“A special tour of the @FBI for these @BostonCollege alumni included a stop in front of the boat involved in the Boston Marathon bombing and a rare look at the organization’s history and resources,” the Boston College Alumni Association tweeted March 27 .

A group of Boston College alumni who took a trip last month to FBI headquarters, in Washington, D.C., posed in front of the vessel, which is on display there as part of a larger series of exhibits.

Jurors from the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev aren’t the only ones who’ve had an up-close look at the Watertown boat where he hid before his capture.


The bullet-riddled boat, called the Slipaway II, is part of the organization’s FBI Experience, a self-guided tour featuring multimedia exhibits and artifacts showcasing the organization’s work over the years.

The tour and its exhibits, which opened in July 2017, are open to the public.

A Boston Marathon portion of the tour highlights the partnership among state, local, and federal law enforcement officials during the manhunt for the two bombing suspects, which ended with a standoff in Watertown as Tsarnaev hid inside the vessel.

The Slipaway II is part of that display. It is the original boat from the events in Watertown and has been on exhibit since The FBI Experience opened. Only people who take the tour can see the boat, according to the FBI.

According to Smithsonian Exhibits, which was contracted to develop and design the display, the Boston Marathon section also includes a replica of the race’s finish line and a Boston Police Department motorcycle.

On April 15, 2013, Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, detonated two bombs near the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others.


In the days that followed, the brothers killed MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, and later, engaged in a firefight with police in Watertown. During that gunfight, Boston police Sergeant Dennis Simmonds suffered a head wound that he died from a year later.

The Slipaway II, where Tsarnaev hid from authorities before his capture, was owned by Watertown resident David Henneberry.

Henneberry, who died of cancer in 2017, went outside on the day of the manhunt — four days after the bombings — and noticed that protective padding had fallen from his winterized boat in the backyard.

When he pulled back the plastic covering, he saw blood on the vessel’s deck. Then, he realized a person was curled up inside. At that point, Henneberry alerted authorities. The standoff — and dramatic capture — ensued.

Henneberry’s home “became a key location” in the saga, the Globe reported.

And the Slipaway II became an important part of Tsarnaev’s trial.

In 2015, Tsarnaev’s lawyers wanted jurors to have full access to the boat, where he allegedly wrote a confession on an inside wall and beam.

“The evidence here, really, is the boat. . . . It’s very powerful,” William Fick, one of Tsarnaev’s lawyers, said at the time.

Jurors were later shown the 22-foot vessel.

Tsarnaev was convicted on all charges stemming from the bombings and their aftermath in April 2015.


Tsarnaev is currently challenging his death sentence for his role in the bombings.

Lawyers representing Tsarnaev did not immediately return a request for comment about the boat display Friday.

Monday marks the sixth anniversary of the bombings.

Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.