A single rose for the man who brought terror to Boston: Bomber is secretly buried in Muslim cemetery in Virginia by Christian woman who claimed his body because 'Jesus says to love our enemies'

Martha Mullen, 48, has revealed that she helped authorities coordinate the secret burial this week of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev

A Christian woman today revealed that she helped authorities coordinate the secret burial this week of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Virginia.



'Jesus says [to] love our enemies,' Martha Mullen, 48, told the Boston Globe's Wesley Lowery in an exclusive interview . 'So I was sitting in Starbucks and thought, maybe I’m the one person who needs to do something.'

Tsarnaev was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond.

Mullen said she coordinated the clandestine burial with the help of the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond after a number of cemeteries refused to take his body.

Within an hour of contacting the group, she got a response saying a plot had been found. So she called the officials overseeing Tsarnaev's burial and arranged to have the body, which w as being held at a Worcester, Mass. funeral home, transported to Virginia to be buried Wednesday evening.

The development has infuriated some residents of the rural Virginia town as well as members of the area's Islamic community who say they weren't consulted in the decision.

Flowers are placed on the alleged burial site of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Doswell, Virginia Resting place: Bukhari Abdel-Alim, vice president of Islamic Funeral services of Virginia, removes a rose from a gravesite in the Al Barzakh Cemetery, where the remains of Tamerlan Tsarnaev have been buried, in Doswell, Virginia



A flower is placed on what is believed to be Tsarnaev's grave. He was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond

'The whole Muslim community here is furious,' Imam Ammar Amonette of the Islamic Center of Virginia told the Associated Press. 'Frankly, we are furious that we were never given any information. It was all done secretly behind our backs.'

'Now everybody who's buried in that cemetery, their loved ones are going to have to go to that place,' he added.



News of the burial comes several days after a Massachusetts police chief went on national television to plead for help in finding a plot for the 26-year-old suspected bomber, as number of cemeteries and lawmakers in three states had turned down requests to bury his body.

'There is a need to do the right thing,' Worcester Police Chief Gary Gemme said. 'We are not barbarians. We bury the dead.'

Final destination: The secret transfer of Tsranaev's body to the site from a Worcester funeral home was orchestrated by Virginia woman with help from an Islamic organization

Dr. Ahmad, president of the Islamic Funeral Service of Virginia (IFSVA), looks at graves at the Al-Barzakh Islamic Cemetery in Doswell

Vice President of the Islamic Funeral Services of Virginia, Bukhari Abdel-Alim, reads a statement at the entrance to the Al-Barzakh Islamic Cemetery Meanwhile, the funeral home where Tsarnaev's body was being held had become the site of ongoing protests.

Mullen, a professional counselor who has a degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, said she was disgusted by reports of the protests and decided to take action. She later called the Globe wanting to tell her story, according to the reporter who took the call. Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of carrying out the April 15 twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a violent shootout with police on April 19 and his brother, who was injured in the gunfight, was captured in Watertown, Mass. after an 18-hour manhunt. Tough sell: A number of cemeteries and lawmakers in three states had previously turned down requests to bury the alleged bomber's body

Small token: Flowers are placed on the alleged burial site of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Doswell, Va.,



Tsarnaev's death certificate, which was released on Friday, showed that he was shot in the firefight and then run over and dragged by a vehicle. Police say it was Tsarnaev's brother who mowed over his body as he was making a getaway.

Suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been buried in a Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Virignia

Tsarnaev’s body was claimed by his uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who asked that the remains be placed in a municipal cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., where Tsarnaev lived with his wife, Katherine Russell. But city officials would not allow that to happen.



Russell did not claim the body, which is why it was released to Tsarni.

Tsarnaev's mother, who maintains that her sons are innocent, wanted Tamerlan's body sent back to Russia, where he was born, but there was no certainty that Russian officials would accept the remains.

As authorities continued searching for a plot to bury the remains, they were repeatedly turned away. No one wanted to take responsibility for the body. Meanwhile, protests continued outside the funeral home where the body was being held.



It is unknown if Katherine Russell, widow of Boston Marathon bomber suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, (left), was at the burial - but Ruslan Tsarni (right) approved the site



(From left), Lisa Taurasi, Lucy Rodriguez and Luis Barbosa, all of Worcester, Mass., hold protest signs as they stand across the street from Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, Mass. on Sunday evening

The public was not notified that Tsarnaev's body had been moved until after it was transported from the funeral home Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, police officials announced that 'A courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased.'

On average, burials cost $6,000 to $10,000, which covers basic services of a funeral director and staff, including the casket as well as embalming and sanitation of the body, according to the Funeral Consumer Guardian Society, a consumer advocacy group.

Typically, the person who claims the body - which in this case would be Tsarnaev's uncle - pays these costs.

Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of carrying out the April 15 twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260

Tamerlan Tsarnaev's death certificate was released by the Massachusetts medical examiner Friday hours after it was learned that he was buried in Virginia



