Fed pinned 2011 triple slay on Tamerlan Tsarnaev
Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev bound, beat and slit the throats of three Waltham men, then made off with several thousand dollars after scrubbing the crime scene of fingerprints, a new court affidavit states.
It’s all part of a heavily redacted federal affidavit unsealed this week as part of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s appeal of his death sentence for his part in the marathon bombing that killed three and injured more than 260 others. The brothers are also blamed for the murder of an MIT officer.
The few sections of the court document that are visible tell of a ruthless Tamerlan Tsarnaev targeting the men because he suspected they sold pot. The murders occurred the evening of
Sept. 11, 2011 — the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“The murders were particularly grisly: the victims were bound, beaten, and had their throats cut. In addition, the victims were covered with marijuana,” the 2013 search warrant affidavit written by an anonymous “special agent” states.
The agent adds Ibragim Todashev, a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s, confessed to participating “in the Waltham murders” and both men “took several thousand dollars from the residence and split the money.”
Todashev was killed by an FBI agent after his confession in May of 2013 in Florida. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police days after the marathon attack. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, now 26, was found hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown hours later.
The agent adds: “Todashev and Tamerlan bound the victims, who were ultimately murdered. Todashev went on to say that after the murders, Tamerlan and Todashev tried to clean the crime scene in order to remove traces of their fingerprints and other identifying details.”
The search warrant was for permission to scrub Tamerlan’s 1999 Honda CR-V for DNA, blood, trace evidence “and other items.” Those other items are redacted.
Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev want records related to his dead brother’s alleged involvement in the 2011 Waltham triple murder unsealed to aid their appeal of Tsarnaev’s death penalty before a Dec.12 hearing. They argue Tamerlan was the domineering older brother who called all the shots.
In 2015, a federal jury condemned Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death on six of 17 capital counts for the 2013 Marathon bombing. Dzhokhar is currently on death row in an ADX supermax prison in Colorado.
The 2011 murders of Raphael Teken, 37, Erik Weissman, 31, and Brendan Mess, 25, inside a Harding Avenue apartment in Waltham remain unsolved.