John Miller, senior correspondent at CBS and former assistant director of the FBI, reported Thursday morning that authorities found a note inside the Slip Away II confirming suspected Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's motive for the attack.
It was apparently scribbled on the interior wall of the boat's cabin, which had several bullet holes through it.
"Basically the note says that he does not mourn his brother Tamerlan, that Tamerlan was a martyr now and that he was in paradise, that Dzhokhar expected to join him there soon," Miller said. "That the bombings were in retribution for the US crimes against Muslims in places like Iraq and Afghanistan; that the victims of the Boston bombing were 'collateral damage,' the same way innocent victims have been collateral damage in US wars around the world, summing up that when you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims."
Miller notes that this is the first tangible "claim of responsibility" investigators have found, though Tsarnaev is also believed to have confessed his motive during the period of interrogation before he was read his Miranda rights.
Update: Thursday, 3:20 p.m. EDT
The New York Times has confirmed the discovery of the note:
The portion of the boat's interior on which Mr. Tsarnaev had written would likely be cut from the hull and presented in court as evidence should he go to trial, said a person with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.