“How We Committed Those Waltham Murders” by Ibragim Todashev (Really?)

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

The appeal of the convict of Dzhokhar (Jahar) Tsarnaev is taking place at the Circuit of the US Court, Boson, with Oral Argument scheduled to begin on December 11, 2019. I am, officially, an amicus curiae in the appeal. I am wondering how many hours, or days, I will have to sit through the discussion of “the Waltham murders.”

It is my guess that “the Waltham murders routine” has been brought in to this case in order that time could be spent on something that looks in some way relevant, even though it tis entirely irrelevant and is yet another trick for thwarting justice.

Allow me to explain.

A bombing of some sort took place near the finish line of the Boston Marathon race on Monday April 15, 2013 — six and a half years ago. On the eighteenth of April (“hardly a man is now alive who remembers that fateful day and year”), the FBI announced that it had two suspects, with photos shown on TV but no names given. The photos were said to have been taken from a surveillance video.

After that TV announcement at 5pm, several events took place, the result of which was that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, then age 26, and hos brother Jahar, then age 19, were chased after and caught, with Tamerlan being proclaimed dead some time before 6am Friday, and Jahar being located about 13 hours later in a boat — say, 7pm on Friday. Jahar was arrested, charged, and tried. He is still alive (at least allegedly) in Supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado.

Blaming the Bro

As you cannot arrest, charge, try, or convict a dead man, such as Tamerlan, it was only Jahar whose case ever reached a courtroom. The prosecution accused Jahar of doing such things as planting a bomb, murdering a cop, carjacking, stealing from an ATM, shooting at cops, and throwing an IED.

The prosecution produced witnesses (I use the word “produced” in two senses) to back up its allegations. The Public Defenders did not challenge Jahar’s participation in any of those things though they surely must have seen that the evidence was from hunger. As we say.

Later in the trial, the Defenders tried to persuade the jury to be merciful to Jahar on the grounds that he had been led into a life of religious zealotry by his older brother. I guess this went to motive — yet the judge did not allow information about Tamerlan to be entered into the trial.

So there is no evidentiary record of Tamerlan’s having been a jihadist or a terrorist. It is my guess that TT was not a terrorist, but without seeing any evidence I mustn’t claim to have the ability to say for sure.

The appeal “work” has mainly emphasized due-process problems of the trial (such as the bias of jury based on location of trial in a city, Boston, that had had a manhunt) and the allegation that Jahar was influenced by the older bro. This would not mean that the appeal is claiming Jahar is innocent, but that his responsibility for what he did (“It was him”) can be reduced somewhat.

The Waltham Murders

For some months, when the defenders were asking the court for time extensions, it was hinted that they had found something of note in relation to a 2011 triple murder. I have not chased this down, as I cannot see how it contributes to the Jahar’s appeal (in which I am serving as an amicus curiae). The only Tsarnaev person they are claiming to connect with the Waltham murders is Tamerlan.

Thus even if there were clear video evidence that Tamerlan did the Waltham murders, it would not signify. By the way, it was noted years ago that the three men who were killed had gangland-style wounds. Tamerlan’s expertise was as a boxer.

Again, I am speaking as an amateur in the matter, but it seems to me that any “gangland slayings” would be done by experts in knife-wounding or gun shooting. According to Wikipedia (retrieved November 21, 2019):

“Brendan Mess, Erik Weissman, and Raphael Teken were murdered in Mess’s apartment. All had their throats slit from ear to ear with such great force that they were nearly decapitated. Thousands of dollars’ worth of marijuana and money were left covering their mutilated bodies; in all, $5,000 was left in the apartment.”

My beef is with the media for trumpeting lately that an unsealed “affidavit” implicates Tamerlan. The media gives strong indication that such affidavit is the famous “statement” “written” by a guy in Florida, namely Ibragim Todashev. No it is not. But let us review the Todashev story for a minute here.

Ibragim Todashev

The current story (it changes a lot) is that the FBI went to the home of Todashev at 7.30pm on May 21, 2013 to interrogate him about Tamerlan who was his pal, his fellow Chechen immigrant, and colleague in mixed martial arts. After many hours the host attacked the visitors. That is, Ibragim picked up a coffee table and bopped it on the head of the FBI man, injuring him seriously.

The FBI man then — admittedly — shot Todashev dead. As far as I know, the FBI man and the accompanying state trooper from Massachusetts could have defended themselves by a non-lethal shot at Todashev, but that was not attempted. Note: the FBI man was later “investigated”. and found to not have acted unethically or whatever you call it.

The death of Tamerlan occurred on April 19, 2019 (I shall pass over the fact that that day is Beltaine in the occult calendar, calling for blood), and the death of Todashev in Florida occurred a month later on May 22, 2019. My suspicion is that Todashev, age 27, was “taken out” as he may have been of value to Jahar’s defense.

IbragimTodashev (1985-2013), photo from thisamericanlife.org

I’ll now quote two contemporaneous articles, both from CNN, the first one stating that Todashev pulled a knife, not a coffee table on the FBI man, and the second showing that a friend, Musa Khadjimuradov of Manchester New Hampshire, believed Todashev had no radicalism up his sleeve:

Now for the guy named Musa. CNN asked why the FBI quizzed him in late April (2 weeks after the Marathon).

“‘So he [Tamerlan] bought fireworks here, from New Hampshire, you know? And he buy some ammunition for guns here in New Hampshire. And before the attack, like three or four weeks, he came to my house,’ he said.

“He told Voice of America that he met Tamerlan Tsarnaev at a Chechen Society gathering in Boston in 2006, he had seen him only three times in three years, and the discussions were never about religion or politics. ‘Nothing. Never. He never talking about the religious, politics or anything like that to me,’ [Musa Khadjimuradov] said.

“Khadjimuradov, who relocated to the United States in 2004 as a refugee, has said he served as one of the bodyguards for Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen separatist leader wanted by Russia. Zakayev, who now lives in London, did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.”

What Is the Hot New Affidavit?

The judge in Jahar’s trial, Judge George O’Toole, and possibly also the appellate judge, Judge Juan Torruella, agreed to keep under seal the “affidavit” that is believed to implicate Tamerlan in the Waltham murders.
I got a Google alert this week, relaying an item from DailyWire.com, which carries the headline:
“Boston Marathon Bomber’s Friend Confessed To 2011 Triple Murder Before Being Killed, Affidavit States”

Hello? Does this mean that Ibragim Todashev, before reaching for that knife, or coffee table, or whatever, had committed to paper the “truth” of his involvement in the gangland-style slayings (where he incidentally left $5000 onsite for the heck of it)? Good old Ibragim was willing to tighten the screws on Jahar a bit by “coming clean” about events two years before the Marathon bombing?

Most crims don’t confess unless they are offered immunity or a plea deal that can’t refuse. Media and FBI didn’t say anything about that. (Maybe their script writer is Grade B.)

Anyway, if you bother to invest in reading the rest of that headlined piece, you find that the affidavit that says “We confess to Waltham” is not an affidavit by Todashev. So what is it? Please wait and I will tell you shortly. For now I want to show you what was printed on October 23, 2013, in the very respectable Christian Science Monitor.

An article there, by Katherine Jacobsen, starts with the headline “Marathon bombing: Elder Tsarnaev a suspect in triple slaying, documents show”. It reads:

“Tamerlan Tsarnaev was involved in a triple homicide outside Boston in 2011, an acquaintance told investigators before being fatally shot, say court documents in the Boston Marathon bombing case against his younger brother.”Court documents filed this week in the case against alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev provide the first official confirmation that authorities consider his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed while fleeing law enforcement officials days after the deadly April bombing, a suspect in a triple homicide outside Boston on Sept. 11, 2011.

“According to the documents, Ibragim Todashev, an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev who was fatally shot at his Orlando home in May while being questioned by an FBI agent and two Massachusetts state troopers, said Tamerlan took part in the 2011 killings in Waltham, a Boston suburb. Authorities said Mr. Todashev became violent during questioning.”

Dear Gumshoe readers, you need to become skilled at finding the weasel words. I shall now repeat those three paragraphs with the weasel words underlined, and you will get quite a different impression. Poor dear Bostonians were saturated with such stuff before the 2015 trial, and would have believed the case was tightly wrapped.

Ready? Here it is:

“Tamerlan Tsarnaev was involved in a triple homicide outside Boston in 2011, an acquaintance told investigators before being fatally shot, say court documents in the Boston Marathon bombing case against his younger brother.

“Court documents filed this week in the case against alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev provide the first official [see that means “official” because it was conveyed by a DoJ person, probably Carmen Ortiz] confirmation [What? No, it does not “confirm”] that authorities consider his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed while fleeing law enforcement officials days after the deadly April bombing, a suspect in a triple homicide…. [Oh, OK, all that was confirmed — THAT AUTHORITIES CONSIDER TAMERLAN A SUSPECT AT WALTHAM. OK, OK.]

“According to the documents, Ibragim Todashev, an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev who was fatally shot at his Orlando home in May while being questioned by an FBI agent and two Massachusetts state troopers, said Tamerlan took part in the 2011 killings in Waltham, a Boston suburb. Authorities said Mr. Todashev became violent during questioning.”

See? “The documents” are documents written by the DoJ, or probably its baby the FBI. There’s no indication (innuendo, but not indication) that old shot-in-the-head Todashev “turned state’s witness.”

Thank you for walking through that most unenlightening quote. It was, sadly, from the Christian Science Monitor, which, I opine, was the finest of newspapers in the 1980s. How the mighty have fallen!

The Honda

Finally, I reveal the great secret. What is the newly unsealed item in Jahar’s appeal? It’s just some silly piece of an affidavit by an unnamed official who called, in 2011, for an inspection of the Honda owned by Tamerlan, as that unnamed official (why unnamed, Folks?) considered, rather presciently, that there might be findings in the Honda to match up with something or other at the scene of the gangland slayings (in good Quantico fashion).
I rest my case.

Oh, wait a minute. I don’t rest my case till I mention that, in the vigil photo shown above, you will note the date of death of the three murdered men — it is September 11, 2011. Good heavens that is the very day on which Jahar got his American citizenship.
Wouldn’t the family have been having a celebration that day? Isn’t it likely that there is an alibi for Tamerlan?

Not that it matters, though. Taxpayer dollars are paying for an excursion into an event that could not possibly work toward an acquittal, at next month’s appeal, for Jahar Tsarnaev. Nor could it work for a worse punishment of him, since execution is traditionally as far as we go in this country.