A Massachusetts State Police photographer who released stark photos to a local magazine of the capture of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reportedly has been relieved of duty.

Boston Magazine reported that Police Sgt. Sean Murphy was relieved of duty Thursday after he gave the magazine photos of Tsarnaev in response to a controversial image on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

When asked by The Associated Press about Murphy’s job status, Procopio said in an email: “All I can say is that he is subject to an internal investigation.”

The photos show a downcast, disheveled Tsarnaev with the red dot of a sniper’s rifle laser sight boring into his forehead. They were taken when Tsarnaev was captured April 19, bleeding and hiding in a dry-docked boat in a Watertown backyard.

Murphy said in a statement to Boston Magazine that Tsarnaev is evil and that his photos show the “real Boston bomber, not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”

The April 15 bombing killed three people and injured more than 260. Massachusetts Institute of Technology officer Sean Collier was allegedly killed April 18 by Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, who died following a shootout with police later that evening.

State police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement Thursday that the agency did not authorize the release of the photos to Boston Magazine and will not release them to other media. “The State Police will have no further comment on this matter tonight,” he added.

Massachusetts State Police said late Thursday that an internal investigation will be conducted into the matter. Boston Magazine editor John Wolfson, who wrote the story accompanied by Murphy’s photos, later tweeted and reported on the magazine website that Murphy was “relieved of duty” and had a hearing next week.

Murphy, who did not return a message from the AP, said in his statement to Boston Magazine that Rolling Stone’s cover photo, a softly-lit image of a brooding Tsarnaev, insults officers killed in the line of duty, their colleagues and their families by glamorizing the “face of terror.”

“It also could be an incentive to those who may be unstable to do something to get their face on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine,” he said.

Rolling Stone said the cover story on Tsarnaev was part of its “long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage of the most important political and cultural issues of our day.”

Boston Magazine printed more than a dozen photos from the day Tsarnaev was captured, including images of police during the manhunt and Tsarnaev as he was captured and taken away by ambulance.

Three images showed Tsarnaev as he emerged from the boat, head bowed, with red smudges and streaks on his clothing and the boat.

Two images showed the red dot of the laser sight in the middle of his forehead and just above his left eye. The other showed the dot on the top of his head as he buries his face in his arms.

In his statement, Murphy said the capture played out like a television …read more

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