Boston Marathon bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has 'a wife from a Christian family'
DECEASED Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had a wife from a Christian family in the capital of Massachusetts, according to his aunt.
The 26-year-old, who was killed in a gunfight with police overnight, had married a Boston woman and the couple had a three-year-old daughter.
The suspect, whose younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is still at large, had recently become a devout Muslim who prayed five times a day.
Speaking to reporters in Toronto, relative Maret Tsarnaeva said: "He has a wife in Boston and from a Christian family, so you can't tie it to religion."
The brothers hail from Checyna, and the youngest attended a school in a region which has become the epicenter of the Islamic insurgency.
The eldest brother was killed after a violent pursuit with police which saw university police officer Sean Collier shot to death.
The youngest escaped from the police and thousands of officers have taken to the streets in the Watertown area to apprehend the suspect.
Ms Tsarnaeva said her brother and the suspects' father Anzor Tsarnaev had high expecations for his sons, especially Tamerlan.
She said she found it hard to believe her nephews were involved in the attacks that killed three and injured over 180 people.
Ms Tsarnaeva said: "We're talking about three dead people, 100-something injured, and I do not believe, I just do not believe our boys would do that ... I don't know them in the way that they could be capable of this."