It was a boat owner 's obsession with perfection , making sure his `` baby '' was stowed just right in his backyard , that led him to discover the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings . Contrary to police reports , David Henneberry said the discovery of blood had nothing to do with the inspection of his boat , the Slip Away II , he told CNN affiliate WCVB . During the inspection , he found a bloodied Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , 19 , hiding in the boat , he said . Henneberry said he had been obsessing over how two pads had fallen out of the shrink-wrap protecting his boat for the winter . He had put the pads under the shrink-wrap to prevent chafing , he told the station . It took two visits tending to the boat before he finally saw Tsarnaev and his trail of blood . `` It was really windy , so I did n't think twice about it , '' he said of the dislodged pads . Neighbor photographs shootout with police . He could n't address the problem until authorities lifted a `` shelter-in-place '' order for residents of Watertown , Massachusetts , about 6 p.m. Friday . Then he went outside to get some air , he told the affiliate . `` I am just going to put the pads back . They were bugging me all day . So I went out in the yard and felt the freedom that everyone in Watertown was feeling . When I pulled the strap , it was a lot looser than it usually is . But again , the wind could have loosened things up , '' he said . At this point , he did n't see blood on the exterior tarp , despite what police have said . `` No indication of anything . I know people say I saw blood on the boat , 'He saw blood on the boat . ' Not true , '' he said . 5 key questions in Boston bombing . `` I said 'OK , everything is fine . ' There are no visible signs of blood outside the boat . I went inside , '' he said . But in a fit of obsession , he returned to the boat , climbed a ladder and inspected the Slip Away II again . `` I got three steps up the ladder and rolled the shrink-wrap . I did n't expect to see anything , but I saw blood on the floor of the boat . A good amount of blood , '' he told the affiliate . `` And I said 'Wow , did I cut myself last time ? ' I thought . I was in the boat a couple of weeks ago . Then I just look over there , and there is more blood , '' he continued . A look at Tamerlan Tsarnaev 's past . The blood led to a revelation that would end a two-day manhunt for Tsarnaev . `` And I looked back and forth a couple of times and my eyes went to the engine block and there was a body , '' he told the station . He did n't immediately connect the body to Tsarnaev . `` I think maybe ( I knew ) , but I did n't want to think that . It 's fast , '' he said . He recounted how the person was hidden . `` I see him lying there just like you see on the film ( from the State Police helicopter 's infrared camera ) . He was just lying there by the engine block and the floor . I could n't see his face . I 'm glad I did n't see his face . I did n't see his face . He did n't move , '' he told WCVB . Responding quickly , Henneberry did n't even remember climbing down the ladder and running to the phone to dial 911 . FBI takes heat over Boston bombing suspect . `` I did n't waste any time . I did n't ask him if he wanted a cup of coffee . I was off that ladder . That is all I remember , '' he told the affiliate . Police later escorted Henneberry and his wife to a neighbor 's home . Police then surrounded the Henneberry 's house . Tsarnaev eventually surrendered . `` I am lucky I am alive , '' Henneberry said . `` These other people were killed . Sometimes , I just sit and say , 'Wow . ' '' Many on social media want to buy him another boat . But Henneberry wants nothing of it . He calls himself an `` incidental hero . '' `` It makes me feel wonderful that people that are thinking like that , but it is my boat . People lost lives and lost limbs . I 'd rather that ( the money ) go to the One Fund Boston . To buy me a new boat is a wonderful thing , I do n't want that , really . I would wish that they donate it to the One Fund Boston . They lost limbs . I lost a boat , '' he told the affiliate . `` Slip Away is slipping away . But I say it did its job . It held a bad guy and is going away like a viking ship . ''
David Henneberry was obsessed with how his boat was stowed in the backyard . He noticed how protective pads fell to the ground . Contrary to police accounts , it was n't blood that tipped him off to something amiss . Comment: