Boston bombings suspect's cause of death revealed

The death certificate of marathon bombing mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev lists the cause of his death as “gunshot wounds of torso and extremities” as well as “blunt trauma to head and torso.”

Peter Stefan, owner of Graham, Putnam, and Mahoney Funeral Parlor in Worcester, where Tsarnaev’s body is being prepared for burial, tonight showed reporters the death certificate. It has not yet been filed with the city of Boston.

The injuries occurred after Tsarnaev was shot by police and then run over and dragged by a vehicle, according to the death certificate. It says Tsarnaev was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. on April 19 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The certificate, bearing a seal, was dated April 25 and signed by Dr. Henry M. Nields, the state’s chief medical examiner.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was shot in a firefight with police in Watertown and then dragged under a car driven by his brother, Dzohkhar Tsarnaev, 19, in the early morning hours of April 19. Dzohkhar is facing federal charges in the marathon bombing and its aftermath, which killed four people and injured more than 260.

Tamerlan’s body was released to his family yesterday and transferred from the medical examiner’s office in Boston to a funeral home in North Attleboro, before it again was transferred to the Worcester funeral home overnight.

Protesters gathered outside the North Attleboro funeral home last night and more protesters were outside the Worcester funeral home tonight, chanting USA and carrying signs, one of which read, “He should not be buried on U.S. soil.”