The Waltham Triple Murder

In September of 2011, a morbid saga began to play out in Waltham, Massachusetts. The bodies of three men would be found inside of an apartment, and their case would quickly go cold… until one of the largest acts of terrorism in American history began to unfold in neighboring Boston…

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In the late summer months of 2011, a morbid story began to play out in Waltham, Massachusetts: a suburb on the western edges of Boston, just about 20 minutes away from the city of Cambridge. Home to approximately 60,000 people, Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, which is comprised of a large population of university students and faculty members, as well as foreign residents from all over the world.

In September of 2011, the bodies of three men were found inside the apartment of the youngest victim, at 12 Harding Avenue, in the dead-end neighborhood of Bleachery. All three were Jewish, and all were physically-imposing men, who worked in fields that demanded rigorous fitness standards. Despite the three men seeming to be the polar opposite of most murder victims, they somehow fell prey to a violent killer, who single-handedly murdered all three and left the scene in a chaotic maelstrom that is still hard to parse through years later.

Speaking to ABC News a couple of years later, a Waltham investigator would call this crime:

"... the worst bloodbath I have ever seen in a long law enforcement career."

At the time this quote was made, unrelated events had exposed this case to a international audience, but almost a decade later, it remains as unsolved as ever.

This is the story of 2011 Waltham triple murder.

Raphael M. Teken - known as "Rafi" to many of his friends and family members - was born on December 28th, 1973. The son of a Rabbi, Rafi grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts - just a few miles outside of Boston. There, he would attend Brookline High School, which he graduated from in 1992. He would later attend the predominantly Jewish Braindeis University, where he majored in history, and received a bachelor's degree from in 1998.

Rafi would later find work as a personal trainer, but neighbors believed that he supplemented in income in other ways; namely, as a drug dealer, who dealt primarily in marijuana. He reportedly rarely left his house, but had a number of regular visitors, which had drawn suspicion, but because Rafi was such a quiet and unassuming guy, nobody really thought that he was up to trouble at the time.

Loved ones would later recall Rafi as a kind spirit that spent the better part of his adulthood in the gym, and who - despite enduring a handful of personal tragedies - managed to stay out of trouble well into his 30's.

Erik Hacker Weissman was born on June 19th, 1980, in Boston's Saint Elizabeth Hospital. Erik grew up in a very faith-driven home, and would remain involved with his local synagogue well into adulthood, and he would remain outspoken with his Jewish faith throughout his life. Having grown up in the Boston area, Erik would graduate from CRSL's pilot program (Cambridge Rindge & Latin School), a local high school. One of his teachers, Larry Aaronson, would later tell reporters with the Boston Globe:

"He had such potential and was such a good soul. He was just a good friend to a lot of people. He was friends with all kinds of kids, regardless of background. And that was what was important to him, that network of friends."

An avid sports fan (and a basketball fanatic), Erik would remain close with his friends and family, and ultimately decided to become a bodybuilder. However - like Rafi - it is believed that Erik had an additional source of income through minor drug dealing. In 2008, Erik was pulled over by a police officer for failing to yield, and - upon leaning in to Erik's window - the officer reportedly smelled marijuana. Erik immediately confessed to having a brown paper bag full of weed, and was later charged with marijuana possession and intent to distribute.

A few years later, in 2011, Erik's landlord entered his apartment while Erik was gone, and reported his large weed stash to police. Erik was later arrested and charged with possessing weed (in addition to small amounts of cocaine and prescription drugs), but the charges were later dropped.

Despite these run-ins with law enforcement, Erik was remembered as a kind-hearted, funny, and good person by almost everyone that knew him.

Brendan Halley Mess was born on January 16th, 1986, and - like the other two men - grew up in the Boston area. However, unlike the other two, he wasn't really committed to his Jewish faith: he didn't seem to actively live according to any religious lifestyle, and wasn't involved with any local synagogues as of 2011.

A few years prior, Brendan had graduated from Champlain College with a bachelor's degree in professional writing, but made an immediate left turn after his graduation. He had become a mixed martial arts fighter, who was actually pretty well-known in the area - but would become better known for his work as an MMA instructor and trainer. Brendan was mostly proficient in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but was looking to bolster his skills, and had begun to branch out into other areas of his game; in particular, boxing, as he attempted to become a more well-rounded fighter.

Like Erik, Brendan was no stranger to police; having been arrested in 2010 for assaulting people at a store in Waltham, where he lived, alongside another man. However, police did not know at the time that Brendan had also begun dealing drugs on the side - mostly weed, alongside his friends, Rafi and Erik.

Some reports indicate that these three men - 37-year-old Rafi Teken, 31-year-old Erik Weissman, and 25-year-old Brendan Mess - were all living together at 12 Harding Avenue, a second-story apartment in a quiet, suburban neighborhood in Waltham. This wasn't a regular apartment building, but was more like a large house with separate apartment units.

However, these three men were not roommates. At least, not in the traditional sense. The apartment belonged to Brendan Mess, who had just moved there a short time before and did have roommates in the past, but didn't really have any at the time. Erik had been crashing on friends' couches in the weeks leading up to September of 2011, and this did include Brendan's couch. But they weren't necessarily roommates, per se.

In fact, in the first full week of September 2011, Erik had been forced to clear out after Brendan got into a knock-down, drag-out argument with his girlfriend; an argument that ultimately resulted in the two breaking up. Erik ended up crashing at another friend's place for a few days, but was invited back later that weekend.

On September 11th, 2011 - a Sunday - Erik Weissman drove over to Brendan's apartment, after staying at a friend's house in Newton for a few days. Brendan had invited him over, along with another friend of theirs: 37-year-old Rafi Teken, who was a frequent guest at Brendan's place. They all planned on watching Sunday Night Football together, and were likely preparing to enjoy a drink and a smoke as they watched the New York Jets take on the Dallas Cowboys that evening.

Erik arrived at Brendan's apartment at around 7:30 PM - about an hour before the game started - and texted his friend from Newton. All three men, who were friends with one another, seemed to be texting and communicating with friends and family members over the next half-an-hour or so, but would abruptly stop at around 8:00 PM. They would fall out-of-contact with everyone for the better part of an hour, before their silence was briefly broken.

At 8:54 PM, Erik Weissman's cell phone placed an order for delivery with Gerry's Italian Kitchen, a pizza place in nearby Watertown. If this was Erik, then he had placed an order for meatballs, a chicken cutlet, and a side order of sausage, which was estimated to take about half-an-hour to arrive by the staff at Gerry's. Just twenty minutes later - at 9:14 PM - a delivery woman arrived at Brendan's apartment, but no one responded to her knocks at the doors. The restaurant tried calling Erik's cell phone, in a secondary effort to get in-touch with him, but - likewise - no one answered.

Police would later state their belief that whatever had happened inside of Brendan's apartment had likely happened in this vital period of time, between 8:00 and 9:00 PM.

The following day - Monday, September 12th, 2011 - the girlfriend of Brendan Mess, who hadn't seen him in several days (following an explosive argument and them having actually broken up), arrived at his apartment looking for him.

This girlfriend, who had actually left Waltham and spent the last several days in Florida with her family, had been trying to get in-touch with Brendan over the last few hours, but had not been able to do so. She had returned to the area and was hoping to mend fences, so she decided to go to Brendan's apartment and speak to him directly (just in case he was ducking her calls). Since she believed that Brendan was at-home, but wasn't answering his door or phone, Brendan's girlfriend asked his landlord to open the door to his apartment. She was the first person to enter Brendan's apartment that afternoon, just before 2:30 PM, and was the first to report what she had seen.

The bodies of all three men - Brendan Mess, Rafi Teken, and Erik Weissman - were still inside of Brendan's apartment, and had been killed with a sharp object (such as a knife or an ice pick), leaving behind the three in a bloody and violent scene. Brendan's girlfriend reportedly left the apartment a moment later, screaming and/or crying, and authorities were immediately called to the scene.

Police arrived at the scene a short time later, and immediately began to theorize that this crime was personal in nature; it was not, they believed, centered around robbery or any other type of similar motive, which was made clear by the crime scene itself.

For starters, the bodies of all three men (Raphael, Erik, and Brendan) were covered in thousands of dollars worth of marijuana, estimated to be roughly upwards of a pound, which had been "sprinkled" over their bodies. Additionally, police would easily find more than $5,000 in cash inside of the apartment, which was spread between three different rooms; indicating that the killers had not tried to search very hard for it.

Secondly, the cause-of-death of all three men pointed to a familiarity with their killer (or killers). All three men had had their heads pulled back and their throats slit, with the cuts being so severe that all three were nearly decapitated. This was very odd, but each of the victims showed varying degrees of abuse, which Raphael Teken showing almost no sign of violence (other than his throat being cut). Erik Weissman, on the other hand, had a bloody lip; and Brendan Mess, whose apartment the bodies were found in, had bruises on his face, scratches all over his arms, and other defensive wounds (indicating that he, an MMA fighter, had fought back against his killer).

Thirdly, there was no sign of forced entry, so it was believed that - whoever the killers were - they had likely been let into the apartment willingly by the three victims. They were likely friends; or at the very least, acquaintances. An anonymous Waltham investigator, who later spoke to ABC News, was reported as saying:

"There was no forced entry, it was clear that the victims had let the killer in. And their throats were slashed right out of an al Qaeda training video. The drugs and money on the bodies was very strange."

Finally, it was determined that none of Brendan's neighbors (including his landlord) had heard anything suspicious in the time period leading up to the discovery of the bodies. This was the evening of September 11th and the morning of September 12th, which was relatively warm in the area, and led to many of Brendan's neighbors leaving their windows open overnight. None of them had seen or heard anything suspicious, although it would later be reported that two unidentified men had been seen at Brendan's apartment sometime the night prior... at around the time that police believe the murders happened.

At the time, investigators believed that drugs played a likely part in the murders... but not in the way you might think. It was not believed that the killer of these three men had intended to steal drugs, but rather, the sprinkling of marijuana over the bodies indicated some other kind of deep-seeded motivation; possibly related to the drug trade itself, or the killer's disapproval of the victims' prior actions.

Due to the crime scene itself, it was believed that there had been more than one killer. This was especially resonant when it was learned that all three of the victims - who found work as a physical trainer, a bodybuilder, and a mixed martial artist, respectively - would be incredibly hard to subdue at the same time. Someone doing so without the threat of a firearm - perhaps several firearms - was unlikely.

Based on witness sightings, it was believed that at least two men had participated in the killings, and had fled from the scene shortly after murdering Brendan, Erik, and Rafi.

It was believed that the killer had intentionally targeted the victims, and investigators ruled out this being a random crime entirely. There was a slight possibility that ethnicity or religion did play a part in the murders - as all three men were Jewish, despite one of the victims (Brendan Mess) not really practicing Judaism at the time - but it was believed that this might have been a coincidence. It was more likely to police at the time that drugs played a role, since all three were believed to have dealt drugs at the time (namely marijuana), and it was later theorized that Brendan and Erik were planning on expanding their enterprise in the near-future. Perhaps they had run afoul of some other local dealers, who killed the men to send a message to other rivals.

Police didn't really have a lot of suspects on the horizon; at least, not originally. Brendan Mess's girlfriend, who had last seen Brendan the week before the murders, had gotten into a dispute with him which resulted in them breaking up. However, it was later reported that their breakup had turned violent, with her throwing bottles and even knives at him before leaving the area. She had left Waltham and gone to visit some family down in Florida, before returning on the 12th... when she discovered the bodies inside of Brendan's apartment.

Friends of Brendan told police and reporters about their violent breakup, and expressed concern that she might have had something to do with the murders. Some theorized that she had organized the murder, and that Rafi and Erik - the other two victims - were just collateral damage; friends of Brendan's that she had never really gotten along with, anyway. However, Brendan's girlfriend was quickly eliminated as a suspect, as police could find nothing linking her to the crimes. She had been out-of-town at the time of the murders, and had not returned until September 12th. There was nothing pointing to her having played a part in the crimes whatsoever.

A second suspect would emerge roughly 11 days after the murders, in the form of Brendan's 19-year-old neighbor, who was arrested for threatening strangers with a knife, and demanding:

"Give me your weed!"

At the time, this young man had been wearing a mask, and he would reportedly later threaten to kill a friend of his. However, police wrote off this kid as harmless, a local hooligan whose bark was bigger than his bite; who didn't have the ability or know-how to subdue three physically-imposing men. Despite sounding like an absolute nightmare of a human being, he was cleared as a suspect, as well.

Police would interview several people close to the victims, including their friends, family members, and colleagues, but were ultimately unable to make any inroads in the coming months. The case would quickly go cold, despite the victims' loved ones providing the police with the names of several potential suspects.

None of these friends or family recall the local police ever following up on their tips; not even one name that would become internationally known a short time later. In fact, one of the victim's family members would recall hearing from a detective that police were simply waiting for someone to come forward with a confession, as they believed that the case would simply solve itself in due time. This was roughly one week after the murders, when the leads were still fresh and could be followed up on. But police inactivity seemed to doom this case to cold case status before the victims' bodies could even be buried.

Roughly a year-and-a-half would pass before the story exploded in a major way, and everything that had been publicly speculated about it was flipped on its head.

On April 15th, 2013 - on a holiday known as Patriot's Day in the Boston area - the 117th Boston Marathon was taking place. More than 23,000 runners participated in that year's event, with the marathon itself kicking off at 9:17 AM (Eastern Time), and competitors being released in three waves over the next 40 or so minutes. Winners would start to arrive at the marathon's finish line a little over 2 hours later - just around noon - and would be followed over the next few hours by thousands of other runners that had finished the 26-mile course.

At around 2:49 PM, as hundreds of surveyors huddled around the finish line - anticipating the arrival of other runners - an explosion occurred nearby. This would be followed by a subsequent blast about 15 seconds later, which went off roughly one block west (only 190 meters away).

Over the next several hours, the fallout from the two explosions would be felt - not just through the Boston area, but throughout America and the rest of the world. The two explosions had stoked the fires of fear that had been mostly dormant in America since September 11th, 2001.

All-in-all, three people had been killed by the explosions, and another 264 had been wounded. Because so many people were affected by the blasts, the wounded had to be treated at 27 local hospitals, and a large-scale investigation was quickly launched to find the responsible parties. Meanwhile, on websites like Reddit, amateur websleuths embarked on a poorly-conceived witchhunt to try and identify the bombers for themselves, as news affiliates shared their findings without any real foresight.

Needless to say, the event - which was the largest act of terrorism in America since September 11th - had people scared and desperately searching for answers. President Barack Obama would address the press just hours after the bombing.

Utilizing witness statements and surveillance images of the bombing sites, police were able to identify two suspects within a period of days: 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar. Both were Chechen-Americans, born during the collapse of the Soviet Union, and having spent their youth in Kyrgyzstan. They had later obtained asylum in the United States, and moved with their families to Cambridge, Massachusetts; where they would ultimately become permanent US residents.

Photos of the two brothers were released to the press on the afternoon of April 18th, 2013 - three days after the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Knowing that their life of anonymity was quickly expiring, the two decided to go out in a blaze of glory, and sought to quickly obtain money and resources in order to pull off a similar bombing scheme in New York City's Times Square. They shot and killed an MIT security guard named Sean Collier, hoping to steal his firearm (which they were unsuccessful in doing so). They they carjacked an SUV from a Chinese national named Dun Meng (who was also known as "Danny" to his friends).

The Tsarnaev brothers held Danny hostage in his own vehicle for a short period of time, and even made him withdraw $800 from a nearby ATM. As they prepared to make their way to New York City, they stopped by a Shell gas station - where their hostage, Danny, was able to make his escape. He ran across the street to a neighboring gas station, and asked the clerk to dial 911. Unbeknownst to the Tsarnaev brothers, however, Danny Meng had left his cell phone inside of his SUV, and police were able to use its GPS to track the hijackers (who they suspected were the bombing suspects).

Over the next several hours, police would track the two brothers as they attempted to make their getaway. Police were ultimately able to triangulate their position, however, and this led to a shootout between the Tsarnaev brothers and law enforcement agencies, such as local, university, and transit police, as well as the Massachusetts State Police.

The two brothers, who had an arsenal of guns and homemade explosives at their disposal, attempted to shoot their way to freedom. One police officer (Dennis Simmonds of Boston PD) would be killed in the ensuing struggle, and 15 other officers would be injured or wounded. But among the carnage left behind at the crime scene was Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the oldest of the two, who was believed to be the ringleader of the terror plot. He had been fatally wounded in the firefight with police, and would die just hours later in a local hospital.

Meanwhile, his younger brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, would go on the lam, as numerous law enforcement agencies scoured the area of Watertown, Massachusetts. Several hours would pass before it was learned that the teenaged terrorist had taken refuge in a resident's boat, which was parked in his backyard. Dzhokhar was finally taken into custody on the evening of April 19th, 2013, after exchanging gunfire with police yet again. He was treated for his wounds, and was officially charged with more than two dozen crimes just a few days later, on April 22nd... crimes that he would plead not guilty to.

After a long and arduous process lasting almost two years, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty of all 30 counts in 2015, and was later sentenced to death. He has appealed his penalty in the years since, but has been unsuccessful in doing so; and to this day, has been held in a Supermax prison, awaiting an execution date.

So, why did I just detail the seemingly-unrelated story of the Boston Marathon bombing?

Well, I detailed this already well-known story because it happens to directly correlate with the story we're covering today: the 2011 murder from Waltham, Massachusetts. However, before I get into how, exactly, these two stories intersect, I need to back up just a little bit... back to the mid-2000's, which is when one of the two Boston bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev - the supposed ringleader of the Marathon bombing - was beginning to come of age in the Boston region.

Despite dying in a shootout with police in April of 2013, and never being named a Waltham suspect while he was alive, Tamerlan's backstory would provide a lot of context for the still-unsolved murders of Brendan Mess, Rafi Teken, and Erik Weissman.

In 2008, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who had been studying accounting at Bunker Hill Community College with the hopes of one day becoming an engineer, decided to drop out of school entirely and begin pursuing boxing as a career. Throughout the rest of the year, Tamerlan would begin to dedicate himself to boxing, while also becoming more of a devout Muslim. He began attending a mosque near his home in Cambridge, and - according to friends that knew him before and after - stopped drinking alcohol and smoking weed entirely. He would began to grow radicalized during this time period; a gradual process that started in 2008 but never really ended until his death five years later.

2008 is also when Tamerlan became known for using violence to solve his problems. A proficient young boxer, he would begin using violence against his two sisters' love interests, when he believed that they had been mistreated. In at least one case, he beat up his younger sister's boyfriend simply because he wasn't a Muslim.

In 2009, Tamerlan began to show his prowess inside of the ring. Known as a hard-hitting fighter, he would become the New England Golden Gloves heavyweight champion, which was a testament to skills. However, he also began to express some more erratic behavior outside of the ring, and he was arrested for aggravated domestic assault and battery. Police had been called to the scene of an argument with his then-girlfriend, and Tamerlan admitted to police that he had slapped his girlfriend. However, the charges were later dropped and the case was dismissed, so Tamerlan faced no real repercussion.

Later that year, when he had started dating another young woman, friends and acquaintances would recall him being an incredibly abusive individual, who repeatedly referred to his girlfriend as a "slut." However, their relationship would carry on for the next several years, and she would eventually convert to Islam and give birth to Tamerlan's only child, a daughter, in 2010.

It was also in this time period that Tamerlan began to grow close to another local fighter: a name that you listeners might be familiar with. Brendan Mess, a local MMA fighter that specialized in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, became one of Tamerlan's closest friends and sparring partner. Since Tamerlan was a well-known boxer, and Brendan was a proficient grappler, the two providing a perfect counterbalance for one another, and could each learn something from the other in the sparring ring.

Tamerlan and Brendan had already known each other for quite a while, but in this time period, they began to grow extremely close, and spent a lot of time around one another. According to people in their social circle, they even lived together for a period of time, and many would later recall that the two were "best friends."

Throughout 2010, the friendship between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Brendan Mess would continue to blossom, and they would continue to spar in boxing and wrestling matches; both men hoped to transition their talents into MMA, and - hopefully - one day compete in the UFC. Brendan would even drag around the awkward Tamerlan to social outings, often introducing him as just "Tam."

Despite this, though, Tsarnaev had fallen further and further into his extremist views, and had become a follower of more radical Islamic beliefs. This eventually led to Russia's Federal Security Service contacting the FBI, informing them that Tamerlan was making plans to visit Russia. They told the Bureau that Tamerlan had most likely become radicalized, and was probably planning on joining an underground terrorist organization while overseas. The FBI reportedly investigated the claims - conducting an interview with Tamerlan himself and probing his background - but did not find any link worth following up on. Russia's FSB apparently refused to cooperate any further and release more incriminating evidence, so the case was then closed for the time being.

Later in the year, friends began to notice some discord between Tamerlan and Brendan Mess, his best friend and former-roommate. Friends and relatives of the two would later note that Tamerlan had expressed disapproval over Brendan's lifestyle choices - likely his consumption of marijuana and alleged drug dealing - and some have even theorized that Brendan might have sold weed to Tamerlan's younger brother, the-then teenaged Dzhokhar, who would begin attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth that September (and who was known as a bit of a "pot head" among his own friends).

Despite this obvious tension, though, the two didn't really have any known arguments or public blow-ups, and seemed to still be friends from the outside looking in. That is, until September 12th, 2011, when the bodies of Brendan Mess, Erik Weissman, and Raphael Teken were found inside of Brendan's apartment, having had their throats slit and marijuana sprinkled over their bodies.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who had been Brendan's "best friend" in the months and years leading up to the heinous crime, seemed to express no real sadness over Brendan's murder... or really, any emotion at all. A friend of Brendan's that knew Tamerlan, who was identified as just "Ray" in the press, spoke to Buzzfeed years later, and stated:

"Tam wasn't there at the memorial service, he wasn't at the funeral, he wasn't around at all... And he was really close with Brendan.

"He was somebody who was in contact with Brendan on a daily basis. Anybody like that you would think they would have been around."

Following Brendan's murder, Tamerlan Tsarnaev seemed to cut off contact with many of the people he had met and knew through Brendan, and simply stopped showing up at the gym they had constantly sparred in. He would seem to laugh off Brendan's death with others, virtually shrugging off the friendship that had bloomed between the two over the past several years. He seemed totally disaffected by Brendan's death, and would disappear shortly thereafter.

In January of 2012 - roughly three months after the Waltham triple murder - Tamerlan traveled to Russia, where he would live for the next six months. Not much is known about his trip, but it is believed that he became even more radizalied during this half-year period, and it is widely-accepted by intelligence bureaus that he probably received training from underground terrorists during this span.

In July of 2012, Tamerlan Tsarnaev returned to the United States, and appeared to have become a true Islamic extremist (even to his family, who recall the changes in him as being very pronounced). He would live quietly off of the grid for a while, but began to become argumentative and confrontational with those he viewed as being less committed to Islam than him.

As you know, just months later - in March of 2013 - his long-awaited terror plot would begin to unfold in Boston. Just days after exploding two homemade bombs at the Marathon, Tamerlan would be killed by law enforcement, ending his story forever.

Following the death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the arrest of his brother, Dzhokhar, police began to circle back around to them as suspects in the 2011 Waltham triple-murder.

The two brothers, now known internationally as terrorists, had gone unexplored as suspects in the unsolved cold case until that point, March of 2013 (roughly a year-and-a-half later). And it wasn't really until the Boston Globe released a full profile of the brothers the week after the marathon bombing that connections between them and the Waltham victims became publicly known. This is in spite of Tamerlan Tsarnaev being widely known as murder victim Brendan Mess's best friend, and his name being given to homicide detectives as far back as September of 2011 - more than 18 months before the Boston Marathon bombing.

It was soon learned that the FBI had interviewed Tamerlan back in 2011, prior to the murders, and they had theorized back then that he had started to become radicalized well before his trip to Russia the following year; which, conveniently, took place just a few months after the murders, allowing Tamerlan to leave the area until the case had gone cold.

For the first time, authorities began to investigate both Tamerlan and his brother, Dzhokhar, as suspects in the murder. They believed that the two likely had some knowledge of the crimes, and might have even been the two unidentified men seen by witnesses at Brendan's apartment on the night of the murders.

As far as evidence linking the brothers to the crime scene, not much could be found. However, there was an obvious link in the form of Gerry's Italian Kitchen, the pizza place that murder victim Erik Weissman had supposedly ordered food from on the night of the murders. Police had long suspected that Erik himself had not placed the order, due to the time in which it happened (8:54 PM) and the failure of him or anyone present to answer the door and receive the food just twenty minutes later.

Roughly one week after the Boston Marathon bombing, officials were alerted to the discovery of discarded fireworks inside of donation bins in the parking lot of Gerry's Italian Kitchen. The fireworks had actually had their gunpowder removed, and authorities believe the gunpowder had been used inside of the Tsarnaev brothers' explosives. It was later reported that both brothers had worked as pizza delivery drivers in the past, and this connection to Gerry's Italian Kitchen provided a fascinating lead.

Other evidence came in the form of cell phone records from September 11th, 2011, which seemed to indicate that both Tsarnaev brothers had been in the area of the murders at the time in which they happened. Additionally, it was believed that the date itself (the ten-year anniversary of 09/11) might have provided some kind of impetus for Tamerlan to act, as he had been becoming more and more radicalized in the preceding months.

It is unknown if police were able to learn anything from Dzhokhar, the lone surviving Boston bomber, whose face had been plastered all over every newspaper and magazine in the country. He has been held in almost-solitary confinement in the years since, and very little information about his interviews with authorities has been released in the years since.

However, it was learned that in the time period before the bombing, the two brothers had been spotted alongside a third man, who Tamerlan had once referred to as his "other brother," who also seemed to be an MMA fighter with ties to Russia. This, along with Tamerlan's phone records, would eventually lead police to another young man named Ibragim Todashev, who was not believed to have played a part in the Boston bombing itself, but would become an integral part to this story moving forward.

Ibragim Todashev was a 27-year-old Chechen American, who - like the Tsarnaev brothers - had immigrated to the US from Russia as a young man. And like Tamerlan, Ibragim was an amateur boxer and aspiring MMA fighter, who'd had to set aside these aspirations due to a knee injury. Before then, though, he had actually been friends with Tamerlan and had trained with and sparred with him in the same Boston-area gyms frequented by Brendan Mess.

Ibragim Todashev had lived in Boston for a period of years, but at around the time of the Waltham Murders, had relocated to Atlanta, Georgia - and then, a short time later, to Orlando, Florida. Following the bombing of the Boston Marathon, federal investigators began to surveil Ibragim, and interviewed him as a suspect and/or accomplice - not just in the terror plot, but also the still-unsolved 2011 triple-murder.

Perhaps feeling the pressure of a federal investigation, Ibragim decided to book passage back to Russia in May of 2013 (less than two months after the Boston Marathon bombing). But on May 22nd - just two days before Ibragim's scheduled flight - federal investigators arrived at his apartment in Orlando. They began talking to him for what would turn into a several-hour interview, in which they would probe Ibragim about his friendship to Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, as well as his potential ties to the unsolved Waltham murders. This included his unknown relationship with murder victim Brendan Mess, who often frequented the same gyms as Tamerlan and Ibragim; and they all had actually lived in the same neighborhood.

According to FBI agent Aaron McFarland, who was conducting the interview alongside two police officers with the Massachusetts State Police, after several hours, Ibragim started to confess to his involvement in the Waltham murders, claiming that he had acted alongside Tamerlan Tsarnaev in carrying out the brutal crime. Just after midnight, he was apparently ready to write out and sign a full formal statement, which would implicate himself and Tamerlan in the murders.

Ibragim provided details about the murders, confessing to a series of events that started with a misguided robbery plot orchestrated by Tamerlan. He claimed that "Tam" (as he was known) had encouraged him to rob Brendan's apartment alongside him, and that the two had gained entry into the apartment at gunpoint. Once inside, they used their firearms to subdue the three men, and then Tamerlan - fearing that he would be identified - made the decision to kill all three.

Afterwards, Ibragim confessed, he and Tamerlan had spent upwards of an hour in Brendan's apartment, attempting to clean up the crime scene and remove evidence of themselves having been there (such as fingerprints). They then stole thousands of dollars, which they would split between them.

Like I said, Ibragim Todashev had apparently confessed to this series of events verbally, and was prepared to write down or sign off on a more comprehensive statement inside of his apartment. However, the law enforcement agents at the scene say that before he could sign off on this confession, Ibragim actually attacked them, using his physical prowess and the element of surprise to nearly overpower them; and in the chaotic moments that would follow, Ibragim would be shot and killed by the police officers at the scene.

The specific series-of-events that unfolded that evening remains a point of contention today, with many doubting the validity of the official narrative. Ibragim's loved ones have since put forth conspiracy theories about Ibragim being murdered by law enforcement, whom they allege used this half-baked confession as a kind of cover story. These theories have only fermented in the odd corners of the internet due to the FBI's relative secrecy over the event, but has kept the details of the shooting rather clouded in the years since.

Nonetheless, 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev - who had apparently confessed to involvement in the 2011 Waltham triple murder just minutes prior - was dead, and his death would only end up creating more questions than answers.

To this day, federal and local investigators have not really clarified their beliefs on the matter: whether or not they believe that Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Ibragim Todashev were the killers of Brendan Mess, Rafi Teken, and Erik Weissman; or if they believe that Tamerlan's younger brother Dzhokhar - who has been held in federal custody at ADX Florence since June of 2015 - was involved in any way, shape, or form.

Despite Ibragim Todashev seeming to admit to the crime in May of 2013 (just before he was shot dead by federal agents, after he reportedly lunged at and attacked them), his confession itself seems to be less than definitive. Journalist Susan Zalkind with Boston Magazine wrote a superb long-form article about Ibragim's potential involvement, which detailed not only his background, but the confession he had given to police. She points out that - in multiple ways - Ibragim's confession seems to conflict directly with the known facts of the case.

Namely, during his confession, Ibragim told authorities that the three murder victims from Waltham had been bound with tape, which - as far as anyone knows - isn't true. None of the victims' friends or families had heard this detail before, and it is unknown whether or not the victims had been bound at any point prior to their murders. In his confession, Ibragim also gave no inclination to a physical altercation taking place, despite two of the three victims showing physical injuries (scratches/bruises, defensive wounds, etc.). He also provided no information about the murder weapon, only ever telling investigators that Tamerlan and himself had used guns to coax the victims onto the ground.

Additionally, Ibragim referred to the murders almost as a robbery-gone-wrong, when police ruled out robbery as a motive almost immediately after the discovery of the bodies. More than 8.5 pounds of marijuana had been left inside of Brendan's apartment, and some of it had actually been sprinkled over the bodies. Additionally, investigators found more than $5,000 in cash in the apartment, which seems to rule against robbery being the killers' motive whatsoever.

There has even been some contention over whether or not Ibragim was in the Boston area at the time of the murders. He had lived there through the summer, but claimed to have moved to Atlanta with his wife by September 11th (a detail that his loved ones stick by today). This raises the possibility that maybe - somehow - Ibragim had learned about the murders through his friendship with Tamerlan, and simply conveyed that information to police before his death.

Honestly, I don't really know what to make of Ibragim's unfinished confession, and I encourage everyone listening to do some research of their own into the matter. It's truly a bizarre story, and I sincerely wish that I could articulate my confusing thoughts about it.

Despite refusing to say anything truly definitive about the case over the years, investigators have stated repeatedly that they believe Tamerlan Tsarnaev - the orchestrator of the Boston Marathon bombing - was involved in some way. If he was involved, it was probably that this crime symbolized more than just the dissolution of a friendship, but included other factors that were likely important to Tamerlan. This included his descent into Islamic extremism (in which case, it being the 10-year anniversary of 09/11 likely played a part), the spreading of the marijuana over the bodies (to symbolize Tamerlan's disapproval of their lifestyle), and likely even the fact that all three of the victims were Jewish (which is hard to overlook).

Some have theorized that this violent act might have been Tamerlan's way of saying goodbye to his past, while also committing himself to the violent extremism that would ultimately define his life a year-and-a-half later. Some have even pointed out that Brendan Mess's girlfriend, whom he had broken up with just days before the murder, was also Muslim. Perhaps Tamerlan had caught wind of their breakup, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back; the thing that made Tamerlan lash out at a former-friend was, likely, "disrespecting" a Muslim woman. We know that Tamerlan had lashed out physically at others in the past for disrespecting his sisters, and - knowing what we know now, about how radicalized he had become - this wouldn't surprise me.

In the years since the deaths of both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Ibragim Todashev, police have indicated that there is physical evidence linking at least one of the men to the crime scene; hinting at DNA from the crime scene matching Tamerlan's genetic profile. However, the specific details of this information have not ever been released publicly, and the findings of the nearly-decade long investigation remain guarded to this day.

Close to nine years later, the 2011 Waltham triple murder is still officially unsolved, and has become - by all definitions - a cold case.

There has been some absolutely wonderful reporting done on this story (some of which you've heard me reference throughout the episode). This includes some wonderful reports from the Boston Globe and Boston Magazine, as well as larger media outlets like NPR, ABC, CBS, CNN, and so many more. "This American Life" even released a really thorough episode about the story back in 2014, which I've intentionally tried to avoid over the years so that it wouldn't influence the writing of this episode.

Despite all of this great work from reporters, the triple-murder from Waltham is still unsolved, with local police and the FBI having cooperated on the case ever since Tamerlan Tsarnaev's involvement was first speculated back in 2013. To this day, he and Ibragim Todashev are still the only publicly-named suspects, despite both being deceased; but it is believed that others might have been involved or have knowledge of the case. Until they are identified - or come forward willingly - it is unlikely that any charges will be filed, or answers found for the victims' and their loved ones.

I feel bad for having spent so much time in this episode covering the stories of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, as well as his friend, Ibragim Todashev - both of whom are only suspected of involvement, and are unable to be charged with any crimes. But, tragically, there is just so much information out there about those two - and how their lives intersected with the victims - that it's hard not to fall down the rabbit hole. I tried to condense their stories as much as I could, and I think you all know how much I enjoy a good conspiracy, but this one is almost too much to wrap my brain around. There's just so much there that's worth exploring, and I really would encourage anyone interested to read up on the case for themselves... there's just so much information out there, and I really feel like this episode truly scratches the surface of the craziness.

I truly wish that this episode could have been more centered around the three victims, who were - by all accounts - good men, who lived truly blameless lives, and have since been put to rest by their loved ones. Their friends and family continue to live on, hoping that answers - which have proven to be incredibly elusive over the past 8+ years - can be found in the near-future.

Until more information is released about this incredibly confusing case, the stories of Raphael Teken, Erik Weissman, and Brendan Mess will remain unresolved.

Episode Information

Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Published on on January 12th, 2020

Producers: Maggyjames, Ben Krokum, Roberta Janson, Matthew Brock, Quil Carter, Peggy Belarde, Laura Hannan, Evan White, Katherine Vatalaro, Damion Moore, Astrid Kneier, Amy Hampton, Emily McMehen, Scott Meesey, Steven Wilson, Sam Obbard, Scott Patzold, Marie Vanglund, Lori Rodriguez, Jessica Yount, Aimee McGregor, Danny Williams, Sue Kirk, Sara Moscaritolo, Thomas Ahearn, Aimee McGregor, Victoria Reid, Marion Welsh, Seth Morgan, Brian Rollins, Lauren Harris, Alyssa Lawton, Kelly Jo Hapgood, Patrick Ari Ekeheien Laakso, Rebecca Miller, and Sydney Scotton