I think it's got to be some local nut who's got a beef with the city or the Boston Police Dept., or maybe even with paying his state income taxes?
The Bomb Experts on TV today were saying the pressure cooker/nail/ballbearing bomb is the standard IED in Iraq, and instructions for building it are readily available on line.
I hope they find him soon. Sadly, I don't think Mass. has the death penalty anymore.