Uncle says older Boston bombing suspect ‘used’ brother

Tamerlan swaggered” through the family home like a man-of-the-house type,” one visitor recalls,while Dzhokhar seemed very respectful and very obedient” to his mother.

The brothers,now forever linked in the Boston Marathon bombing,in some ways seemed as different as siblings could be. But whatever drove them to allegedly set off two deadly pressure-cooker bombs,their uncle is certain Dzhokhar was not the one pulling the strings.

He’s not been understanding anything. He’s a 19-year-old boy,” Ruslan Tsarni said of his brother’s youngest child,who was clinging to life in a Boston hospital Saturday after a gun battle with police. He’s been absolutely wasted by his older brother. I mean,he used him. He used him for whatever he’s done. For what we see they’ve done,OK?”

Criminologist James Alan Fox said the uncle’s intuition is justified. In cases like this,he said,it is highly unusual for the younger participant in this case,a sibling to be the leader.

I would be surprised,” said Fox,the Lipman Professor of Criminology,Law and Public Policy at Boston’s Northeastern University. Very surprised.”

When the bullets began flying Thursday night and 26-year-old Tamerlan went down,his younger brother ran him over dragging him for about 30 feet (9 meters) before ditching the car and fleeing on foot. After a 24-hour manhunt that shut down most of the Boston metropolitan area,police cornered the gravely wounded Dzhokhar hiding in a boat in a backyard only blocks from where his brother was taken.

Officials said Dzhokhar was in serious condition,unable to communicate. So,at least for now,investigators and the public are left with an enigma.