FBI Takes Computer From NJ Home of Bombing Suspect’s Estranged Sister
The FBI on Friday removed a computer from the New Jersey home of a sister of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19.
Police in New Jersey say it appears a sister of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had no contact recently with her brothers.
The FBI removed a computer and other evidence Friday from the home in West New York, N.J., of Ailina Tsarnaeva.
West New York Police Director Michael Indri says the focus of the investigation was to confirm there was no contact. He says he's confident the FBI confirmed that.
Speaking earlier through a crack in the door, the woman told News12 New Jersey and The Star-Ledger that she is sorry for the families that lost loved ones "the same way I lost my loved one."
"I'm hurt for everyone that's been hurt," she told the TV station and newspaper.
Her brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed overnight in a shootout with police outside Boston. Her younger brother remains at large.
"He was a great person," the woman said of her dead brother. "I thought I knew him. I never would have expected that from him. He is a kind and loving man. The cops took his life away just the same way he took others' lives away, if that's even true. At the end of the day, no one knows the truth."
"I have no idea what got into them," she said.
Indri said the woman was cooperating with the FBI.
"She's heartbroken, surprised and upset like we all are," he said.
A woman who described herself as a friend of Ailina Tsarnaev described a different relationship between the woman and the elder brother.
Vicki Colon, of Passaic, said the woman feared him because "he used to beat her."
Colon said she met the two brothers during a visit to Massachusetts a couple years ago. She said the younger brother was very quiet.
The sister last spoke to Colon on April 6, Colon's birthday. Colon said she saw a Facebook posting Thursday night that led her to believe the woman may not have known her brothers had been identified as suspects.
"It just said, 'God is great, I love my family,' basically," Colon said.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.