Laith Albehacy

Laith Albehacy testified for the defense on Day 53 about his encounters with Tamerlan Tsarnaev at Al-barra Market in Cambridge and at a mosque. The store manager recalled Tamerlan arriving on April 15, 2013, after Albehacy had learned of the Marathon explosions and begun watching the news. He said Tamerlan denied hearing about the bombing, then smiled and denied responsibility when Albehacy jokingly asked whether he had done it.

Under William W. Fick's questioning, Albehacy described Tamerlan as muscular and demonstrative when shaking hands. Their ordinary conversations mostly concerned their daughters, and Albehacy said he saw him about every two or three months. He also recalled Tamerlan interrupting an imam's encouragement to vote and, on another occasion, shouting objections to a comparison of Martin Luther King and the Prophet Mohamed. Albehacy could not identify which election was involved and qualified his recollection of purchases and incident durations.

On cross-examination, Albehacy confirmed that Tamerlan was pleasant with him and his daughter at the store and estimated the April 15 visit lasted perhaps half a minute. He regarded the mosque interruption's substance and rudeness as unusual but declined to label the opposition to voting extremist. He had returned to work without observing the aftermath and had not discussed the incident with Tamerlan or mosque management. He also said he had never met Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and did not know whether the defendant had visited the store. The defense declined further questioning.