Female DNA Found on Bomb in Boston Attack

[Bosonic]

Source: WSJ

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 that means a woman helped the two suspects carry out the attacks, according to U.S. officials briefed on the probe.

The officials familiar with the case cautioned that there could be multiple explanations for why the DNA of someone other than the two bombing suspects—Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar—could have been found on remnants of the exploded devices. The genetic material 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.

On Monday, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were seen leaving the Rhode Island home of the parents of Katherine Russell, the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The elder brother died after a shootout with police four days after the April 15 bombings.

Ms. Russell has been staying with her parents since the bombings, and FBI agents have been seen posted outside the home since her late husband was identified as one of the bombers. Her lawyer has said she is "doing everything she can to assist with the investigation."

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323798104578453190708251284.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[dipsydoodle]

1. From one of the victims?

[randome]

6. I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned as a possibility.

[freshwest]

20. My first thought, too. I don't know how they determine such a thing after an explosion.

Seems any such markers would be burned away. Perhaps one of our members will know about it.

[Wernothelpless]

2. Wondering ...

When I first viewed this video I noticed that the girl in the yellow jacket has a backpack that matches
the older brother ... she looks to be walking with the same gait and distance between the three of them ...
I've seen people speculate about this but no answer? ....

[bananas]

13. I noticed that too

They also said there were two unexploded bombs at the marathon.
One was detonated by police in a controlled explosion.

[Wernothelpless]

15. The backpack looks heavy on the woman ...

Notice how carefully she follows them ... the last shot when they're all three coming around the corner ... ?? ... and the one from behind showing her backpack ...

When they said there were unexploded devices I thought of her ...

[Trajan]

24. Frankly ... the girl in the yellow jacket ...

... appears to be walking at the same pace and gait as everyone else on that clip ...

Any association you make is personal ....

Heck ... she wasn't even dark skinned ....

[Wernothelpless]

26. I watched the video ...

You noticed her skin color? ... I did not ..

I noticed her backpack matched the older brothers ... exactly the same backpack? ...

Now did the FBI mark that off to coincidence? ... who knows ...

But we come here to discuss and share not to slander and your reply is bigoted and slanderous ... and unnecessary ...

I'm guessing that's who you are ... and this is an observation not sarcasm ... Peace!

[Warpy]

3. Or it could have been a pressure cooker

that Tamerlan's wife used for cooking or it could have been a stray hair from a female cop.

I'm sure they're going through his recent life very thoroughly and that his widow is being questioned intensively. By the time they're done, they'll know what he had for breakfast for the last six months, as well as who he had contact with.

[CTyankee]

28. I thought the same thing...that she was cooking with it...it seemed like the most logical

explanation to me...and I know that sounds a bit sexist but sadly, it is more likely than not the explanation...

[MADem]

4. If Ms. Russell (and why not call her Mrs. Tsarnaeva, as she used to call herself?) is "doing

EVERYTHING she can...." then why do the Feebs have to dither about getting more access to her?

One official familiar with the case said agents went to the house Monday to collect a DNA sample from Ms. Russell, the culmination of days of negotiations. FBI officials also have been negotiating with Ms. Russell's attorney in recent days to get fuller access to question her, the officials familiar with the case said. The officials briefed on the investigation said the DNA request was needed to determine whether it matched the DNA found on the bomb remnants.

I don't think she's necessarily a "plotter," but I think she may have turned a blind eye...or two.

[dkf]

5. If you read the exes account it's likely Katherine was abused.

I'm not sure what that would mean for a prosecution.

[MADem]

7. He slapped an ex-girlfriend, we know that from the police report.

I doubt the wife was the brightest bulb if she quit college a year shy of graduation, paid for by her parents, to hook up with that loser, to be put out to work for forty to seventy hours a week in a minimum wage job while he sat at home.

If she'd been abused, you'd think she'd want to make that very clear, to avoid any supposition that she was a willing or a "blind eye" cohort in all this. Instead, she has TWO lawyers, and her poor parents are selling the home they've lived in for a decade and a half.

[dkf]

8. He was an ass.

I know it's the sun...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4906994/my-boyfriend-the-bomber.html

It's too bad she went the tabloid route but she probably wanted the money.

[MADem]

22. I don't get the sudden urge for pixelation....her face has been all over the papers

in the week after the bombing. She was his "sparring partner" in the Lowell gym photo essay.

[lanlady]

27. the story is about a different woman

The Sun story is about some ex-girlfriend, not the wife.

How noble of the The Sun to blur out the girlfriend's face (purely out of respect for her privacy, I'm sure) while leaving her boobs in plain view

[Ruby the Liberal]

16. Her parents are selling their house over this?

[MADem]

21. They put it on the market the Friday after the bombing.

Maybe they need lawyer money....?

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. Yeah, but they gotta live somewhere.

Interesting factoid. Thanks for mentioning it - I had missed that in the coverage. Now that there is a report of female DNA in the bomb material, it may prove relevant.

[MADem]

29. Father is a doctor, and mother was a nurse and she works at something--maybe not nursing, now.

They might have a summer home to retreat to, or a city apartment. Somewhere where they can get lost in a crowd or in a more rural or seasonal environment--or maybe they just figure hell, we were gonna downsize anyway, may as well slink away now...

[Mass]

9. What are the odds the clerk who sold these items was a woman? Talk about

media speculating on nothing.

OTOH, there is nothing strange in the fact they interview Tsarnaev's wife. The opposite would be very strange.

[politicat]

10. Or the cotton swab.

Germany had this problem...

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1888126,00.html

[DallasNE]

11. Store Clerk Sounds Plausable

For the stuff packed in with the explosives such as the nails and BB's. It could even be the wife but that still wouldn't place her in the room as it could have fallen from his clothes while working on the construction of the bomb. It is certainly not a smoking gun at this point.

[marshall]

12. Mommie Dearest?

That's the implication I get from it--they're looking to tie her into it.

[SoapBox]

14. Seriously?

Findable DNA on one of those exploded bombs? Still usable?

Seriously?????

OK, so if America is so good at finding this, hell, they should be able to solve every crime that has happened.

Why am I suspicious that this is bullshit.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. If it was on the outside of the pressure cooker, there's every chance it would survive

or, if it was a hair, on the remains of a backpack.

[MikeW]

18. hmm

Im familiar with her attorney .. he's very good.

However, I dont get the "negotiating" for days for helping the FBI.

They could have easily gone to court and compelled her to provide a sample.

[alp227]

19. Boston globe article

Female DNA found on bomb pieces, reports say

Seems their kid will grow up without her parents if mom is found guilty.

[MADem]

23. Well, she is a fatherless child already. From all accounts, though, she has a great set of

grandparents--the ones that live in RI.