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‘Mounting evidence’ links Boston bombers to triple homicide – Metro US

‘Mounting evidence’ links Boston bombers to triple homicide

Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L), 26, is pictured in 2010 in Lowell, Massachusetts, and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is pictured in an undated FBI handout photo in this combination photo Credit: Reuters Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L), 26, is pictured in 2010 in Lowell, Massachusetts, and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is pictured in an undated FBI handout photo in this combination photo
Credit: Reuters

A grisly, unsolved triple homicide may have involved the Boston Marathon bombers, according to “mounting evidence,” say authorities in Massachusetts.

According to ABC News, officials have saidpreliminary forensic tests have linked the brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to the scene of a 2011 triple murder in Waltham, Mass.

Brendan Mess, 25, was found dead in his home alongside Erik Weissman, 31, and Raphael Tenken, 37, both of Cambridge. All three had their throats slit and were covered in marijuana.

Officials at the time claimed the deaths were drug-related, due to Mess’ prior convictions. Sources told the Boston Globe that Tenken also was in the drug trade. Investigators found five pounds of marijuana dumped on their bodies and $5,000 in cash in the house.

This theory did not, however, hold up. There was no evidence of forced entry at Mess’ home. Law enforcement officials told ABC News the new forensic evidence may place the Tsarnaev brothers around Mess’ residence on September 11, 2011, the day of the incident.

Mess at one point lived with Tamerlan. Both trained in boxing and martial arts. Tamerlan had once described Mess as his best friend, though it was known the ethnic Chechen increasingly discouraged Mess’ lifestyle choices.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan declined to comment on the new revelations, as did the public defender representing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

All three victims had their throats slashed with either an ice pick or a knife, each with such great force behind it that they were nearly decapitated.

Officials cautioned that until more definitive DNA testing is complete, it is still too early to consider bringing an indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who officials said has admitted his role in the Boston Marathon bombings that left three dead and 260 more injured. Tamerlan, his older brother, was killed in a shootout with police days after the attack. Dzhokhar was subsequently apprehended.

More to come.