Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspect in last year's Boston Marathon bombings, allegedly told two college friends that "it was good to die like a martyr," prosecutors said in court this week as the trial of one of those men began.
According to The Boston Globe, prosecutors said on Monday that a month before the bombing, Tsarnaev told his two buddies that "it was good to die like a martyr" because you "die with a smile on your face and go straight to heaven." Tsarnaev then reportedly told them that he knew how to make homemade bombs with gunpowder.
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An hour after allegedly detonating two bombs made from pressure cookers near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, Tsarnaev texted one of those friends, Azamat Tazhayakov, saying, "Don't go thinking it's me, you cooked bastard."
Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, both from Kazakhstan, stand accused of entering Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, a few days later — on the night of April 18 — and discarding his backpack, which is said to have contained gunpowder from fireworks.
Robel Phillipos, a third friend, is charged with lying to investigators about his whereabouts the night of April 18. Each of the three will face separate trials, beginning with Tazhayakov's.
Tazhayakov has pleaded not guilty to the charges,
The Associated Press reported.
His defense attorney, Nicholas Wooldridge, argued in his defense, stating, "Azamat's actions will show that he never intended to obstruct justice. As a matter of fact, he never intended to help the bomber himself."
He said that a text his client received from Tsarnaev, which read, "If you want, you can go to my room and take what's there," was referring to marijuana, not explosives. He reminded the court that his client cooperated fully when questioned by the FBI, authorizing searches of his cellphone, laptop, apartment, and car.
"He’s the opposite of someone trying to obstruct justice," Wooldridge told jurors.
Kadyrbayev will have his own trial in September.
Tsarnaev, who recently turned 20, is set to stand trial in November for his alleged role in killing three and injuring 260 with a makeshift bomb made of a pressure cooker, as well as his role in the shootout that followed in which his older brother was slain by police.
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