The Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev's American wife Katherine Russell is "very distraught" but will cooperate with the FBI investigation, her lawyer Amato DeLuca said, as reported by UPI.com
Katherine Russell, a convert to Islam when she married Tsarnaev, had a 2 ½ year old daughter, and municipal records indicate that they were not living together at the time of the bombing, Amoto said. The child lived with Tsarnaev because Russell worked seven days a week as a home health care aide.
Russell's friends said they had been suspicious of Tsarnaev since the time she need to drop out her senior year when she became pregnant. Russell, raised Christian and converted to Islam for Tsarnaev, remains a devout Muslim.
"Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child," the Russell family said in a statement after the bombings. "We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred. In the aftermath of the Patriots' Day horror, we know that we never really knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Our hearts are sickened by the knowledge of the horror he has inflicted. Please respect our family's privacy in this difficult time."
Russell reportedly saw Tsarnaev just hours before his death last week after exchanging custody of their daughter. Deluca underscored Russell has every intention to cooperate with the FBI investigation. She has yet to speak with investigators, UPI.com reported.
Tsarnaev also posted jihadi videos on his YouTube account, adding to the suspicion he had every intention to be a jihadi himself, according to law enforcement officials.
Tsarnaev reportedly also wanted to move Russell and three-year-old child to the Muslim-dominated region of Dagestan his aunt said, according to the Daily Mail. His aunt also revealed that by the time Tamerlan arrived in her part of Russia, he was 'deeply religious' and frequented the mosques in Dagestan.
