Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the last remaining Boston marathon bombing suspect, has been in touch with his mother in Russia for the first time since he was hospitalized and charged.
Speaking to his mother from the Massachusetts prison where he is held , Dzhokhar talked a bit about his health and how he is being treated. “They are giving me rice and chicken now,” he says.
From the Tsarnaev family home in Dagestan, mother Zubeidat played a recording of her conversation with her son that aired on Britain’s Channel 4 News .
The 19-year-old is currently in a federal prison hospital, charged with using a weapon of mass destruction which killed three people and injured more than 264 in an attack at the Boston marathon on April 15. He is receiving some financial support, and a bank account has been opened in his name.
After Dzhokhar was captured by police, he was unconscious in the hospital for several days. When he woke up, he was reportedly unable to speak, but understood the charges read against him.
Though there was little to no news on his condition for a long time, it seems that Dzhokhar is now up and walking as well as speaking normally. He implied in the call that this has been the case for some time.
‘No of course not, I’m already eating and have been for a long time,” he told his mother after she asked if he was in pain. “They are giving me rice and chicken now, everything’s fine.”
Zubeidat sobs during the call, and Dzhokhar reassures her, “Everything is good, please don’t say anything.”
She asked if he needed financial support, and he replied that someone had already opened a bank account for him containing thousands of dollars.
“He said ‘’Mama, do not worry about me. I do have money. Somebody opened an account for me and people send me money here and I do have lots of money.’”
Both parents of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev still maintain that their sons had nothing to do with the Boston marathon attacks.
“It is terrible what happened, but I know that my kids did not do it,” Zubeidat said.
For patriarch Anzor Tsarnaev, son Tamerlan’s death has forever changed his view of the United States.
“I loved the USA. I really did,” he said. “I loved the USA. Until it killed my son.”
You can listen to audio of the phone call between Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his mother below: