BOSTON

Tsarnaev says FBI asked brother to be informant

Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev say the FBI asked his older brother and fellow suspect to be an informant.

The lawyers asked a judge in court filings Friday to order prosecutors to turn over any evidence on brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. They say that could help persuade a jury to spare Dzhokhar Tsarnaev the death penalty if it supports the defense theory Tamerlan was the “main instigator.”

The defense says it wants records of all FBI contact with Tamerlan based on information from the Tsarnaev family and others that the FBI “questioned Tamerlan about his Internet searches, and asked him to be an informant, reporting on the Chechen and Muslim community.”

Twin explosions at last year’s marathon killed three people. Tamerlan Tsarnaev later died in a shootout with police.

Firefighters’ funerals set for next week

Funeral arrangements have been announced for two Boston firefighters killed on duty this week.

Lt. Edward Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy died Wednesday when they were trapped fighting a fire in a brownstone apartment building in the Back Bay.

A wake and funeral Mass for Walsh will be held at St. Patrick’s Church in the suburb of Watertown, where he grew up. The wake will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Kennedy’s wake will be Wednesday from 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at P.E. Murray Funeral Home in the West Roxbury neighborhood. His funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Holy Name church in West Roxbury.

Forty-three-year-old Walsh was married with three children under age 10. Thirty-three-year-old Kennedy, a former Marine, was single.

DOVER, N.H.

Woman serving life sentence sued for about $1.5 million

A New Hampshire woman serving a life sentence for paying relatives to kill her boyfriend in 2008 has been sued by his family for about $1.5 million.

Prosecutors said Dianna Saunders of Dover enlisted her ex-husband and her former stepson to kill David King to cover up the theft of thousands of dollars she swindled in a real estate deal.

Defense lawyers argued her ex-husband, Roy Saunders, arranged the killing.

Foster’s Daily Democrat reports King’s family is looking for money from a $450,000 life insurance policy Saunders collected from Roy Saunders, who was found dead in an apparent suicide.

The family’s lawyer said they are aware they will likely never see the $1.5 million, but he wants a judgment “in case something ever happens” with Saunders or her finances.

SEABROOK, N.H.

Officials say deadly fire was not intentionally set

New Hampshire officials investigating the death of Seabrook man whose body was found inside a burning home say they’ve found no indication that the fire was intentionally set.

The attorney general’s office said Friday that the man most likely lived in the home with another man, who was found alive at the scene of the fire on Thursday morning.

The name of the deceased was being withheld until relatives are notified.

CONCORD, N.H.

Realtors report fewer sales but higher median price

The New Hampshire Association of Realtors says there were fewer home sales this February than a year ago, but sales prices are up.

The association says the 656 closed sales in February marked a 4 percent drop from the 683 last year. But the median price of those sales – $207,500 – was 4 percent higher than in February 2013, at $199,700. It was the highest in any February since 2008.

Condominium sales in New Hampshire also dropped in February, with unit sales down 15 percent. The median price on those sales increased by 3 percent in February, with sales volume seeing a 9 percent drop.

UNH law school hosting human trafficking conference

The University of New Hampshire School of Law is hosting a daylong conference on combating human trafficking.

The keynote speaker at Friday’s conference is Cindy McCain – wife of Arizona Sen. and former presidential candidate John McCain. She is co-chair of the Arizona Governor’s Task Force on Human Trafficking.

The conference focuses on how the experiences and voices of survivors can educate prosecutors and advocates, and the legal barriers survivors face.

It will also feature a special screening of the documentary, “Not My Life,” filmed on five continents.

The conference runs Friday from 8:15 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the law school’s Rudman Center. It’s co-sponsored by the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy and the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

– From news service reports