An evidence photo of Dave Henneberry’s boat parked on Franklin Street, where Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found.
The owner of the infamous “Watertown Boat” described finding the Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Boston Federal Court on Tuesday.
Dave Henneberry, a lifelong Watertown resident, had shrink wrapped up his boat, SlipAway II, and parked it in the yard of his Franklin Street home. The testimony comes from live social media reports from reporters at the Boston Federal Court House.
When the “shelter in place” had been lifted on the evening of April 20, 2013, Henneberry went out and noticed the wrapping had come loose.
When he looked closer, he saw the zipper to the plastic covering was open, so he looked inside.
“I noticed a lot of blood … on the deck of the boat, inside,” Henneberry said, according to WBZ’s Jim Armstrong.
Then Henneberry noticed some blood on the boat.
“It like somebody got a bad cut, dripping, smudge. Not a huge amount, but enough,” Henneberry said, according to WBZ’s Armstrong.
His eyes looked along the inside of the boat.
“That’s when I saw a body in the boat … On the other side of the inboard motor, laying on the deck,” Henneberry said, according to the Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen. “I could see his boots, or shoes. Black. I could see his pants. Tan. Hooded sweatshirt pulled up over his head. Lying on his side”
The person – later identified as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – wasn’t move, and Henneberry got off the boat ladder and went back into his house.
“My wife knew something was wrong. Handed me the phone and called 911,” Henneberry said, according to Fox 25’s Catherine Parrotta.
Henneberry did not go back into the boat after calling police. He was evacuated from his home. The boat stayed in the yard for nine days afterward so the FBI could examine it, according to the Globe’s Cullen.
Attorneys asked Henneberry about the pencil that prosecutors believe Tsarnaev used to write the message on the inside wall of the boat.
“I left that pencil in the boat when I prepped it for winter; the pencil has a logo from my stepson’s company,” Henneberry said, according to WBZ’s Armstrong. The company is Duffy Plumbing Corp., according to the Globe’s Milton Valencia.
Jurors saw photos of the note written in pencil, and streaked with blood.
An evidence photo of the note prosecutors say Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote inside the Watertown boat. The red streaks are Tsarnaev’s blood.
“Stop killing our… (then arrow pointing down) … innocent people and we will stop,” Tsarnaev’s note reads, according to WHDH’s Dan Hausle.
Looking at pictures of Tsarnaev’s note, Henneberry said the note had not been there when he wrapped up the boat.
He also said the red or brown stains, presumably from blood, were not there when the boat was wrapped up.
It appears Henneberry is the final Watertown witness in the case against Tsarnaev.