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Lawyer: Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Widow Not On Trial Witness List

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The widow of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has not been identified as a witness for prosecutors or the defense in her brother-in-law's trial, and she has not been told she's the subject of any investigation, her lawyer said Wednesday.

Follow: WBZ Reporters Updates From Court

"She has not been identified as a witness to us," attorney Amato DeLuca told The Associated Press after opening statements began Wednesday in the federal trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tamerlan's brother.

He said he and his client, Katherine Russell, have not heard from federal officials since nearly a year ago, shortly before last year's Boston Marathon. They have not been contacted by the defense, either, he said.

Katherine Russell
Katherine Russell in 2007. (Photo courtesy: Warwick, RI Police)

DeLuca said he spoke with Russell on Wednesday morning.

"She's doing fine. Working and taking care of her kid," he said.

Russell and the daughter she had with Tamerlan Tsarnaev are now living in New Jersey. They moved there after staying with her family in Rhode Island in the months after the bombings.

Russell's parents and sisters were called before a grand jury investigating the bombings in 2013.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a gunbattle with police after the bombings. A lawyer for Dzhokar Tsarnaev admitted in court Wednesday that he participated in the bombings but said he was influenced by his older brother.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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