The release of the Netflix shows American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing has reignited interest in the case and raised questions about whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers who carried out the bombing, was involved in a triple-murder in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2011.

On September 12, 2011, three men, Brendan Mess, Erik Weissman, and Raphael Teken, were found dead in an apartment in Waltham. The bodies were covered with marijuana, and their throats had been slit. The case remained unsolved until after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 when investigators began to look into Tsarnaev’s possible involvement.

Tsarnaev was a friend of Mess and had trained with him in mixed martial arts. Mess was also a close friend of Tsarnaev’s younger brother, Dzhokhar, who was involved in the bombing with Tamerlan. Investigators found that Mess had been trying to distance himself from Tsarnaev in the months before the Waltham murders.

In 2014, a friend of Tsarnaev’s named Ibragim Todashev was shot and killed by an FBI agent during an interview in Florida. Todashev had allegedly confessed to being involved in the Waltham murders with Tsarnaev. However, some have questioned the validity of Todashev’s confession, as he was reportedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time.

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Despite Todashev’s alleged confession, Tsarnaev was never charged in connection with the Waltham murders. However, some investigators and family members of the victims believe that Tsarnaev was involved and that the authorities failed to pursue the case because they were focused on the Boston Marathon bombing.

One theory is that the Waltham murders were a drug-related killing, as all three victims were involved in selling drugs. Others believe that the murders were motivated by Islamic extremism, as Tsarnaev had become radicalized and had traveled to Dagestan, a region of Russia with a history of Islamic insurgency, in 2012.

The question of Tsarnaev’s involvement in the Waltham murders remains unresolved. However, the case serves as a reminder of the complexity of the Boston Marathon bombing and the many unanswered questions that still surround it.

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The release of American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing on Netflix has once again brought the tragedy to the forefront of public consciousness, and the Waltham murders are just one of the many threads that make up the complex web of the case. As the show reignites interest in the bombing and its aftermath, it is important to remember the victims and to continue seeking answers to the many questions that remain.