Will the surviving bombing suspect also be charged with murdering his brother?

[MaineLinePhilly]

Its been said that the younger suspect ran over his brother when he was trying to flee. If that is determined to be the cause of death by the medical examiner, will the younger brother also be charged with that death?

[madaboutharry]

1. That could happen.

[markpkessinger]

2. In one article I read . . .

. . . one of the doctors who attended to him said he had serious puncture wounds from head to toe, and thus it would likely be impossible to determine precisely which wounds caused his death. Here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/20/tamerlan-tsarnaev-injuires_n_3124612.html

[Logical]

3. He is toast without that charge anyway. 3 murders, bombs, attempted murder, etc. n-t

[MaineLinePhilly]

6. Well yeah but I still want to know

Of course he's toast but I'd still like to know from a legal standpoint.

[Logical]

7. Well, he tried to run over cops also. So that is multiple felonys. But I agree, that would be.....

an involuntary manslaughter charge also.

[LisaL]

15. If you run over someone with a car, how is that involuntary?

[Logical]

20. He was escaping. Not trying to kill his brother. n-t

[LisaL]

22. So as long as you are escaping, you are allowed to run people over?

[Logical]

23. A murder charge requires intent. There was none. n-t

[LisaL]

27. Felony murder doesn't require intent to murder.

[anneboleyn]

35. Not in the case of second-degree murder

[Jenoch]

17. The answer you seek is not as simple as you wish it to be.

The younger brother would likely be charged, if the prosecutor so chooses, with 'felony murder', that is he is part of a felony that causes the death of a co-conspirator of the felony. The fact that he may have driven over his brother in his attempt to escape is not a particularly important point in the case.

[krispos42]

18. As long as the contacts aren't dirty.

[Tx4obama]

4. If he caused his brother's death death then I hope he is charged. n/t

[dballance]

5. It's up to the DA - not murder though

I doubt it would be a murder charge. For murder you need intent.

[MaineLinePhilly]

8. You don't need intent for third degree murder

Third degree murder can be charged for negligence and recklessness. It varies by state though when it gets to third degree vs manslaughter.

[anneboleyn]

36. No intent needed for second degree murder either

[SmileyRose]

9. wow

all I can think of is his mom ...... his parents must be insane with greif. Their boy killed 5 maimed 100 plus,..... how many will lose a roof because that one day shelter in place made the difference paying rent.... how many suffered missing critically needed medical appt,....and possibly killed his own brother.

[MaineLinePhilly]

11. I thought about the missing work thing too

State workers will probably get administrative leave but I doubt McDonalds is going to cover your missed shift because of the shelter in place order. Believe me I definitely thought of the hourly wage workers when that happened. Estimates say the shelter in place cost a loss of $313 million. I'm sure some of it was made up in the bars last night though lol.

[longship]

24. Great!

I can get to my minimum wage job while my whole city is quivering in their boots.


What a crass and unthinking post.

The people of Boston were not worried about their McJobs this week. They were worried about a couple of maniacal douchebags inflicting more death and destruction on their city.

So! Yes! They stayed home. Voluntarily!

Shelter in place is not a lockdown. Nor is it suspensions of freedoms. Anybody who wanted to have a street party was free to do so. Thankfully, Bostonians had more sense than some here on DU.

They complied with the request, and they caught the guy.

A good outcome, given the situation and the events. Thankfully, there were no street parties.

[MaineLinePhilly]

38. The only thing crass and unthinking is to not consider it

I don't have a low wage job but at least I can think about how it surely must have pissed people off who do have one that they missed their shift that day to deal with this idiot. While it may have been voluntary, it wasn't presented that way. They didn't come on TV and say "this is voluntary". I'd never heard of a shelter in place order before so I would've thought it was mandatory, as I'm sure many others did.

[malaise]

44. They caught the guy after the shelter was lifted

and not in the area cordoned off.

[treestar]

43. Someone on the radio likened it to a snow day

Logically, it would be no more of a loss than that.

[Yo_Mama]

10. Technically he could be

Felony murder, not manslaughter.

But I doubt it. And, as you say, it depends on the results of the autopsy. Given all the concurrent injuries, the medical examiner might have difficulty assigning the responsibility for the death. Multiple trauma or something like that.

[Kalidurga]

12. I want to know the same thing.

It is very likely that because he ran over his brother that he is dead. But, I suppose it is possible his brother was dead before he hit the ground.

[LisaL]

14. Apparently, the brother wasn't yet dead when he arrived at the hospital.

Last edited Sun Apr 21, 2013, 12:20 AM - Edit history (1)

So how would it be possible that he was dead before he hit the ground?

[Kalidurga]

16. Did not know that.

Then it would be difficult indeed to figure out what ultimately killed him. But, being run over certainly did not help.

[LisaL]

19. It sure didn't.

Just saw a witness interviewed on CNN. Not only was the brother run over, the body was dragged by a car.

[patricia92243]

31. I saw that too. I'm sure it was an FBI person - not just a witness n/t

[LisaL]

32. No, that was the guy living in the builiding next to the scene.

I don't think he has any connection to FBI.
He lives there with several roommates.
He was watching from the window.

[Tx4obama]

29. See Comment #28

[lunatica]

41. I think he was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital

He could have died anytime before that, or it could be that a doctor or coroner has to actually pronounce the death after ascertaining that the person is dead themselves.

[LisaL]

13. Well, if medical examiner determines he died because of being run over, then I fail to see why not.

[bluedigger]

21. He probably could be, but why?

It would just add a lot of work for the prosecutors and time and expense to the case with minimal escalation of the potential penalties. He was probably speeding and operating recklessly as well.

[HooptieWagon]

25. Its possible.

I am not familiar with Mass law, but in Florida if a person dies during commission of a felony, then accomplices in the crime can be charged with murder. Under those circumstances, not only can he be charged with his brothers death (even if he didn't run him over), but could also be charged with the cop's murder even if his brother pulled the trigger. I don't know if Mass law is the same though.

[fleur-de-lisa]

26. +1 . . . hope so! - n/t

[Loudly]

33. Yes, MA has the felony murder rule. And fleeing the police in a vehicle is a felony.

[Tx4obama]

28. Tamerlan Tsarnaev Injuries: Doctor Says Dead Bombing Suspect Had Wounds 'Head To Toe'

BOSTON — A doctor involved in treating the Boston Marathon bombing suspect who died in a gunbattle with police says he had injuries head to toe and all limbs intact when he arrived at the hospital.

Dr. David Schoenfeld said 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was unconscious and had so many penetrating wounds when he arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center early Friday that it isn't clear which ones killed him, and a medical examiner will have to determine the cause of death.

-snip-

The older Tsarnaev's clothes had been cut off by emergency responders at the scene, so if he had been wearing a vest with explosives, he wasn't by the time he arrived at the hospital, the doctor said.

"From head to toe, every region of his body had injuries," he said. "His legs and arms were intact – he wasn't blown into a million pieces" – but he lost a pulse and was in cardiac arrest, meaning his heart and circulation had stopped, so CPR, or cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, was started.

Schoenfeld did not address police's assertion that Tsarnaev was run over by a car driven by his brother as he fled the gunfire.

-snip-

Full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/20/tamerlan-tsarnaev-injuires_n_3124612.html

[LisaL]

30. Being shot and then run over will do that.

According to eyewitness, when he was run over, his body was dragged by a car.

[HooptieWagon]

39. He also had a blast wound in his torso.

There is a picture floating around on the internet...I won't link to it, but it's easy to find.
However, even if younger brother didn't run over him, he can still be charged in his death as they were committing felonies at the time.

[onenote]

34. No.

Could they? Sure. They also could charge him with speeding, trespassing, failing to signal when he made a turn and probably littering.

But they won't. The focus will be on proving the case for 4 counts of murder, 170 counts of attempted murder, 170 counts of maiming, more weapons and explosives charges than I know the names of, and conspiracy to commit pretty much all of the above. They won't devote a minute or penny of resources to trying to prove that his running over his brother was the cause of his brother's death or that it was an intentional act on his part.

So, no he won't be charged with murdering his brother. Bank on it.

[defacto7]

37. All I know is

he's in for one hell of a bad decade coming up no matter what.

[lunatica]

40. It would probably be manslaughter if they charged him

Murder is what he did when he made the bombs go off. It was pre-meditated, so therefore murder. Killing his brother, if he did, wasn't pre-meditated nor was it deliberate.

[treestar]

42. Makes sense

Though he may be able to make out a case for manslaughter. May not have been intentional.