WORCESTER (CBS) — The Worcester funeral director holding Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body says he still hasn’t found a cemetery that will bury him.
Now, there is a movement to raise money to send Tsarnaev’s remains back to Russia.
Funeral Director Peter Stefan says he’s reaching out to Gov. Deval Patrick as well as the State Department to help find a burial plot for Tsarnaev.
He is hoping the body can be sent to Russia, and that may be the best option after several cemeteries in the state have refused to handle the burial.
“I’ve always wanted to do that, I think the uncle would like to do that, the parents would like to do it, the USA would like to see that but at the moment, this is what we have,” Stefan said.
Speaking to reporters outside an event in New Bedford, Patrick said the burial of Tsarnaev’s body is not a state or federal issue, but it is a family issue.
“I think everybody is feeling the upset about what happened but we showed the world in the immediate aftermath what a civilzation looks like and I’m proud of what we showed and I think we continue to do that by stepping back and let the family make their decisions,” Patrick said.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Lana Jones reports
A protester outside the Worcester funeral home. (Credit: WBZ NewsRadio’s Kim Tunnicliffe)
Protestors over the weekend, staged outside the funeral home. Many were outraged the accused bomber is in their neighborhood.
William Breault of the Main South Alliance For Public Safety has rallied protestors around a fund set up to raise money to move Tsarnaev’s body to Russia.
“I don’t want to be politically correct, I’m not looking to give the family anything,” Breault said. “My sympathy is with the victims.”
Breault says if the money isn’t needed to ship the body, he will give the donations to The One Fund Boston.
The body of Tsarnaev has been washed in the Muslim ritual for the dead and is now prepared for burial.
Stefan says despite the criticism leveled against him, he does not regret accepting the body.
‘It’s what I do, I can’t pick and choose, can’t separate the sins from the sinner,” Stefan said.
Stefan says while there are a lot of logistics that need to be worked out if the body is to be sent to Russia, he is hoping it can be worked out with the help of the government.