Uncle says older bombing suspect 'used' brother

     
Tamerlan Tsarnaev ranted at a neighbor about Islam and the United States. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, relished debating people on religion, "then crushing their beliefs with facts."
              
The older brother sought individual glory in the boxing ring, while the younger excelled as part of a team. 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.                       

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.    

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

The ethnic Chechen family came to the U.S. in 2002, after fleeing troubles in Kyrgyzstan and then Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus.

They settled in a working-class part of Cambridge, where father Anzor Tsarnaev opened an auto shop. He returned to Dagestan about a year ago.


AP