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Brothers Dzhokhar, left, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev sit together at an unknown location. The undated photo was released April 29, 2015, by the Federal Public Defender Office and presented as evidence during the penalty phase in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Boston.(Photo: Federal Public Defender Office via AP)
BOSTON — A cousin of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev took the witness stand Monday and said Tsarnaev was a warm, kind child.
Raisat Suleimanova said Tsarnaev melted his strict aunt's heart when he stayed with her as a child.
"With his kindness, he changed her," she recalled. "He could do whatever he wanted."
The aunt admitted that he had a profound effect, according to Suleimanova's testimony in federal court. "She said herself, 'This child has changed me,'" she said. "She started loving everybody, including the children."
Suleimanova said she was testifying because Tsarnaev, 21, is like a brother to her.
"He is part of my family," she said. "I have no right not to come here."
Several relatives, who are receiving federal protection, testified through a Russian-language interpreter Monday as Tsarnaev's attorneys try to humanize him before a jury that could give him the death penalty for his role in the Boston Marathon bombings. He was convicted April 8.
Suleimanova told the jury, "I came for the sake of my brother, whom I love very much." She noted that she doesn't have brothers and therefore calls her cousins "brothers."
She said their families used to get together each summer until the Tsarnaev family left for the United States. It was the last time she saw Tsarnaev before her appearance in court Monday.
Suleimanova said his parents were "removed" from traditional Muslim observances until recent years.
During a visit to Dagestan in 2010, she encountered Tsarnaev's mother, Zubeidat, wearing a hijab and dressing conservatively.
"I was in shock," Suleimanova said. "It was a shock for me, knowing what kind of person Zubeidat used to be." She said her aunt had always been very outgoing and fashionable before the transformation.
Asked about religious observances, Suleimanova said that in her family, "religion is first because I'm a Muslim."
Emotions ran high as Tsarnaev's family members were overwhelmed by their first sight of him in 13 years. One witness was so overcome that she left the witness stand after only the most basic questions. Patimat Suleimanova, Tsarnaev's aunt, began weeping as soon as she gave her name to the court. She gasped and heaved, held her chest and wiped her eyes. The judge in the case suggested she step down and regain her composure before returning to the stand.
Tsarnaev's cousin, Nabisat Suleimanova, broke down when she was asked about her favorite memories of him. "He was so warm and caring," she said, crossing her arms around herself as if to demonstrate a hug. "One would want to hug him and not let him go. He was an unusual child. He was wunderkind."
Another cousin, Naida Suleimanova, appeared nervous. Her shoulders were tightly clenched forward. She gulped before speaking and took deep breaths.
"You seem to be a little bit emotional or teary up there," observed defense attorney William Fick. "Can you tell us why?"
"Because I'm seeing my brother for the first time in so many years," she said of her cousin. "And it's not easy."
Tsarnaev turned his head slightly toward the witnesses while his cousins were on the stand. With previous witnesses, he had avoided looking in their direction.
Naida Suleimanova was shown a family photo from 1994 in which she is holding Dzhokhar, who was a baby.
"There was never an occasion when he didn't have a smile on his face," she said.
She said Tsarnaev not only loved his older brother, Tamerlan, but also dutifully followed his lead.
"It was the custom in our family: You would always listen to your older sibling," she said. "You would always try to listen to your older sibling and try to follow his example."
Her testimony helped the defense make its argument that cultural factors contributed to Dzhokhar's dedication to his brother's plot to bomb the Boston Marathon in 2013.
As he left the courtroom for lunch recess, Tsarnaev made the rare move of turning briefly toward the galley. He smiled at a cousin and aunt who had been on the stand that morning and used two fingers to blow them a kiss before he exited with U.S. marshals out a side door.
The women made no visible gestures in his direction. They stood while he left. Then they sat down together on the galley bench, held each other and wept audibly as court security officers cleared the rest of the room.
Monday was the fourth day of the defense case for Tsarnaev. His attorneys are trying to convince the jury that he should receive life in prison with no possibility of parole rather than a death sentence.
Last month, the same jury convicted him on all 30 counts related to the April 15, 2013, bomb attacks that left three people dead and more than 260 injured. Seventeen of the counts carry the possibility of a death sentence.
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