Police chief who called for marathon bomber's burial retires
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts police chief who made national news in 2013 when he publicly pleaded for someone to step forward and bury the body of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev (TAM'-ehr-luhn tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) is retiring.
Worcester Chief Gary Gemme said in a statement on the department's website Wednesday that his last day is May 13.
His successor has been chosen. He tells The Telegram & Gazette that it is one of his four deputy chiefs, but did not disclose a name. The city manager plans an announcement Thursday.
The 62-year-old Gemme joined the department in 1983 and became chief 11 years ago.
When Tsarnaev's body lay in a city funeral home, with no cemetery willing to accept it, Gemme said, "We are not barbarians. We bury the dead."
