New documents reveal extent of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s injuries
This image released by the FBI on April 19, 2013, shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who has been been convicted and sentenced to death for his role in Boston Marathon bombing.
A set of newly released court documents shed fresh light on the injuries sustained by alleged Boston bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev as he and his late brother Tamerlan fled from authorities in April.
Boston trauma surgeon Dr. Stephen Ray Odom discussed the extent of Tsarnaev's injuries in an April court proceeding three days after his arrest, the details of which are only being revealed now.
"This was a high-powered injury that has resulted in skull-base fracture, with injuries to the middle ear, the skull base, the lateral portion of his C1 vertebrae, with a significant soft-tissue injury, as well as injury to the pharynx, the mouth, and a small vascular injury that’s been treated," Odom said, according to the Boston Globe.
Odom also said in the documents that Tsarnaev "definitely knows where he is" and was capable of answering questions, according to the Globe.
It remains unknown if the head wound was self-inflicted, or if he sustained the wound when police opened fire on the boat in which he had hidden himself in the backyard of a Watertown home, CNN said.
In July, 20-year-old Dzokhar, a naturalized American of Chechen descent, pled not guilty to 30 federal charges over the Boston bombings. His punishment could include life in the prison, or the death penalty.
Three were killed and over 260 injured in the April 15 attack at the iconic Boston Marathon. The Tsarnaev brothers are also suspects in the fatal shooting of MIT police officer Sean Collier.