
why genetic material from someone other than the two bombing suspects—Tamerlan Tsarnaev
and his younger brother, Dzhokhar could have been found on remnants of the
explosed devices. It could have come, for example, from a store clerk who
handled materials used in the bombs or a stray hair that ended up in the bomb. A
law enforcement official said authorities were investigating individuals who
may have helped the suspects in some way after the bombings. The official would
not elaborate
The focus on Russell is part of the wider effort by the FBI
to determine who else may have played a role aiding the bombers.
While the authorities do not believe the bombers were tied
to a larger terrorist network or had accomplices, they remain sceptical that
other did not know of their plans or did not help them destroy evidence.
.