Female DNA found on Boston bomb part
Oh boy - do you think we might have mirandized young Mr. Tsarnaev a little too quickly?
The FBI continues to investigate the bombing and have now determined that there is someone else of interest in the case; DNA was found on a bomb part that is clearly female. There may be other explanations for how the DNA got on the bomb so it is not a certainty that a woman was involved. And I'm sure the FBI would love to ask Mr. Tsarnaev all about it except he's been read his rights and has clammed up.
Investigators have found female DNA on at least one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks, though they haven't determined whose DNA it is or whether its presence means a woman helped the two brothers suspected in the bombings, according to U.S. officials briefed on the probe.
In another development, Russian officials revealed details about contacts between the older brother and suspected Islamist radicals in the Caucasus, including Internet exchanges that led to concerns by investigators that he was trying to join up with jihadist fighters.
Speaking Monday about the DNA discovery, the U.S. officials cautioned that there could be multiple explanations 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 exploded 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.
Monday, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visited the Rhode Island home of the parents of Katherine Russell, the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He died after a shootout with police four days after the April 15 bombings.
"The FBI is there as part of our ongoing investigation, but we aren't permitted to discuss specific aspects of the case," said FBI spokesman Jason Pack.
I believe that some terrorism trials could indeed be conducted using the civilian justice system. This attack isn't one of them. If it turns out that the Tsarnaev brothers had help here in America - still a possibility that the FBI has not dismissed - and that more people knew of the attack and helped carry it out, the administration is going to have a lot of explaining to do.