‘American Manhunt’: Where Is Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Now?

Ten years have passed since the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent hunt for those behind the deadly attack. Netflix’s new docuseries, American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing, provides a comprehensive look at the incident that shocked the nation and brought a major American city to a complete halt. By meticulously combining footage from a variety of sources, ranging from social media posts to surveillance footage, American Manhunt recreates the tension of the 101 hours that Suspects #1-2, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were on the run and wreaking across Boston.

If you’re wondering what happened to the Tsarnaev brothers, you can watch the three-part series on Netflix right now. Or if you don’t have three hours to devote to American Manhunt, you can read more about the ultimate fates of the perpetrators behind the Boston Marathon Bombing below.

What happened to Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev did not survive the manhunt following the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013. On April 18, Tamerlan and his 19-year-old brother Dzhokhar assassinated Officer Sean Collier on MIT’s campus while attempting to steal his firearm.

They then stole a car, which was tracked by police to Laurel Street in the suburb of Watertown. That’s where the Tsarnaev brothers engaged in a shootout with the police, one that ended for Tamerlan when his gun ran out of ammunition and he charged the officers. Even though Tamerlan had been shot multiple times by this point, he resisted arrest while officers tried to pin him down and handcuff him. But during that skirmish, Dzhokhar had gotten behind the wheel of an SUV in order to make an escape — and while getting away, the younger Tsarnaev ran over his brother and dragged his body some 20 feet. Tamerlan was later pronounced dead at the hospital due to multiple gunshot wounds and blunt-force trauma to the head and torso.

What happened to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after the shootout?

Eighteen hours after fleeing the shootout in an SUV, Dzhokhar was found hiding out one block away in a boat and underneath a tarp. Dzhokhar somehow survived the boat being riddled with over 100 rounds of ammunition and was eventually captured alive.

Where is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev today?

Almost two years after the bombing, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty of 30 different charges, including four charges of murder. He was sentenced to death and transferred to a maximum security penitentiary in Colorado. However, Tsarnaev appealed the sentence citing errors in jury selection and the exclusion of certain evidence that could have painted Tamerlan as more of the mastermind behind the attack. In July 2020, a panel of three judges overturned the death sentence citing that the original judge did not take into account how much the jury — a Boston jury — would be swayed by prior knowledge of the bombing. While there was never a chance of Tsarnaev ever going free, he would not die by execution.

That is until March 2021 when the Department of Justice argued to the Supreme Court in favor of reinstating the death penalty — and the Supreme Court sided with them. A year later, the Supreme Court overturned the overturning by a vote of 6-3, thus putting Tsarnaev back on death row. Tsarnaev’s attorney is still trying to appeal the decision.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is currently serving out his sentence at the supermax penitentiary known as ADX Florence in Colorado.