More than two weeks after Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a gun battle with police, there's no clear indication where he will be buried. The alleged Boston Marathon bomber needs a final resting place, but the funeral home that's currently in possession of his body is facing a dilemma.
Peter Stefan, the director of Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, Mass., can't find a cemetery willing to bury the 26 year old accused of plotting the attack, with his brother, that killed three and injured 264people on April 15. Tsarnaev is Muslim, which means cremation would conflict with his religious beliefs.
Today Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick told a reporter that the final outcome will be determined by Tsarnaev's family. "I assume they will make a decision soon. I hope they do. I think everybody is feeling upset about what happened."
Stefan wants the U.S. State Department to get involved and send the body to the suspect's family in Russia. Demonstrators outside the funeral home support that plan and are trying to raise money to pay for it.
But, Stefan will not agree to that if he isn't certain the person receiving the body will properly care for and bury it. In an interview with Anderson Cooper airing tonight, he says he is still trying to make that connection in Russia.
What's most important to him is that every person under his supervision, regardless of how they lived their life, is treated equally in death. That principle has guided Stefan through out his career. He considers it an American ideal. "You have to bury people in this country," he says.
Watch the interview to find out how Stefan plans to deal with the controversial problem at 8 and 10 p.m. ET on CNN.