U.S. Tv bosses have pulled next week's (begs22Apr13) episode of hit show Hannibal over fears a child murder storyline would be too insensitive following the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday (15Apr13).

The upcoming installment of the serial killer drama was set to show Molly Shannon's character brainwashing kids, leading them to kill other children - but it has now been pulled from the schedule.

Series creator Bryan Fuller cited the December (12) Connecticut school shooting and this week's tragedy at the annual race in Massachusetts for his decision to axe the episode.

He tells trade paper Variety, "I didn't want to have anyone come to the show and have a negative experience. Whenever you (write) a story and look at the sensational aspects of storytelling, you think, 'This is interesting metaphorically, and this is interesting as social commentary.'

"With this episode, it wasn't about the graphic imagery or violence. It was the associations that came with the subject matter that I felt would inhibit the enjoyment of the overall episode... It was my own sensitivity."

Twenty children died at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in December when a gunman opened fire, while eight-year-old Martin Richard was one of three people killed when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the annual race in Boston.

One of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died from injuries he sustained in a shoot-out with cops on Thursday night (18Apr13), while his brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was captured by officials late on Friday (19Apr13) after a city-wide manhunt. He is currently undergoing treatment in hospital.