Dead Man Walking Nun Gives Explosive Testimony on Boston Bomber's Private Remorse

Before the defense rested its case during the penalty phase of the surviving Boston Bomber's trial,  Attorney Miriam Conrad called to the stand Sister Helen Prejean, C.J.S. to testify about Dzhohkar Tsarnaev's character. The 76 year old nun gained renown for her book Dead Man Walking (1994), that has been made into a movie (1996) an opera (2000) and a play  written by Tim Robbins (2002).  Dead Man Walking chronicles insights of the mindset of convicted murderers drawn from interacting with two prisoners on death row. The experience lead Sister Prejean to become an ardent anti-capital punishment activist.

Sister Prejean met with Tsarnaev five times since early March 2015. Sister Prejean testified that the 21 year old Tsarnaev brother seemed genuinely sorry for his actions. In fact, Prejean quoted the Boston Bomber: "No one deserves to suffer as they did." Prejean purported that Tsarnaev's "face registered" what he was saying as "absolutely sincere".  CNN reporter Deborah Feyerick claimed this was nothing short of explosive testimony.



It's a pity that Dzhohkar Tsarnaev chose not to take the stand during the guilt phase, in which he was convicted on all 30 counts, nor during the penalty phase, so that the people could discern if it was real remorse or crocodile tears delivered through an earnest activist. Boston Bombing victims in the gallery shook their heads during claims that Tsarnaev was remorseful.

One revealing threat of testimony which was quickly quashed was when Sister Prejean started to speak about comparative religions.  Sister Prejean noted that the Catholic Church had become more and more opposed to the death penalty. The prosecution objected on that point (as they had been chary about an anti Capital Punishment advocate testifying in the first place).  Defense Attorney Conrad interjected "Let me stop you right there".

 Was this a quick acquiescence to an inevitable objection or did the Defense not want to be too explicit in revealing their hand to the jury on Prejean's presence? Defense experts note that if one juror objects to the death penalty, then the Defense achieves its objective and Tsarnaev gets a life sentence without parole.  It is thought that someone of Sister Prejean's stature might be able to influence the jury.

Another ancillary aspect of Sister Prejean's testimony was playing to the look of innocence.  Prejean testified that when she first met Tsarnaev: "I walked in the room, I looked at his face and said, 'Oh my God, he's so young!'" .  This played into the defense argument about youthfulness and impressionability.  It echoes the Tiger Beat style cover of Rolling Stone.  This innocent impression lends more sympathy then the fact that Tsarnaev was convicted of mounting a jihad inspired attack to punish American which killed three people and wounded 264 people.

Although it is understandable that an anti-Capital Punishment advocate like the Sister Prejean would want to testify on behalf of the Boston Bomber, it strains credulity that Tsarnaev's defense would rely on hearsay of remorse rather than have the convicted criminal show his true self up on the stand.

After eight days of testimony which called upon 44 witnesses, the defense rested its case after Sister Prejean's testimony.  The twelve jurors will begin deliberations on Wednesday to determine if Tsarnaev would be in line for a lethal injection or serving a life sentence (presumably at Supermax) without possibility of parole.

Ship of Fools--Boston Bomber's Scrawled Confession

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev surrendering in boat after manhunt   [photo: AFP/CBS News]

While Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was held up hiding in a backyard boat in Watertown, MA after the Boston Marathon Bombing, he scrawled a confession.  The U.K.’s Daily Mail reports that the 19 year old thought that he was dying while hiding from the police.  Tsarnaev found a pen where he was hiding from the police and wrote on the interior wall of the boat.

The younger Boston Bomber’s apologia reveals that Dzhokar did not mourn his brother Tamerlan’s death as he was a martyr living in paradise.  Dzhokhar opined that he expected to join his brother soon.  Of course, Dzhokar may have been confused about his final destination.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev claimed that the bombings were retribution for American actions against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The younger Boston Bomber claimed that the three innocent civilians killed and the 175 people maimed by the  Boston Bombings were “collateral damage”, like the thousands of Muslims who were victims of American violence.  Dzhokhar defiantly declared: "When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims.”

 Abdul Ali Alharbi [photo: Okaz]

CBS News reported that investigators were interpreting this note as evidence that the Tsarnaev Brothers  were self-radicalized and that they were not Chechen stooges for a broader jihadist plot.  How convenient.  But what about the hub of strange activity surrounding Abdul Ali Alharbi, the well connected Saudi student hospitalized with burnt hands after the Boston Bombing who was then set to be deported by ICE under section 202 (3)(b) for “Terrorist Activities”?   Out of sight, (out of country), out of mind?




The confession could be key in prosecuting Tsarnaev, as it was composed prior to a Magistrate interrupting the FBI interrogation to read the perpetrator his criminal rights.  Of course, this note is riddled with bullet holes from Dzhokar’s action packed capture. 

Boat owner David Henneberry

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was discovered alive because David Henneberry went outside to smoke after the  the shelter in place order was lifted during the Boston Bomber  manhunt and he checked on his beloved boat.  When Henneberry noticed that his winterized boat had been disturbed, he checked out his vessel.  On the second inspection, Henneberry discovered the bloodied Dzhokhar.    

Between the scrawled confession and the bullet holes, Henneberry is not getting his boat back in the water anytime soon.   There was a social media drive to buy Henneberry a new boat.  But he considers himself an incidental hero.   

It makes me feel wonderful that people that are thinking like that, but it is my boat. People lost lives and lost limbs. I'd rather that (the money) go to the One Fund Boston. To buy me a new boat is a wonderful thing, I don't want that, really. I would wish that they donate it to the One Fund Boston. They lost limbs. I lost a boat.

Henneberry also seemed philosophical about losing his boat– "Slip Away is slipping away. But I say it did its job. It held a bad guy and is going away like a viking ship."  But considering the confession scrawled on the boat, it seems less of a Viking Ship and more of a Ship of Fools which should carry the caught conspirator to justice. 


If the Boston Bombing investigators are seriously pursuing the theory that the Tsarnaevs acted alone and letting other conspirators "slip away", they themselves are lost at sea on a ship of fools.  Unfortunately, such a pleasure cruise could run America’s ship of state aground.

Loony Toony Interviews With Boston Bombers' Kin

After a tumultuous week of the Boston Marathon Massacre where a terrorist bombing killed three and maimed upwards of 180.  Then there was a manhunt which required the nation’s tenth largest metropolitan area to shelter in place to avoid shootouts with the suspects on the loose who killed Sean Collier, a security officer at M.I.T.  and severely injured Boston Transit Policeman Richard Donahue in the firefight with the men on the run.  In the end, Tamerlan  Tsarnaev was dead and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured and hospitalized after an 18 hour chase. 

Some have tried to offer solace by framing the horrific events as limited.  Five term Boston Mayor Tom Menino (D-Boston) tried to calm the pubic by insisting that the Tsranaev brothers were lone wolves. Menino offered these sweet nothings even though there were reports that “Johar” (the younger suspect who is still alive) had his three roomates taken into custody, the FBI is searching for a cell of twelve  and that ICE is deporting two individuals for expired visas.   Others operate under a more creative conceit of deniability.

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Aunt, Maret Tsarnaev, who lives in Ontario, Canada, gave a presser when Boston was on lock-down in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists.  She insists that they are being framed.





Hearing that your kin has killed and crippled scores of innocent people at the Boston Marathon might not compute so it is somewhat understandable the Maret Tsamaev would proclaim her newphews innocence when besieged by the press.   What is not as easily excused is seeking out the media to shill her fantastic viewpoint. 

On Saturday, the Blaze Radio Network’s Buck Sexton Show had an unprompted phone call from Maret Tsarnaev.  



At first, it sounded as is Ms. Tsarnaev was extending an olive branch to those impacted by the atrocity.  But shortly afterwards, she continued to peddle the narrative of “The boys were framed, there is no proof–you do the math.”  While it is possible that this was a crank call, the grief in the woman’s voice along with the consistency of the denial made it less likely that it was a Howard Stern cohort or other crank yankers.

Buck Sexton blazed with stinging impeachment of the Aunt’s proclamation of innocence, which he later seemed to regret, as he assumed that it was family still in denial.  Granted, that is a charitable assessment but it begs the question of why such a person would seek out media and push crackpot conspiracy theories.  It frankly sounds like a foundation is being laid for a “Loose Change” campaign which has persuaded a significant minority of people to believe that 9/11 was an inside job, despite all of the probative facts. 

The call to the Buck Sexton Show also was reminiscent of taqiyya, a long standing Islamic practice where it is acceptable to lie to the infidel in order to allow for a strategic retreat before the next offensive. 

Assymetric warefare is less about resounding battlefield victories as it is about coloring public opinion.  In the dozen years since the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001, it is not politically correct to even talk about the already amorphous term “War on Terror”, as the Obama Administration wanted to refer to events such as the Boston Marathon Bombing as “Man Made Disasters..”  CAIR has persuaded the government and the media to constrain ourselves from referring to jiahd, and then considering the term to simply be a personal struggle for self improvement.  Despite Major Hassan shouting “Allihu Ackbar” (God is great) during the Fort Hood shootings in 2009, the Obama Administration has tried to sell that terrorist attack as just being an example of “workplace violence”.  

It would be a savvy PR strategy for sympathizers to muddy the waters by claiming innocence, despite overwhelming proof, as fifth column types, naysayers and nutjobs will latch onto a meme However, it is unclear if Maret Tsarnaev was just speaking for herself or furthering a greater cause.  But if the populace can not even agree upon acceptable terms or act on clear and convincing evidence, how can a people defend itself?

Then again, the nickname from a Canadian dollar coin is a Loonie  and a two dollar coin is called a Toonie.    Wonder how much Maret Tsarnaev’s thoughts were worth?