DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WHDH) — Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died of gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to the head and body, his death certificate says.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev likely suffered the gunshot wounds while engaging in a gunbattle with police, and suffered blunt-force trauma to his head and body when he was run over by a car driven by his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The body of the 26-year-old suspect was moved to Graham Putnam and Mahoney funeral home in Worcester on Friday because Tsarnaev’s uncle took control and wanted the funeral services handled there.
Tsarnaev’s body was likely moved from a funeral home in North Attleboro where it had been the scene of protests on May 2.
“Protesters everywhere. The factor of the matter is I can’t control the circumstances around a death,” said funeral director Peter Stefan. “What a person did or what they died from. I can’t pick and choose. Work as a funeral director, the oath I take is to bury the dead, that’s it.”
The move of Tsarnaev’s body has drawn some attention from unhappy local businessmen and residents.
“He made a mistake with this one. ‘Cause nobody would do it. They wouldn’t do it in Westborough but we’ll do it here. We’ll open our arms up to the terrorist,” said local businessman, William Breault. “It’s wrong. He’s a killer and should be sent back to Chechnya.”
The funeral parlor in Worcester is familiar with Muslim services and said it will handle arrangements for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, whose body was released by the state medical examiner Thursday night.
Stefan said everybody deserves a dignified burial service no matter the circumstances of his or her death and he is prepared for protests.
"My problem here is trying to find a gravesite. A lot of people don't want to do it. They don't want to be involved with this," said Stefan, who said dozens of protesters gathered outside his funeral home, upset with his decision to handle the funeral. "I keep bringing up the point of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy. Somebody had to do those, too."
Meanwhile, two U.S. officials said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told interrogators that he and his brother initially considered setting off their bombs on July Fourth.
Boston police said they planned to review security procedures for the Independence Day Boston Pops concert and fireworks display, which draws a crowd of more than 500,000 annually and is broadcast to a national TV audience. Authorities plan to look at security procedures for large events held in other cities, notably the massive New Year's Eve celebration held each year in New York City's Times Square, Massachusetts state police spokesman David Procopio said.
Gov. Deval Patrick said everything possible will be done to assure a safe event.
"I think the most important thing is that we got them, and there's investigation continuing about where the other leads may lead," he said. "I can tell you, having been thoroughly briefed, that the law enforcement at every level is pursuing everything."
As part of the bombing investigation, federal, state and local authorities were searching the woods near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student. Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, could not say what investigators were looking for but said residents should know there is no threat to public safety.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was found hiding in a tarp-covered boat in a suburban Boston backyard, faces a charge of using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. Three of his college classmates were arrested Wednesday and accused of helping after the bombing to remove a laptop and backpack from his dormitory room before the FBI searched it.
The April 15 bombing, using pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards, killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finish line.
The brothers decided to carry out the attack before Independence Day when they finished assembling the bombs, the surviving suspect told interrogators after he was arrested, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the investigation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Investigators believe some of the explosives used in the attack were assembled in Tamerlan Tsarnaev's home, though there may have been some assembly elsewhere, one of the officials said. It does not appear that the brothers ever had big, definitive plans, the official said.
The brothers' mother insists the allegations against them are lies.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security ordered border agents to immediately begin verifying that every international student who arrives in the U.S. has a valid student visa, according to an internal memorandum obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The new procedure is the government's first security change directly related to the Boston bombings.
The order from a senior official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, David J. Murphy, was circulated Thursday and came one day after President Barack Obama's administration acknowledged that one of the students accused of hiding evidence, Azamat Tazhayakov, of Kazakhstan, was allowed to return to the U.S. in January without a valid student visa.
Tazhayakov's lawyer has said he had nothing to do with the bombing and was shocked by it.
A benefit concert featuring Aerosmith, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett is scheduled for May 30 at the TD Garden in Boston. The proceeds will go to The One Fund, which has taken in more than $28 million for those injured and the families of those who were killed.
The fund's administrator, Kenneth Feinberg, said Friday he plans to hold meetings with victims next week and begin cutting checks by the end of June.
The body will be buried somewhere in Boston at a site yet to be determined. The public will be notified by the funeral home once chosen.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.