The Waltham Triple Murders: Boston Bombing Suspects and Unsolved Mystery

The Victims and the Brutal Crime

• 🎯 Three men—Brendan Mess (25, MMA fighter), Eric Weissman (31, bodybuilder), and Raphael Tekken (37, personal trainer)—were found murdered in an apartment on September 11th, 2011.
• 🔪 The victims were discovered with their throats cut, nearly decapitated, in separate rooms of Brendan Mess's apartment.
• 💰 Bizarrely, wads of cash and seven to eight pounds of marijuana were found sprinkled on their bodies, indicating the murders were not a simple robbery.

Investigation and Early Theories

• 🔍 Investigators quickly determined the murders were not random, believing the perpetrators were known to the victims, as there was no sign of forced entry.
• 📞 Cell phone records placed the victims at the apartment and indicated a food order was placed around 8:54 PM, with the delivery person arriving to no answer at 9:15 PM, suggesting the murders occurred around 9:00 PM.
• 🌿 Evidence suggested at least one victim was involved in drug dealing, leading to theories of a drug deal gone bad, though the undisturbed cash and marijuana made this less likely.
• 🤝 Witnesses reported seeing two unidentified men at the apartment before the murders, and these individuals appeared to know the victims.

Suspects Emerge: The Boston Bombing Connection

• 💣 The investigation gained new traction when links emerged between the victims and individuals involved in the Boston Marathon bombings: Tamarlin and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
• 🤝 Tamarlin Tsarnaev was a close friend of victim Brendan Mess, and they had even been roommates. Tamarlin also knew Mess's girlfriend, who reportedly held radical anti-American views.
• 🥋 All three victims and the Tsarnaev brothers attended the same high school, indicating they ran in similar circles.
• 💥 Ibrahim Todashev, a Chechen MMA fighter and friend of the victims, became a suspect. During an interview with the FBI in 2013, he reportedly began to confess to the murders, implicating himself and Tamarlin Tsarnaev, but was killed by an agent during an altercation.

Unresolved Case and Lingering Questions

• ⚖️ While forensic evidence and cell phone records placed the Tsarnaev brothers in the area, Tamarlin was killed by police after the Boston Marathon bombings, and Dzhokhar was in custody awaiting trial.
• 🚫 Prosecutors reportedly chose not to pursue charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for the Waltham murders to avoid jeopardizing the high-profile Boston bombing case.
• ❓ The case remains technically unsolved, with the Massachusetts Attorney General suggesting the possibility of other, as-yet-unidentified suspects, leaving victims' families without full closure.