Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev always acted like a 'bully' and a 'tough guy' at high school but appeared harmless, according to an ex-girlfriend he once allegedly slapped. Nadine Ascencao, 25, has spoken out about her relationship with the man who allegedly planted two bombs at the Boston Marathon last week, killing three people and injuring more than 180. Despite this heinous crime and a disturbing pattern of verbal and physical abuse towards women, Ascencao has claimed the man she once lived with did not appear to be capable of 'anything major'. 'He was a little tough guy, but I thought that was it,' she told the Wall Street Journal. 'In high school, everybody acts like that. Like a bully guy, you know?' 'Bully': Suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, pictured at boxing matches, was a 'bully' and a 'little tough guy' when he was at high school according to his former girlfriend . 'He was just like a normal person that sometimes like wanted to scare kids in high school but that was it.... He was a little tough guy, but I thought that was it.' Despite her claims, Ascencao was once allegedly the victim of Tsarnaev's temper; police records show she was the woman who accused him of slapping her on July 28, 2009, The Journal reported. She refused to speak to The Journal about the incident, but records show she told police he had slapped her in the face during an argument over another woman - presumably Katherine Russell, whom he met at a club that year and went on to marry in 2010 - at his home in Cambridge. She was 'crying hysterically' and called . 911 to report that she was 'beat up by her boyfriend', Cambridge Police . Officer Angela Pereira wrote in the arrest report. 'Abuse': Tsarnaev allegedly once slapped the woman around the face during an argument in 2009 . He admitted to slapping her and was . arrested on charges of assault and battery, the complaint said. The . charges were dismissed before trial. While Ascencao would not say when she dated Tsarnaev or for how long, records also show they lived together for a short time at an apartment on Norfolk Street. Ascencao added to The Journal that she was 'disgusted' by his alleged part in the deadly bombings. When she learned he had died, 'I didn't even cry or anything', she said. Ascencao's neighbors said FBI agents visited her home early on Friday morning to clarify the relationship she had with him. The agents left three hours later and briefly returned in the afternoon. Wife: He was married to Katherine Russell, pictured at school, 11 months after the complaint . Wife: The suspected bomber went on to marry Katherine Russell, who became a Muslim at his urging . Summer 2006 Tamerlan Tsarnaev graduates Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, where he met Nadine Ascencao . 2009 While a student at Boston's Suffolk University, Katherine Russell meets Tsarnaev at a nightclub after they are introduced by a girl friend. Russell's lawyer, Amato DeLuca, said Tsarnaev was seeing another woman at the time. 'They went out for a while, and then they stopped and then they went out again,' she told Newsday. July 2009 Nadine Ascencao calls police to claim she was 'beat up by her boyfriend' after he allegedly slapped her across the face during an argument about another woman . Spring 2010 Russell, who has fallen pregnant with Tsarnaev's child, drops out of college in her senior year. She gives birth to their daughter Zahara, who is now three, and converts to Islam . June 2010 Russell and Tsarnaev marry in a ceremony in Dorchester . Around 11 months after the alleged slapping incident, Tsarnaev, 26, married his wife, Katherine Russell. She has not spoken publicly since Tsarnaev's death early Friday in a shootout with police. But three of Russell's friends told National Public Radio's Laura Sullivan that Tsarnaev would often insult Russell and call her names, such as 'slut' and 'prostitute.' He was known to fly into into fits of rage where he would throw objects at Russell, including furniture, friends said. Sometime around 2008, his erratic and violent behavior escalated as he stopped smoking and drinking and suddenly became heavily involved in Islam. He met Russell in 2009 while at a nightclub and her lawyer, Amato DeLuca, said he was dating another woman at the time - presumably Ascencao. However, 'they went out for a while, and then they stopped and then they went out again', DeLuca said. In Spring 2010, Russell dropped out of college after falling pregnant with his child. They now have a three-year-old daughter Zahara, indicating the little girl was born before their June 2010 wedding. Around that time, he demanded that Russell, born a Christian, convert to Islam - and she complied. Getaway: She is leaves a law office in . Rhode Island on Tuesday after releasing a statement expressing her deep . mourning for the victims and her shock when she heard of the . allegations against her husband . Support: Russell, who married Tsarnaev in 2010, is seen walking to a car with her lawyer on Tuesday . Killed: Tamerlan, right, with his brother Dzhokhar, died after a stand-off with police in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing . Despite their tumultuous, on-again, off-again relationship, the couple married on June 21, 2010. Judith Russell, her mother, read an emotional statement to the media outside the timber-framed detached family home. ‘Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child,' she said. 'We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred. Our hearts are sickened by the knowledge of the horror he has inflicted.’ She added: ‘In the aftermath of the Patriots’ Day horror, we now know that we never really knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev.’
Nadine Ascencao, 25, said Tsarnaev 'was a little tough guy' in high school .
In 2009, he 'admitted slapping her during an argument about another woman', police records show - but the charges were dropped .
Ascencao said she never believed he was capable of anything 'major'
Friends say he had a pattern of verbal abuse and violence towards women .
Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev always acted like a 'bully' and a 'tough guy' at high school but appeared harmless, according to an ex-girlfriend he once allegedly slapped. Nadine Ascencao, 25, has spoken out about her relationship with the man who allegedly planted two bombs at the Boston Marathon last week, killing three people and injuring more than 180. Despite this heinous crime and a disturbing pattern of verbal and physical abuse towards women, Ascencao has claimed the man she once lived with did not appear to be capable of 'anything major'. 'He was a little tough guy, but I thought that was it,' she told the Wall Street Journal. 'In high school, everybody acts like that. Like a bully guy, you know?' 'Bully': Suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, pictured at boxing matches, was a 'bully' and a 'little tough guy' when he was at high school according to his former girlfriend . 'He was just like a normal person that sometimes like wanted to scare kids in high school but that was it.... He was a little tough guy, but I thought that was it.' Despite her claims, Ascencao was once allegedly the victim of Tsarnaev's temper; police records show she was the woman who accused him of slapping her on July 28, 2009, The Journal reported. She refused to speak to The Journal about the incident, but records show she told police he had slapped her in the face during an argument over another woman - presumably Katherine Russell, whom he met at a club that year and went on to marry in 2010 - at his home in Cambridge. She was 'crying hysterically' and called . 911 to report that she was 'beat up by her boyfriend', Cambridge Police . Officer Angela Pereira wrote in the arrest report. 'Abuse': Tsarnaev allegedly once slapped the woman around the face during an argument in 2009 . He admitted to slapping her and was . arrested on charges of assault and battery, the complaint said. The . charges were dismissed before trial. While Ascencao would not say when she dated Tsarnaev or for how long, records also show they lived together for a short time at an apartment on Norfolk Street. Ascencao added to The Journal that she was 'disgusted' by his alleged part in the deadly bombings. When she learned he had died, 'I didn't even cry or anything', she said. Ascencao's neighbors said FBI agents visited her home early on Friday morning to clarify the relationship she had with him. The agents left three hours later and briefly returned in the afternoon. Wife: He was married to Katherine Russell, pictured at school, 11 months after the complaint . Wife: The suspected bomber went on to marry Katherine Russell, who became a Muslim at his urging . Summer 2006 Tamerlan Tsarnaev graduates Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, where he met Nadine Ascencao . 2009 While a student at Boston's Suffolk University, Katherine Russell meets Tsarnaev at a nightclub after they are introduced by a girl friend. Russell's lawyer, Amato DeLuca, said Tsarnaev was seeing another woman at the time. 'They went out for a while, and then they stopped and then they went out again,' she told Newsday. July 2009 Nadine Ascencao calls police to claim she was 'beat up by her boyfriend' after he allegedly slapped her across the face during an argument about another woman . Spring 2010 Russell, who has fallen pregnant with Tsarnaev's child, drops out of college in her senior year. She gives birth to their daughter Zahara, who is now three, and converts to Islam . June 2010 Russell and Tsarnaev marry in a ceremony in Dorchester . Around 11 months after the alleged slapping incident, Tsarnaev, 26, married his wife, Katherine Russell. She has not spoken publicly since Tsarnaev's death early Friday in a shootout with police. But three of Russell's friends told National Public Radio's Laura Sullivan that Tsarnaev would often insult Russell and call her names, such as 'slut' and 'prostitute.' He was known to fly into into fits of rage where he would throw objects at Russell, including furniture, friends said. Sometime around 2008, his erratic and violent behavior escalated as he stopped smoking and drinking and suddenly became heavily involved in Islam. He met Russell in 2009 while at a nightclub and her lawyer, Amato DeLuca, said he was dating another woman at the time - presumably Ascencao. However, 'they went out for a while, and then they stopped and then they went out again', DeLuca said. In Spring 2010, Russell dropped out of college after falling pregnant with his child. They now have a three-year-old daughter Zahara, indicating the little girl was born before their June 2010 wedding. Around that time, he demanded that Russell, born a Christian, convert to Islam - and she complied. Getaway: She is leaves a law office in . Rhode Island on Tuesday after releasing a statement expressing her deep . mourning for the victims and her shock when she heard of the . allegations against her husband . Support: Russell, who married Tsarnaev in 2010, is seen walking to a car with her lawyer on Tuesday . Killed: Tamerlan, right, with his brother Dzhokhar, died after a stand-off with police in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing . Despite their tumultuous, on-again, off-again relationship, the couple married on June 21, 2010. Judith Russell, her mother, read an emotional statement to the media outside the timber-framed detached family home. ‘Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child,' she said. 'We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred. Our hearts are sickened by the knowledge of the horror he has inflicted.’ She added: ‘In the aftermath of the Patriots’ Day horror, we now know that we never really knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev.’
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