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Funeral Home Owner Pens Book On Burial For Accused Marathon Bomber

WORCESTER (CBS) – The owner of a Worcester funeral home is planning to release a book this summer describing the process of finding a burial plot for Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

The book is titled "Last Rites of the Boston Marathon Bomber," and details the work of Peter Stefan in finding a final resting place for Tsarnaev. Last May, dozens of cities and towns refused to bury the remains of the accused bomber.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev
Tamerlan Tsarnaev's 2009 booking photo. (Image courtesy: Cambridge Police)

Stefan, owner of Graham, Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Home, was stuck with Tsarnaev's body for more than a week as protesters stood outside his Main Street business. Many were upset that Stefan helped the Tsarnaev family. The Worcester man believes religious leaders should have told protesters that threatening the funeral home wasn't the proper thing to do.

"I was disappointed in a good part of the whole world to tell you the truth," Stefan told WBZ-TV's Bree Sison. "I thought someone in each country would have stood up and said, 'this is what we do as people.'  Even Satanists have a funeral ceremony."

Funeral Home
The funeral home that took Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body. (WBZ-TV)

Stefan said he worked hard to have Tsarnaev's body shipped back to his home country of Russia, but he "ran out of time." Tsarnaev was eventually buried in Doswell, Va., after a stranger arranged for a Muslim cemetery to accept the remains.

Relatives of Marathon survivors voiced discontent about the planned book.

"Quite frankly, I don't care what this gentleman thought he was doing … whether he thought he was doing the right thing or not," said Peter Brown, whose two nephews each lost a leg in the explosions.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports

Funeral Home Owner Would Do It Again If Asked To Handle Accused Bomber's Burial

Brown believes responsibility for final arrangements should have fallen on the Tsarnaev family and that a book about the process is improper.

Stefan declined to name the book's publisher.  He said a portion of the proceeds will be donated to charity.

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