The man accused of radicalizing accused Boston bomber
Reports about "Misha" — real name Mikhail Allakhverdov — surfaced last week, with news outlets quoting Tsarnaev's uncle as saying "Misha" "just took (Tsarnaev's) brain."
The New York Review of Books tracked down Allakhverdov, who said he knew Tsarnaev in Boston but wasn't his teacher and that if he had been, he "would have made sure (Tsarnaev) never did anything like this."
Allakhverdov declined to elaborate on exactly how he knew Tsarnaev, who died during a police shootout two weeks ago days after the Boston marathon bombing. His younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, survived the manhunt and was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill.
The FBI has been talking to "Misha," but the agency has not released his real name.
Allakhverdov is a U.S.-based Islamist who lives with his elderly parents in a small apartment in Rhode Island, according to the New York Review of Books. He's 39 years old and of Armenian-Ukrainian descent. He said he hasn't had any contact with Tamerlan since he left Boston three years ago.
Allakhverdov said he's cooperating with the FBI and that he's never met the family members who are accusing him of radicalizing Tamerlan.