text: Story highlights The two brothers came to America with their family to start a new life 
   
   The older brother was a good boxer who quit college, got married and had a baby 
   
   The younger brother won a scholarship and wrestled 
   
   "I don't have a single American friend," says a website post in older brother's name 
   
   They might have fulfilled every immigrant's dream, fleeing a war-torn part of the world and settling into a quiet life in America, one buoyed by aspiration and a will to succeed. 
   
   Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, loved to box . And he was talented. At 196 pounds, he represented New England as a heavyweight in the National Golden Gloves boxing tournament. He wanted to make it on an Olympic team. 
   
   His brother, Dzhokar, 19 , graduated in 2011 from Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, the alma mater of actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The city awarded Dzhokar a $2,500 scholarship. And he, too, was an athlete -- a wrestler. He was named student athlete of the month and made the state playoffs. 
   
   But something went wrong somewhere. 
   
   This week, the brothers Tsarnaev became the target of a massive manhunt after police identified them as the suspects behind Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. 
   
   Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man removes a sign hanging from the Lennox Hotel along Boylston Street after the street reopened to the public for the first time since the Boston Marathon bombings in Boston on Wednesday, April 24. The city is trying to return to normal less than a week after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, shocking the nation and leaving the city on edge. See all photography relating to the Boston bombings. Hide Caption 1 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man washes a bus stop window on Boylston Street on April 24. Hide Caption 2 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Alec Mikels cleans tables at Whiskey's Smokehouse on Boylston Street on Tuesday, April 23 in Boston. Hide Caption 3 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A cleaner power washes Boylston Street near the blast site after the FBI handed the area back to the city of Boston on Monday, April 22, following the week-long investigation. Hide Caption 4 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – The Boston Fire Department Hazardous Materials team cleans the first blast site near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 22. Hide Caption 5 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Cleaning material is sprayed on April 22 on the outlined blast seat on the sidewalk of Boylston Street at the site of the marathon bombings. Hide Caption 6 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A member of the Boston Fire Department Hazardous Materials team cleans the first blast site with a pressure washer on April 22. Hide Caption 7 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins embraces one of the first responders from the Boston Marathon attack after the game against the Florida Panthers at the TD Garden on Sunday, April 21, in Boston. Hide Caption 8 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox speaks to the crowd during a ceremony held in honor of the bombing victims before a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park in Boston, on Saturday, April 20. Hide Caption 9 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Neil Diamond sings "Sweet Caroline," a song traditionally played at Boston Red Sox home games, during a game against the Kansas City Royals on April 20. Hide Caption 10 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Members of law enforcement react during ceremonies in honor of the Marathon bombing victims before Saturday's game. Hide Caption 11 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Photos: Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A woman sheds a tear during pregame ceremonies Saturday. Hide Caption 12 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Photos: Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man holds an American flag at ceremonies before the Saturday game in Boston. Hide Caption 13 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Hundreds of people pour onto Hemingway Street in the Fenway neighborhood to celebrate after the announcement that the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect had been captured on Friday, April 19. Hide Caption 14 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Women cheer police as they exit Franklin Street on Friday, April 19, in Watertown, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 15 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Officers from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives relax Friday after the capture in Watertown, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 16 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A woman gives a Boston police officer a hug and other officers are thanked during a celebration in the Boston Common on April 19. Hide Caption 17 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A member of the North Metro SWAT team pumps his fist while leaving the scene near Franklin Street on April 19. Hide Caption 18 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Around 200 people celebrate on Hemingway Street in the Fenway neighborhood after the capture of the second suspect on April 19. Hide Caption 19 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – People wave U.S. flags as police drive down the street on April 19. Hide Caption 20 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A photograph of Martin Richard, one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, was placed on the plexiglass by a fan following the hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers on April 19 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. Hide Caption 21 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man waves a U.S. flag in Watertown on April 19. Hide Caption 22 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Local residents cheer to news that police have captured the surviving suspect Watertown on April 19. Hide Caption 23 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – President Barack Obama arrives in the White House briefing room to make a statement late April 19 about the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. "We've closed an important chapter in this tragedy," he said. Hide Caption 24 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A SWAT team member is followed by reporters and a celebrating crowd on April 19 after the successful operation. Hide Caption 25 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A police officer adjusts his hat while various law enforcement agencies descend on the area around Franklin Street on April 19. Hide Caption 26 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Spectators celebrate as law enforcement officers leave the scene on April 19 near Franklin Street. Hide Caption 27 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – People gather at the scene near Franklin Street in Watertown on April 19. Hide Caption 28 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man claps next to a police vehicle in the Watertown neighborhood on April 19. Hide Caption 29 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Onlookers applaud first responders departing the scene at the end of the manhunt on April 19. Hide Caption 30 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Police officers and SWAT team members exult after the successful operation to capture suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on April 19. Hide Caption 31 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Boston SWAT team members are surrounded by spectators and the media on April 19. Hide Caption 32 of 33 Photos: Photos: Boston celebrates Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Residents clap after the capture of the second of two suspects wanted in the Boston Marathon bombings on April 19. See all photography relating to the Boston bombings. Hide Caption 33 of 33 
   
   Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Summer Street in downtown Boston is empty as authorities hunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect on April 19, 2013. Much of the Boston area was closed or on lockdown during the investigation, and residents were asked to stay inside. Hide Caption 1 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town A man crosses a vacant Beacon Street, across from Boston Common. Hide Caption 2 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Federal Street, in the Financial District Hide Caption 3 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The Boston Red Sox postponed a baseball game because of the manhunt. Hide Caption 4 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Moody Street was deserted in nearby Waltham, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 5 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Congress Street in Boston Hide Caption 6 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Beacon Street, with a view toward the Massachusetts State House Hide Caption 7 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The area near Boston's Downtown Crossing would usually be filled with lunchtime crowds. Hide Caption 8 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The Boston Public Garden Hide Caption 9 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Congress Street at Milk Street Hide Caption 10 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The Boston Public Garden Hide Caption 11 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The area around the North Station next to the TD Garden Hide Caption 12 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The Harvard Bridge, known locally as the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge Hide Caption 13 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town A lone bicyclist makes his way across the Longfellow Bridge. Hide Caption 14 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Watertown Square Hide Caption 15 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Friend Street near North Station Hide Caption 16 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town A flower sits near the site where a police officer was killed in nearby Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 17 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Ceasar McDowell, an urban studies professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says he went for a walk only to find everything closed except for a CVS drugstore and a Dunkin' Donuts. "I don't know how to describe it," said McDowell, a CNN iReporter. "(I)t was eerie that quietness." Hide Caption 18 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge Hide Caption 19 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The area around North Station Hide Caption 20 of 21 Photos: The day Boston became a ghost town The usually bustling Boston University campus Hide Caption 21 of 21 
   
   Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is detained by officers on Friday, April 19. After a car chase and shootout with police, one suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was shot and killed by police early Friday, and his brother and second suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was taken into custody Friday night. The two men are suspects in the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15, that killed three people and wounded at least 170. See all photography related to the Boston bombings. Hide Caption 1 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Special imaging techniques employed by Massachusetts State Police reveal Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown on April 19. Hide Caption 2 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Dzhokhar Tsarnaev gets out of the boat he was hiding in outside of a home in Watertown, as seen in a surveillance video still. Hide Caption 3 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – An ambulance carries Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, from the scene after he was apprehended in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 19. Hide Caption 4 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police SWAT teams leave the area after apprehending the suspect in a yard where he was hiding in a dry-docked boat on April 19. Hide Caption 5 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Residents flee from an area where a suspect was hiding on Franklin Street on April 19. Hide Caption 6 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT team members run toward a police assault on a house as gunfire erupts on April 19. Hide Caption 7 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – People react while watching police respond to reported gunfire on April 19. Hide Caption 8 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT team members move down residential streets as they perform door-to-door searches in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 19. Hide Caption 9 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A U.S. military helicopter lands behind Watertown Mall as law enforcement agencies continue to search for the 19-year-old bombing suspect on Friday. Hide Caption 10 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT teams prepare to enter a home as they continue the door-to-door search. Hide Caption 11 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – U.S. President Barack Obama meets with members of his national security team in the Situation Room of the White House on April 19 to discuss developments in the Boston bombings investigation. Hide Caption 12 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT team members line a residential street in Watertown, Massachusetts, as the manhunt continues on Friday. Hide Caption 13 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A man watches from the window of a home as a SWAT team member keeps watch on Friday, in Watertown, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 14 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police to continue to the door-to-door search on Francis Street in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Friday. Hide Caption 15 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Law enforcement officers place themselves in an overhead position on Arsenal Street as the search continues on April 19. Hide Caption 16 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Law enforcement officers react to what was initially thought to be a threatening suspect on Arsenal Street on April 19. Hide Caption 17 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A police SWAT team searches houses on April 19 for the second suspect. Hide Caption 18 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT teams searches homes along Winsor Avenue in Watertown on April 19. Hide Caption 19 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A Massachusetts state trooper watches other troopers line up at Watertown Mall as the manhunt for the second suspect continues in Watertown on Friday. Hide Caption 20 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police continue the ongoing manhunt for the second suspect on Williow Avenue in Watertown on Friday. Hide Caption 21 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A Watertown police vehicle with bullet holes in its body and a shattered windshield is towed out of the search area on April 19 in Watertown, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 22 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A Massachusetts State Police officer checks the bag of a cyclist amid heightened security on Friday in Watertown. Hide Caption 23 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Katia Costa looks out her window as police continue the manhunt on Nichols Avenue in Watertown on Friday. Hide Caption 24 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Ruslan Tsarni, uncle of the Boston terror suspects, told CNN affiliate WBZ that Tamerlan "got what he deserved" in an interview outside his home in Montgomery Village, Maryland, on Friday. Hide Caption 25 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A woman is questioned by Cambridge police and other law enforcement agencies Friday near the home of the second suspect in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer was shot and killed late Thursday night at the school's campus in Cambridge. A short time later, police reported exchanging gunfire with alleged carjackers in nearby Watertown. Hide Caption 26 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT teams move into position at the intersection of Nichols and Melendy avenues in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Friday. Hide Caption 27 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT teams gather at the intersection of Nichols and Melendy avenues in Watertown while searching for the remaining suspect on Friday. Hide Caption 28 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Onlookers take pictures while SWAT team members look around on Friday. Hide Caption 29 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, left, speaks to the media at a shopping mall on the perimeter of a locked-down area during the search on Friday. Hide Caption 30 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Metro SWAT members hang off the back of a truck during the search on Friday. Hide Caption 31 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT officers check a door with guns ready on Friday. Hide Caption 32 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Officers patrol Watertown on Friday. Hide Caption 33 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers – The aftermath of the shootout that police said involved the two suspects in Watertown early Friday. Hide Caption 34 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police with guns drawn search for a suspect on Friday in Watertown, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 35 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A police officer runs with his gun drawn on Friday. Hide Caption 36 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Boston Police gather in the parking lot in front of a Best Buy store near the Watertown Mall on Friday. Hide Caption 37 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis speaks during a media briefing in the parking lot of the Watertown Mall on Friday. Hide Caption 38 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Boston police gather in front of a Best Buy on Friday. Hide Caption 39 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police stop cars at School and Walnut streets on Friday. Hide Caption 40 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A Massachusetts state trooper checks a building along Mount Auburn Street as police search neighborhoods in Watertown. Hide Caption 41 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police search neighborhoods yard by yard on Friday. Hide Caption 42 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police convene on School and Walnut streets on Friday. Hide Caption 43 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – A police officer talks to a driver at a checkpoint in Watertown, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 44 of 45 Photos: Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police officers keep a man on the ground in Watertown on Friday. See all photography related to the Boston bombings. Hide Caption 45 of 45 
   
   Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested on April 19, 2013, after a massive manhunt. An overnight shootout with police killed the other suspect -- Tsarnaev's 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan. A jury condemned Tsarnaev to death on Friday, May 15, for his role in killing four people and wounding hundreds more. Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev On April 18, 2013, the FBI released photos and videos of two suspects and asked the public to help identify them. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found on April 19, 2013, in a boat that was dry-docked in the backyard of a Watertown home. He was covered in blood from bullet wounds. Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev The August 2013 cover of Rolling Stone featured Tsarnaev and sparked a backlash against the magazine. Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Tsarnaev stands in court, flanked by his lawyers, in this sketch from July 2013. Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev An image posted to the social sharing website Reddit purportedly shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev being detained by law enforcement officers. Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Tsarnaev was seen on this convenience store surveillance video that was released by the Boston Police Department. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev A still of the suspects from footage released by the FBI after the bombing. Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Additional photos and video were released by the FBI. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev A picture of Tsarnaev from his apparent profile on VKontakte, a Russian social network similar to Facebook. Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev The Boston Police Department also released this undated photograph of Tsarnaev. Hide Caption 11 of 11 
   
   Tamerlan died early Friday after a night of ferocious gun battles. The world watched live on television Friday night as police laid siege to Watertown, Massachusetts, and finally captured Dzhokar. 
   
   It was unclear what might have motivated the brothers to commit the heinous crime they are suspected of carrying out. All day Friday, reporters sought out people who knew them, trying to understand one thing: Why? 
   
   What unfolded was a story typical of the American immigrant narrative: A family originally from the Russian republic of Chechnya fled the brutal wars in their homeland in the 1990s. They moved to neighboring Russian republics before at last arriving in the United States. 
   
   The youngest, Dzhokar, came first with his parents, according to his aunt, Maret Tsarnaev. The older son, Tamerlan, was initially left behind with his two sisters. 
   
   Eventually, they were reunited -- a family of six whose American journey contained elements of a struggle to fit in and success in making a new life. 
   
   Hints of unhappiness 
   
   Another familiar narrative also emerged Friday: a high-profile crime followed by a crusade to find out who did it. First, there were photographs, then names attached to the images. And shock. 
   
   Friends and acquaintances of the Tsarnaev brothers expressed disbelief. The two men were nice, friendly. Quiet. The kind of guys you'd never even notice or look at twice if you passed them on the street. 
   
   Their aunt spoke with Canada's CTV and described the boys' childhood as perfect. Their father, Anzor, was a loving, soft-hearted man. She said he and his wife, Zubeidat, have moved back to Dagestan, which borders Chechnya. 
   
   Dzhokar came to America on July 1, 2002, as a tourist and asked for asylum, a federal official told CNN. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on September 11 last year. 
   
   There was some dispute over when his older brother arrived. The U.S. official said he came four years later on September 6, 2006, and held a permanent resident visa. But another federal official said Tamerlan first entered the United States on July 19, 2003. 
   
   Alyssa Lindley Kilzer said she often visited the apartment at 410 Norfolk St. in Cambridge, where the Tsarnaevs lived. Kilzer used to get facials from Zubeidat at a local spa but, after she was fired, Kilzer began going to her house. 
   
   She wrote about her experience on her Tumblr blog and said the staircase was crowded with shoes and the house was filled with the noise of arguments, cooking and other household chores. It was hardly spa-like but Kilzer thought Zubeidat gave great facials. 
   
   Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, was the subject of an April 2009 photo essay that appeared in a graduate school magazine at Boston University. According to the article, he had hoped to become a naturalized American and make the U.S. Olympic boxing team. Authorities say an overnight shootout with police left him dead on April 19, 2013. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tsarnaev answers a call while walking to boxing practice at the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts center in Boston. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tsarnaev practices boxing at the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts center. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tsarnaev shows how he strengthens his ankles, according to the photo essay. The photographer did not want to be named for this story. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Though he had lived in the United States for five years, Tsarnaev said in the essay: "I don't have a single American friend. I don't understand them." Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tsarnaev works out. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tsarnaev stretches during boxing practice. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Boston bombings suspect: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tsarnaev tapes up his hand. Hide Caption 8 of 8 
   
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   But she became increasingly uncomfortable going to the apartment because of Zubeidat's growing religious fervor. 
   
   "She started quoting conspiracy theories, telling me that she thought 9-11 was purposefully created by the American government to make America hate Muslims," she wrote. 
   
   Zubeidat told her: "It's real. My son knows all about it. You can read it on the Internet." 
   
   Kilzer said she met Tamerlan only once -- he wasn't friendly, she thought. 
   
   He was a dapper dresser and drove a Mercedes, according to an online photo gallery titled "Will Box for Passport." 
   
   "I'm dressed European style," Tamarlan said in a caption accompanying a photo of white leather shoes. 
   
   Photographer Johannes Hirn shot images of Tamerlan at the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts Center on Brighton Street in Cambridge. That's where he trained before the Golden Gloves. 
   
   He was a good boxer, said Gene McCarthy from the Sommerville Boxing Club, who'd coached Tamerlan since he was 16. 
   
   He was more than 6-feet tall, with long arms and determination written all over him. Once, he fought in a New England championship match even though he had the flu and fever blisters covered his lips. He won. 
   
   Tamerlan had been boxing since he was a kid -- his father began training him while they were still living in the Caucasus region. 
   
   His younger brother started coming to the gym from the time he was 10, McCarthy said. Dzhokar followed Tamerlan around like a puppy. He'd be just behind him, doing calisthenics. 
   
   Tamerlan told Hirn, the photographer, that he gave up drinking alcohol and smoking in accordance with Muslim values. His aunt said he had become more devout a few years ago and started praying five times a day. 
   
   His mother told Russian TV channel RT that her oldest son embraced Islam but never spoke of anything extreme; never said he was on the side of jihad. Her son, she said, would never keep secrets from her. She would've known had he been involved in unsavory activities. 
   
   However, she said the FBI was checking on him, following his moves on the Internet. 
   
   "How could this happen? They were controlling every step of him, now they are saying this is a terrorist act," she said Friday. 
   
   FBI agents interviewed Tamerlan two years ago and looked at his travel history, checked databases and searched Web postings, but found no connection with terrorist groups, an FBI official told CNN. 
   
   Tamerlan traveled to Sheremetyevo, Russia, in January 2012, according to travel records provided by a U.S. official. He returned six months later, those documents show. 
   
   A YouTube page in his name had links to Islamic websites, videos from a radical Australian preacher and rap music. 
   
   He had quit college, gotten married and had a daughter two years ago, said his aunt and father. 
   
   In an interview Friday with the Russian national TV network Zvezda in Dagestan, Anzor Tsarnaev said his sons had been framed. He said he had been trying to call Dzhokar but his phone is switched off. He'd spoken with Tamerlan the day before. He wanted to make sure Tamerlan was taking care of his brother; that he was studying hard. 
   
   This was Anzor's belief: that if his sons did not get an education, they would be left to toiling their entire lives. 
   
   But there were hints that all did not sit well for Tamerlan in his new country. 
   
   He said this during the photo shoot with Hirn: "I don't have a single American friend. I don't understand them." 
   
   And in 2009, Tamerlan, then 22, was arrested for domestic assault and battery after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, according to Cambridge Police records cited by the website spotcrime.com. 
   
   'I cried ... when they named him' 
   
   Dzhokar's friends included Torrie Martinez, 20. 
   
   Friday, Martinez stood on Cambridge Street looking down Norfolk Street, where the Tsarnaev brothers made their home. Martinez used to catch the city bus with Dzhokar every day to school and was on the wrestling team with him. 
   
   "I wish I could say he was a bad kid," said Martinez, still trying to absorb the news. "But he was a nice kid from what I knew of him. I talked with him on a daily basis. I practiced with him." 
   
   He was a sophomore when he met Dzhokar, who was a year behind him. They talked about stuff high school boys talk about; it never got too personal. Martinez didn't know Dzhokar was Chechen. 
   
   And they talked wrestling. "He was a smaller kid, but he did well for his weight class," Martinez said. 
   
   A smile appears beneath his scruffy, unshaven face. 
   
   "Between me and him, I would pin him." 
   
   Now he wished he'd whupped him a little harder. The smile vanishes from Martinez's face. 
   
   "I cried ... when they named him." 
   
   It will be hard to trust anyone again. 
   
   Larry Aaronson, a former teacher at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, said he had taken pictures of Dzhokar wrestling. 
   
   "There is nothing in his character, in his deportment, in his demeanor that would suggest anything remotely capable of any of these things that he is now suspected of doing," Aaronson said. 
   
   "He was so grateful to be here, he was so grateful to be at the school," he said. "He was compassionate, he was caring, he was jovial." 
   
   He described Dzhokar, whom he saw in the neighborhood nestled between Harvard and MIT a few weeks ago, as "a lovely, lovely kid." 
   
   Construction worker Joey Barbaso, 50, has lived in the neighborhood since he was 5. His pants are worn from hard work and stained from years of paint. That's the kind of people who live here -- along with college students. 
   
   "It's just, I dunno," he said. "You never know who you're living next to." 
   
   Robin Young, host of radio's "Here and Now," said Dzhokar was her nephew's best friend. She called him a beautiful boy. 
   
   But now he was a man despised by many. 
   
   Tweeting even after the bombings 
   
   Dzhokar had been more public about his life than his brother. More people have stepped forward with accounts of their relationships with him than about Tamerlan. 
   
   Dzhokar had a page on the Russian equivalent of Facebook on which he described his worldview as Islam. 
   
   Active on Twitter. "Ain't no love in the heart of the city. Stay safe people," he tweeted just hours after the bombings. 
   
   Tuesday, he called "fake" a story about a woman who died in Monday's bombings and was found by her boyfriend who was planning to propose. 
   
   His friend, Giovanni, who wanted only his first name used, said Dzhokar was even joking on Twitter about "how he had like a dream about eating a cheeseburger and then he was like, 'And the next day, what did I have next?' 
   
   "And I responded (on Twitter) in a joking way, 'A hot dog?' 
   
   "And here I am, like, having a conversation with this guy not knowing what he was doing or what he did." 
   
   Giovanni said he played video games with Dzhokar, but hadn't seen him in person since January. He said his friend had told him he was engaged to be married, even showing him a photo of his supposed fiancée on his phone. 
   
   "He was always just quiet, quiet in a nice (way)," Giovanni said. "You just wouldn't suspect that he'd do something so messed up." 
   
   And he said Dzhokar was particular about his identity. 
   
   "He used to tell us he's the only Chechen ... we'd ever come across," Giovanni said. "Sometimes they'd call him Russian and he'd always correct me." 
   
   He said he didn't know much about Tamerlan; only that Dzhokar had said his older brother was a boxer. 
   
   "A year ago when I met him ... to think. I had no idea I'd be friending such a messed up person. You just think, 'Oh, he seems nice, he seems innocent.'" 
   
   Dzhokar worked for a time as a lifeguard at a pool at Harvard University, said George McMasters, who hired him about 2½ years ago. 
   
   McMasters was impressed with Dzhokar's work ethic. 
   
   "He showed up on time, he watched the water, he rotated from position to position fine, got along well with others." 
   
   "He seemed like a very quiet, unassuming young man," McMasters said. "It is very surprising and shocking to see the destruction that he has brought to the city." 
   
   Last year, McMasters was deployed to Afghanistan with the Army National Guard and, when he returned to the pool job in August, Dhzokar was no longer on the staff or the schedule, he said. 
   
   'Losers' 
   
   Not everyone had good things to say. The harshest comments Friday came from the brothers' uncle. 
   
   Ruslan Tsarni told reporters outside his home in Montgomery County, Maryland, that he had not seen the Tsarnaev family since December 2005 and last spoke with them in 2009. 
   
   Asked what might have motivated the people who did the attack, he said: "Being losers; hatred to those who were able to settle themselves. These are the only reasons I can imagine." 
   
   Though the family is Muslim, their religion played no role in the attacks, the uncle insisted. 
   
   "Anything else to do with religion, with Islam, it's a fraud, it's a fake," he said. 
   
   He described the family as peace-loving, ethnic Chechens. 
   
   "Somebody radicalized them, but it's not my brother, who just moved back to Russia, who spent his life bringing bread to their table, fixing cars," he said. "My family had nothing to do with that family. Of course, we're ashamed, yes, we're ashamed they're children of my brother." 
   
   Tsarni said he noticed changes in the religious views of Tamerlan Tsarnaev as far back as 2009. He recalled a 2009 phone conversation where in response to some life advice he had given, Tsarnaev called him an "infidel." The young man also told his uncle he was not concerned about work or studies because God had a plan for him. 
   
   The Brothers Tsarnaev, said Tsarni, had brought shame on the Chechen people. ||||| A New York Police officer stands guard at the corner of the New York Stock Exchange in New York April 19, 2013, as part of heightened security in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. 
   
   WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI interviewed suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev in early 2011, it said in a statement late Friday, following a tip from a foreign government that he was "a follower of radical Islam" and was preparing to leave the United States to join underground organizations. 
   
   The FBI said its interview two years ago of Tsarnaev and his family, along with checks of travel records, Internet activity and personal associations, "did not find any terrorism activity" at the time. 
   
   But the revelation is the first evidence that the Tsarnaev family came to U.S. security officials' attention after they emigrated to the United States about a decade ago, and it could raise questions about whether the government missed potential warning signs about the behavior of two brothers. 
   
   Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died overnight in Boston in a shootout with police. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, 19, was taken into custody on Friday evening in the Boston suburb of Watertown after a dramatic, day-long manhunt, Boston police said. 
   
   The FBI statement did not disclose which foreign government asked it for information about the brothers and their family. But Tamerlan was widely reported to have made a trip to Russia last year. 
   
   The brothers and their family were ethnic Chechens, whose small republic's attempts at independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union were brutally crushed by Moscow. Both brothers, however, were born in the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan, the FBI statement said, and Dzhokhar was a naturalized U.S. citizen. 
   
   The revelation that the elder Tsarnaev was on U.S. law enforcement authorities' radar screens seemed likely to raise uncomfortable questions for the Obama administration about whether it could have done anything to detect and stop the plot. 
   
   "It's new information to me and it's very disturbing that he's on the FBI radar screen," Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on CNN late Friday. 
   
   It is not known when the Boston Marathon bombings were planned, or whether there were clues that could have allowed authorities to pre-empt it. 
   
   National security and law enforcement authorities said on earlier Friday that they had not turned up any evidence that the Tsarnaevs had contacts with al Qaeda or other militants overseas. 
   
   Rep. Peter King, New York Republican and member of the House intelligence committee, said in a statement that there "was no federal intelligence or chatter prior to the marathon bombings," a reference to militant communications often picked up in advance of an impending attack. 
   
   The U.S. officials said they were leaning toward the theory that the bombings were motivated by Islamic extremism, although that remained unproven. 
   
   WERE THE TSARNAEVS WORKING WITH OTHERS? 
   
   Violent plots involving a single individual or small groups who self-radicalize and have minimal dealings with other militants can be extremely difficult to detect in advance, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials and private experts. 
   
   The revelation about the FBI contacts with the elder Tsarnaev came as U.S. officials told Reuters that investigators are scouring government data banks to determine if spy and police agencies missed potential clues that might have alerted them to the two brothers. 
   
   Another top priority for investigators is to determine whether the brothers had any confederates either inside the United States or overseas, one U.S. official said. This official and others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. 
   
   Three people were taken into custody for questioning in New Bedford, Massachusetts, police said on Friday. Two men and a woman are being questioned by the FBI "on the assumption there is an affiliation with" Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Lieutenant Robert Richard of the New Bedford Police said. 
   
   One official said the possibility that the U.S. government had information that should have raised questions about the Tsarnaev brothers before the attack could not be ruled out. Other officials said they were unaware that such material had turned up. 
   
   In several recent cases, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies failed to put together clues that, in hindsight, might have led them to pre-empt a plot. 
   
   In 2009, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hassan killed 13 people and wounded another 32 at Fort Hood, Texas. Prior to the shooting spree, Hassan had email contacts with Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born cleric and leader of al Qaida's affiliate in Yemen who was later killed in a U.S. drone strike. 
   
   U.S. authorities had investigated Hassan's emails, but concluded they posed no threat of violence. 
   
   The father of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called "underwear bomber" who tried to bring down a U.S. jetliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, reported suspicions about his son's activities to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria. But Abdulmutallab's U.S. visa was never revoked. 
   
   A report by the Senate intelligence committee heavily criticized U.S. intelligence agencies for failing to act on available information in that case. 
   
   But Brian Jenkins, a respected terrorism expert at the RAND Corp., dismissed the idea that the Boston bombings represented an intelligence failure. 
   
   People will inevitably ask, "did we miss something in intelligence?" said Jenkins, speaking before the news of the 2011 FBI interview with Tamerlan Tsarnaev become public. 
   
   "Some people will label it an 'intelligence failure.' But that's because people have come to expect 100 percent security," he said. 
   
   (Additional reporting by Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Paul Simao and Stacey Joyce)
target: – Law enforcement officials have confirmed that it was Russia that told the FBI to investigate the slain Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011, the AP reports. The FBI interviewed Tsarnaev, following up on the tip that he was a "follower of radical Islam," but didn't deem him a security risk at the time, reports Reuters. The FBI had said only that a foreign government had provided the intel, but two law enforcement officials, speaking anonymously, later revealed the Russian FSB intelligence security service as the source. The Tsarnaev brothers are ethnic Chechens—though they never actually lived in Chechnya—and Tamerlan visited Russia for six months last year, reports CNN. After getting the tip, the FBI not only talked to Tamerlan but checked out his travel history and web postings. The agency says it "did not find any terrorism activity." His mother says her elder son had embraced Islam but not religious extremism, and she was aware of his contact with the FBI. "How could this happen?" she asked on CNN. "They were controlling every step of him. Now they are saying this is a terrorist act." (Tamerlan, 26, who was killed in a shootout with police, had an American wife and toddler.)