[BOSTON] Two former UMass-Dartmouth students with ties to Boston Marathon terror bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were indicted today on obstruction of justice charges for allegedly trying to impede the Boston Marathon terror bombing investigation.Kazakhstan nationals Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, are accused of helping to get rid of incriminating evidence that Tsarnaev left behind in his college dorm room on April 18, three days after the terror bombing killed three and maimed 260 in Boston.
The two face charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. They are to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Tuesday in US District Court in Boston.
According to US Attorney Carmen Ortiz's office, the two acted after Tsarnaev sent them a text message telling them they could go to his dorm room and "take what's there.'' The indictment, unsealed today, includes the text of the message Tsarnaev sent.
"If yu [sic] want yu [sic] can go to my room and take what's there but ight [sic] bra [sic] Salam aleikum,'' Tsarnaev texted to his friends.
The two students allegedly collected Tsarnaev's laptop, fireworks, and a backpack and took them to their apartment in New Bedford.
Later that night Kadyrbayev, with what prosecutors called Tazhayakov's "knowledge and agreement,'' put the items in a garbage bag and put them in a dumpster at the apartment. They were later recovered by law enforcement after several days of searching a New Bedford dump.
The two were already in jug, facing a May 1 criminal complaint charging them only with conspiracy to obstruct justice.