EP. 103 MASSACHUSETTS - The Boston Marathon Bombing (Pt. 2)
01:29:57 Share

He's the most terrifying serial killer you've never heard of. Haddon Clark has confessed to several murders, but investigators say he could have over 100 victims. At the center of the mayhem, a cellmate of Haddon's that was able to get key evidence into Haddon's murder spree across America,

Because Haddon thought he was Jesus Christ. Born Evil, The Serial Killer and the Savior, an ID true crime event. Premieres Monday, September 2nd at 9. Watch on ID or stream on Max. Set your DVR.

On April 15th, 2013, during the annual Boston Marathon...

Two brothers walked through the crowd and planted bombs right at the feet of innocent bystanders watching the race. Three people would lose their lives, 17 people would lose limbs, and hundreds would be injured. The bombing was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, and no one knew who was responsible.

And the days after, the FBI released photos of the bombers. But still, no one was able to identify them. Then, four days after the attack, the police got a call that a police officer had been shot to death in his patrol car. Then, right after that, another person called in saying that the Boston Marathon bombers had just hijacked a car.

The police were finally able to track down the brothers, but they were not going to go down without a fight. As the police zeroed in on their stolen vehicle, a shootout ensued in a quiet, unassuming neighborhood. The older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, would get shot eight times by police officers. And while his younger brother, Zahar, was fleeing the scene, Tamerlan would get run over by the stolen vehicle.

and he would be pronounced dead at the hospital later that night. But Jahar was still at large after fleeing the scene. The following day, a man in Watertown, Massachusetts looked at his boat that was parked in his front yard and he saw Jahar Tsarnaev lying down inside, hiding from the police.

In last week's episode, we left off with law enforcement finally placing Jahar under arrest, five whole days after the Boston Marathon bombing. But even though one of the brothers was dead and the other was now in custody, this story is far from over.

In today's episode, we are going to discuss the Tsarnaev brothers, where they came from, the religion they practiced, Jahar's trial, and the triple homicide that they are possibly connected to. This is the story of the Boston Marathon Bombers, the Tsarnaev brothers.

I'm Courtney Brown, and if you can't tell, I have the flu, so bear with me on this one. And I'm Colin Brown. You're listening to Murder in America. Murder in America

There's no explaining the savagery involved here. There's no explanation for it.

I spent the last several days looking at hundreds of hours of videotape. I got to see how brutal that attack was over and over and over again. I finally just want to say that the citizens of the city have been incredible. They've been patient with us. They've endured an enormous amount of heartache and aggravation over the last four days. We're very happy to try to put this back together. Thank you.

After finding Jahar Tsarnaev inside of the boat in Watertown, Massachusetts, investigators brought him to the Beth Israel Hospital where his brother's body was and countless other victims who were still recovering from their injuries from the Boston Marathon bombing.

When Jahar came in, he had multiple gunshot wounds, but the most severe was the one that entered through the left side of his mouth and exited through his jaw. Before he was taken into surgery, he asked a law enforcement officer, "Where's my brother?" To which he responded, "You'll find out soon." From here, Jahar was rushed into emergency surgery, where the doctors worked on the man that did so much harm in their city.

After his surgery, he would be taken to the ICU to recover. And over the next few days, FBI agents obviously had a lot of questions for him. But he couldn't talk because he had a tracheotomy and because his jaw was wired shut. So he had to use a piece of notebook paper and pencil to answer their questions. But they didn't really get a lot out of him.

At first, he wrote out "no" and proceeded to write the word "lawyer" about 10 times. But after a while, he really wanted to know about what happened to his brother and they weren't going to tell him anything until he answered some questions. So eventually, he started cooperating. But even then, almost every time they asked him something, he would write things like "I'm hurt. I'm exhausted. Can we do this later?"

"You said you were going to let me sleep. I need to throw up." Now, Jahar actually healed pretty quickly, unlike many of the victims that lost their limbs and family members in the attack that he and his brother orchestrated. And once he was given the clear, Jahar was taken straight from the hospital to his 10 by 10 foot cell to await trial. And there was a huge relief throughout the city of Boston that this nightmare was now over.

But everyone still had a lot of questions as to who these brothers were, where they came from, what motives they had. And what was discovered went way deeper than the Boston Marathon bombings. So let's take a look into the Tsarnaev family.

Anzer and Zubidat Tsarnaev were a Chechen couple living in Russia, and in 1986, they would have their first child together, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Then, two years later, they had a daughter named Bella, and two years after that, they had another daughter named Alina. And then finally, in 1993, they had their final child, Jahar. And the family seemed to move around a lot because of the wars going on over there at the time.

At some points they were living in Kyrgyzstan and other times they lived in Dagestan. But life was really difficult for them. In 1999, there was a huge war going on between Chechnya and Russia, and Anzor, the father, claimed that because he was Chechen, the Russians tortured him in one of their Russian camps. And from there, they knew they needed to move their family somewhere safe. Luckily for them, Anzor's brother was married into the family of a retired CIA agent and the vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

So this man had a lot of connections in the US and internationally. I wasn't able to find any definitive proof that he helped them get green cards, but a lot of people believe that's the case. In May of 2002, Anzer, Zubinat, and their youngest child Jahar moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts on a tourist visa. Then, once they were here, they applied for and received political asylum. But their other children, Tamerlan, Bella, and Ailina, were left behind in Russia with relatives.

They didn't end up coming to the US until a year later in 2003. And Jahar was only 8 years old when he moved to America, so it was a lot easier for him to fit in and adjust to the culture. He enrolled into the Cambridge Port School, but he didn't speak much English, so his teachers decided to hold him back. But surprisingly, he did a lot better than anyone expected.

So much so that by the end of his third grade year, they decided to move him up to fifth grade because he was doing so well. One of his teachers even put on his report card that Jahar had a quote, heart of gold. Tamerlan, on the other hand, didn't adjust as easily. When he moved to the U.S. in 2003, he was 16 years old. And most 16-year-olds are likely going to have a hard time when you move from a different country in the middle of your high school career. But

But after he moved, he enrolled into a high school called Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. And according to people who knew him at this age, they said he was kind of nerdy, a little awkward, and kept to himself. And a huge issue the entire Tsarnaev family faced was the fact that none of them spoke a lot of English. So they not only had to adjust to a whole different country, but they also had to learn an entirely new language. And because of this, Tamerlan had a hard time making friends.

Life was lonely here in the US, but he would eventually find his purpose in boxing. And through that, he would also meet a group of other Chechen immigrants who lived in Cambridge. The Tsarnaev family expected to live out the American dream once they got here, but that wasn't really the case. The family was crammed into a third-story apartment building and things were pretty crowded with six people living there. And there wasn't a lot of money coming in either.

Anzor worked as a mechanic in the city and Zubedat worked as a home healthcare provider at first and then she worked at a salon. But even though they were working, they were still living a lower middle class lifestyle and they were not very happy with it. They desperately wanted out of that situation and to them, their best hope was their son Tamerlan. Since he was their firstborn, they doted on him.

He was smart, a hard worker, had a lot of confidence. He had big dreams of becoming rich and having nice cars. He even wanted to go to Harvard. But his biggest dream of all was to become a professional boxer. And he was constantly training for it. Some of his classmates would later say that he would even walk through the halls with his boxing gloves over his shoulder.

He loved it and he was proud because he was honestly really good at it. People who used to train with Tamerlan said that he had the perfect boxing body. He was tall, muscular, very sharp, he had good range, and he trained very, very hard. Now, in order to be an Olympic boxer, Tamerlan would first need to win the New England Golden Gloves.

and then he could go on to nationals, and then from there you can start working on the Olympics. So there's a process. The year after he came to the US, he would win the novice title in the Golden Gloves, and over the next few years he continued to train. In 2006, he would graduate from high school and enroll in a community college, but he didn't really care much about school and would eventually drop out.

Tamerlan wanted to box, and his entire family was kind of counting on him to go pro so they could get out of their financial situation. Now in 2009, when Tamerlan was 23, he would fight in another Golden Gloves competition, and apparently, Tamerlan should have been the winner. The judges, however, ultimately decided on his opponent.

The crowd was actually so upset by this decision that they booed. But there was nothing he could do. Tamerlan would just have to try again the following year. By 2010, he had trained even harder and he was sure he would win the match. And he did. It was a huge accomplishment, but he wouldn't be celebrating very long. You see, usually people in this position would then go on to compete in nationals.

But they had actually changed the rules. Now you had to be an American citizen to participate in nationals. And Tamerlan wasn't. So his boxing career was kind of put on hold until he got his citizenship. He and his father Anzor worked hard to get his citizenship, but time and time again, he was denied. And part of the reason he was denied was because he had been arrested the year prior for domestic assault.

In the summer of 2009, Tamerlan was dating a woman named Nadine and apparently they were at a pool party and he didn't like how revealing her outfit was. So he started slamming her head into a car and slapping her in the face. Nadine called 911, the cops came, Tamerlan admitted to assaulting her and he was arrested for domestic assault.

Now, the charges would later be dropped, but because that arrest was on his record, he was not going to get citizenship here in the United States. And I think this entire situation kind of gave him a bad outlook on America as a whole. He wanted all of these things, but he couldn't have them because he wasn't born here. He was an outsider. So when he was denied and he found out that his boxing career was over,

Tamerlan was pissed. Like we mentioned, this was his entire life and it was taken away from him just like that. And from here is where he really starts to tap into his religion. And before we get into this, we really want to emphasize that we wholeheartedly respect everyone's religion. You know, that's one of the beautiful things about living in America is that we're allowed to have religious freedom here.

And obviously the religion that we are going to be discussing in this episode is Islam. And I think it's very, very important to remember that the majority of Muslims are very peaceful and good people who would never want to do anyone harm. But just like any religion, there are subsets of these groups that commit violence.

So I just really want to emphasize that clearly what these brothers did for their religion is reprehensible. But do not let that affect your judgment on Islam as a whole because Muslims already face enough judgment here in America. So please consider that while listening to this episode. But at this point, Tamerlan really starts tapping into his Islamic faith.

He started attending the mosque frequently, and he even completely cut out alcohol and marijuana. He was really serious about it, so much so that it kind of got out of hand. Now, when the Tsarnaev family first moved to America, it was known that they weren't very religious. People that knew them said that they definitely prayed several times a day. But as time went on, their faith grew, and Tamerlan started attending the Islamic Society of Boston Mosque in Cambridge.

Now, believe it or not, the founder of this mosque was actually sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2004 for plotting terrorism and raising money for Al-Qaeda. And another member of this mosque, named Ahmad Abu Samra, went on to be involved with ISIS, so it did have radical ties. And again, like Courtney mentioned, the majority of mosques are very safe with good people. People who just want to worship and find peace in their own lives.

But this mosque just happened to have radical ties, and we felt like that's important to mention. And as Tamerlan became more and more religious, he became increasingly interested in Islamic extremism.

and within islam is a term called jihad and it's often translated as meaning a holy war with the evil within yourself or within society now we are not muslims so we're not going to pretend to be experts on the religion but jihad is often associated with islamic extremists according to the cambridge dictionary it is quote often violent effort by some muslim people to defend their religion against those who they believe want to destroy it end quote

So around this time, while Tamerlan's boxing career is failing, he really resonates with this aspect of his religion. And he starts reading more about it and subscribing to different jihadist publications. And Tamerlan wasn't the only one in his family that is leaning into Islamic radicalization. His mother Zubaydah was as well. In fact, in 2011, the Russian government actually sent in a tip to the FBI

saying that they recorded a conversation of Tamerlan and his mom speaking on the phone discussing Jihad and it was clear from their conversation that they were becoming radicalized. A statement from the FBI says quote, "The request stated that it was based on information that he was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer

and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country's region to join unspecified underground groups. So on April 22, 2011, an anti-terrorism task force actually went to the Tsarnaev Cambridge home and spoke with Tamerlan.

He talked with them about his religion, his passion for boxing, but of course he denied any extremism. And with that, they left. They never questioned any of his friends, his wife, his ex-girlfriend, or even his mom, to my knowledge. They also didn't alert the local police about his potential danger, and they basically concluded that he wasn't a risk.

Now, we'll get back to that in a little bit, but it's important to note that the FBI was well aware of Tamerlan Tsarnaev based on the tips sent in from the Russian government.

But around this time, Tamerlan would meet an American woman named Catherine Russell who grew up in Rhode Island with well-educated parents. Her father was an emergency room doctor and her mother was a nurse. But after enrolling at Suffolk University, she met a charming boxer at a nightclub.

Tamerlan was actually in a committed relationship with Nadine at the time, but that didn't stop him from pursuing the young college student. Catherine's mother, however, said that the relationship was doomed from the beginning. Tamerlan was a womanizer and often cheated on her, but despite that, the two became official later that year. It's also around this time when Catherine becomes very interested in converting to Islam.

According to her family, she started dressing very conservatively, attending the mosque, and she also started distancing herself from the rest of her family. By the end of that year, Catherine was pregnant with their daughter and not long after she and Tamerlan would get married.

But life was still not great for Tamerlan, nor the entire Tsarnaev family. You see, up until now, Anzor the father had been the breadwinner of the home, but in 2009 he was hit with a pipe and suffered a pretty bad head injury that made it to where he couldn't work, so now they were really short on money. Especially since Tamerlan and his wife had a baby on the way. The Tsarnaevs were struggling so much, Anzor and Zubidat even started stealing things and selling them just to make ends meet.

Now, even though Tamerlan can't compete professionally, he still loves boxing. And with all the struggles going on in his family, boxing was still a way for him to escape and let off some steam. And the gym he trained at was called the Y Crew Gym. And he met a lot of friends over the years while training there. Two of these friends were Ibrahim Todashev, who we will talk about later,

and another man named Brendan Mess. Tamerlan and Brendan were actually very, very close. They even considered each other best friends at one point. They both loved boxing and they worked out together at least four days a week for hours at a time, so they spent a lot of time together. Another thing they bonded over before Tamerlan really tapped into his religion was weed.

Brendan was a known weed dealer in the area and he was the type that knew everything about weed. He had all the knowledge of the different strands and he always had the best quality. So Tamerlan would often go by Brendan's apartment and smoke weed with him. But Brendan's other friends and roommates were not a huge fan of Tamerlan.

And it was kind of the situation where he didn't do anything specific that made them not like him. There was just something a little off about him. For instance, Brendan's friends noticed that anytime Tamerlan was around, he didn't talk much. He just kind of stood in the corner and observed everything. And they thought that he just didn't contribute much to the conversation.

Now, in September of 2011, the Tsarnaev family was going through a lot. Anzor still isn't working and Zubinat was kind of fed up with him so they end up getting a divorce. And following this, Anzor actually moves back to Dagestan and the Tsarnaevs are forced to apply for food stamps and cash assistance. And since Tamerlan was now the only adult male figure in the family, he felt like it was his responsibility to provide for them. But it was difficult.

He was a college dropout with a failed boxing career and now he was raising a family of his own. And in this same month, when all these unfortunate things are happening to the Tsarnaev family, a tragedy would strike the town of Waltham, Massachusetts on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

On that day, Tamerlan's friend, 25-year-old Brendan Mess, was planning on spending the evening with his two roommates and good friends, 31-year-old Eric Wiseman and 37-year-old Raphael Teagan. That night, they all gathered in their Waltham apartment to watch the Sunday night football game. And it was just like any other night. Brendan's apartment was always the place where everyone would gather.

And other friends were actually supposed to come over that night as well, but they ended up bailing. And little did they know that that decision would quite literally save their life. The details of this horrific night are still a little unclear to this day. But here's what we know for sure. Eric Wiseman sent his last text message at 7:30 that night. And after that, none of the three friends would use their cell phones.

So sometime after 7:30pm, as Brendan, Eric and Raphael were all sitting together in their apartment, someone came to the front door. There was no sign of forced entry, so it's likely that the men knew their visitor. But after that visitor stepped inside, chaos would unfold. One by one, the intruder walked up to each of the three men and slit their throats from ear to ear.

In fact, the force of the knife was so strong, the men were nearly decapitated. And one important thing to note is that these were big guys who worked out all the time. So the fact that someone was able to take all three of these men down meant that they had to be pretty strong themselves. The three victims were also all weed dealers. So there was a lot of marijuana and cash inside of the apartment.

But after the intruder slit their throats, they grabbed about a pound and a half of high-quality marijuana and sprinkled it over the victims' bodies, clearly sending some sort of message. Then the assailant slipped out into the night without anyone noticing.

The next morning, September 12, 2011, Brendan Mess's estranged girlfriend named Hiba came by the home to check on him. But when she walked inside, she found a bloodbath. Neighbors recalled that Hiba came running out of the house screaming, "They're all dead!" She was in hysterics. And shortly after, the police came to investigate the scene.

Many of them would later say it was the most graphic scene they had ever worked. As they stepped into the apartment, they saw the three victims lying down, nearly decapitated, with blood and marijuana all around them. Now apparently, Raphael's face wasn't injured, but both Eric and Brendan seemed to have put up a fight. Eric had a busted lip, and Brendan had scratch marks all over his body, a puncture mark on the top of his head, temple, and ear, and he also had bruising around his lips.

Now, seeing that the men were drug dealers, you would think that this was a possible robbery gone wrong, but the evidence at the scene proved otherwise. Not only were there 8.5 pounds of weed left untouched inside of the apartment, but there was also about $5,000 in cash left right near the victims' bodies.

Obviously, if a rival drug dealer did this, then they would have taken both the cash and the weed. But they didn't. And them leaving that at the scene was a clear message that this was not a robbery. So what was the motive? "Investigators say three people have been killed inside the second floor apartment of this cream-colored home."

As the town of Walton, Massachusetts learned about the murders, everyone was shocked. This is a suburban kind of town. Violent crime barely ever happens here. And people were scared.

These men were nearly decapitated. Was the community in danger? But law enforcement reassured everyone that they did not believe the murders were at random, so there was no need to worry. Should people be concerned if you say there are two assailants that could be out there? Based upon everything we know, it does not appear to be a random act. And based on everything we know at this time, it appears that the assailant or assailants knew the decedents.

The reporters then asked if they thought there was more than one person involved, to which DA Gerald Leone said: "It's a fluid, ongoing investigation. We know there were at least two people who are not in that apartment now who were there earlier." So it's clear that they did have some evidence at the scene that they were looking through, but they were keeping it close to their chests. Now, one person they wanted to look into was Hiba, Brendan Mess's estranged girlfriend. And this story is pretty interesting.

Like we mentioned, Ivo was the one who found the bodies, so obviously they had to look into her. And what they learned was that she was kind of a wild card. She had gone through a lot in her life, and Brendan Mess was attracted to the fact that she had a little edge to her.

but their relationship was very tumultuous. Both Eva and Brendan were known to be very passionate and kind of hot-headed, so when they would get into fights, they would be big fights, and they didn't care who was around. They would hash it out right then and there. And Eric and Raphael, the two other murder victims, who were good friends of Brendan's, had actually been trying to talk some sense into him about their toxic relationship and how he should reevaluate it. Investigators were very interested to hear that about a week before the murders...

Hiba had actually gotten into a pretty big argument with all three of the murder victims. And during her fight with Raphael, she apparently threw a knife. But she claimed she wasn't actually trying to hit him. Afterwards, Brendan broke up with her and Hiba was angry. So much so that she smashed his TV and slashed his tires. So clearly Hiba had a motive.

and the detectives immediately questioned her after the murders. But when they sat her down and asked her about her breakup with Brendan, she said that they weren't broken up, they were just taking a break after a big fight. But her fight records show that after their fight, she booked a one-way ticket to Miami. Then on September 12th, the morning after they were murdered, she randomly decided to fly back to Massachusetts.

and her first stop was to Brendan's apartment where she found the bodies. And this was a little suspicious to investigators because what are the odds that she just arrived in town that day and immediately went to find the victims? WGBH learned that state police investigators visited Hilva Yaltili.

Now, it's unclear how Hiba's interview went with police because they never released anything about it and she was never charged with anything in connection to the murders.

But in the docu-series called "The Murders Before the Marathon," a journalist named Susan Zalkine uncovered some interesting facts about Hiba and her relationships. Apparently, around the time she was dating Brendan Mess, she was also involved with another man named Jamar Smith, and believe it or not, just two weeks before Brendan's murder,

Jamar was actually shot to death. - 33-year-old Jamari Smith was killed during an exchange of gunfire between people in two cars. - A man named Jeffrey Runyon was eventually convicted for his murder, so there's no mystery there. But Jamar's murder happened at the end of August. Then two weeks later, the triple homicide in Waltham occurred. And then a month after the triple homicide, another man named J. Eddisonwan, who was Hiba's estranged husband, died on October 7th, 2011.

His death was ruled a suicide by gunshot wound. But it's strange that three male love interests of Hiba's were killed within five weeks. In 2021, the Richmond police told journalist Susan Zalkin that they couldn't comment on Jay's death because of its connection to the triple homicide. But Hiba has never been named a suspect in any of the murders, despite the strange connection. But back to the triple homicide.

Now that Hiba was ruled out, investigators had to start looking at other suspects. And the main conversation around these murders was that it was the work of the Mexican cartel. Since the men were drug dealers, it was easy to come to that conclusion. But if it was the Mexican cartel, wouldn't they have taken the thousands of dollars in cash that was lying around the apartment? This theory didn't seem as likely,

But the investigators were quick to tell the public that they had nothing to worry about because this was a drug-related murder. And interestingly enough, during the press conference about the murders, the investigators were almost underplaying just how brutal the murders actually were. I mean, these men were nearly decapitated and they were telling the public that they had nothing to worry about.

And it's not like they were saying "don't worry about it because we have leads that we're following." They didn't have much to work with at all. Now, in the days after the murders, Brendan Mess' friends were overly suspicious about one person in particular, Tamerlyn Tsarnaev. While everyone that knew the murder victims were coming together to grieve their loss, Tamerlyn was nowhere to be seen.

In fact, he didn't even go to Brendan's funeral or memorial service. Which is strange because the two were really good friends. At the gym where Tamerlan and Brendan used to train together, a friend of theirs said that after the murder he went up to Tamerlan and offered his condolences. He knew the two were best friends and he said it was the strangest thing. After he said "I'm sorry for your loss",

Tamerlan didn't say anything in return, he just gave him a very cold and almost dirty look. And something about that just didn't sit right with him. And apparently, multiple people actually sent in tips to the police department that they should be looking into Tamerlan in connection to the murders.

but for whatever reason, they never once questioned him. They also never went to the gym where they worked out together. Which is strange because Brendan spent a lot of time there, so you would think if they were doing a thorough investigation, they would want to look into the people there, but that obviously wasn't the case.

And it was very clear that the investigators were more focused on wanting to pin this on a drug-related crime than they were wanting to discover the truth. Brendan's friends even said that when they would talk to the detectives about the murders, they would say things like, "You didn't know your friends as well as you thought you did." Almost like they were judging them for selling weed. And it was strange because there wasn't even a lot of media coverage surrounding the murders.

I mean, this case was huge. In terms of how brutal the crime was, it's kind of similar to the recent Idaho murders, which had a ton of news coverage. But this case wasn't treated like that. In fact, the media only covered the murders for about 10 days, and most of what they reported on wasn't about the kind of people they were or their character. It was mostly about how they were caught in the dangerous life of drug dealing. And then after less than two weeks of news coverage, they stopped reporting on it entirely.

Many people in the surrounding areas weren't even aware that there had been a triple homicide in Walton, Massachusetts. And it's also strange because usually in cases like this, when law enforcement doesn't have a lot of leads, they will ask the public for help, asking people to send in tips. But that wasn't the case here. In fact, they weren't even following up on tips that they were receiving.

For instance, Rafael's father told investigators that his son had gotten into a pretty heated argument with a Chechen immigrant shortly before the murders, and he wanted them to look into it, but they never did. And guess who is a Chechen immigrant? Tamerlan Tsarnaev. So not only did law enforcement receive multiple tips telling them to look into Tamerlan,

They also learned that one of the victims got into a dispute with someone matching Tamerlan's description and they still didn't question him.

Another thing that's important to note is that anyone that knew Tamerlan knew he was very anti-Semitic. He was known to be very vocal about his hatred of the Jewish people and how he believed they were the source of the world's problems. After the bombings, investigators would search Tamerlan's home and they found several anti-Semitic publications that were known to discuss Jewish conspiracies. And one of the conspiracies that Tamerlan really resonated with was the one that claimed that Jewish people were behind 9/11.

The terrorist attack that would cause his people to face a lot of discrimination here in America And believe it or not, both Eric Wiseness and Raphael Tekin were Jewish and very proud of it In fact, they were also Israeli and had family members who fought in the Israeli army Raphael even spoke Hebrew and his father was a rabbi So it's safe to assume that Tamerlan did not like them And the three had met each other on several occasions so Tamerlan definitely knew who they were

And all of that really comes into play when you look at Tamerlan's phone records and social media posts in the month before the triple homicide. Shortly before the murders, Tamerlan had been messaging a friend named Ibrahim Todijev about how he wanted to commit violence in the name of their religion. Ibrahim was also Muslim, and he also went to the same gym that Tamerlan and Brendan Mess went to.

And Ibrahim would later admit that he and Tamerlan were in fact responsible for the triple homicide. And we will get into that more in a little, but it's clear that Tamerlan was definitely showing signs of extremism leading up to the murders. He actually posted a link to Facebook that very month where

about how the US was "in an all-out war against Islam" and how Muslims need to stand up and fight against America. And it's important to note that the triple homicide took place on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Considering Tamerlan thought Jews were responsible for 9/11, it seems like he was trying to send a message there.

Investigators would also find later on, on Tamerlan's wife's computer, a Google search that read, quote, "Waltham triple homicide Tamerlan Tsarnaev."

Then on September 18th, a week after the murders, another one read "three men killed in Waltham." Then the next day there were two more searches that read "men killed in Waltham" and "Tamerland Tsarnaev." And it's always so interesting to see people's Google searches about themselves after they commit crimes.

It's like they want to read up on all the news and everything, and it's always pretty incriminating. But if you still aren't convinced that Tamerlan committed this crime, we haven't mentioned one very important detail about the triple homicide. At first, it seemed like the murders were not financially motivated because of the cash that was left at the scene. But interestingly enough, within 24 hours of the triple homicide,

Someone would break into Raphael's apartment and steal a significant amount of money. I wasn't able to find the exact amount, but it's known that it was a lot. Raphael's friends would go to his place after the murders and they said that the door was wide open and all of his money was gone. And they reported this to the police, but apparently they barely even investigated it.

Which is just crazy because a murder victim's apartment was robbed within 24 hours of their murder, so you would think that they would look into it more, but they didn't.

And this robbery is very important to consider because, like we mentioned earlier, the Tsarnaev family was really struggling financially during this time. So much so, they were living off food stamps in the weeks before the murders. But suddenly, by the end of that month, they somehow ran into a lot of money.

Both Tamerlan and his brother Jahar were able to buy a computer, some nice clothes. And Tamerlan was able to fund an entire six-month trip to Dagestan, the same trip where he was attempting to find people to help him become radicalized.

So let's just do a little recap to go over everything we just discussed. It's widely thought that Tamerlan was responsible for these murders because his accomplice would later admit to it, but three men were nearly decapitated on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Two of the men were Jewish, and Tamerlan thought the Jewish people were responsible for 9/11, so he was likely sending a message there.

Even further, it's believed that he stole thousands of dollars from one of the Jewish victim's apartments. And that money would fund his trip to Dagestan, where he tried to become radicalized and began plotting the Boston Marathon bombing. I know it's a lot, but hopefully it'll make more sense here in a little bit. But first, let's discuss Tamerlan's trip to Dagestan.

There continue to be questions about that six-month trip to Russia. The FBI had interviewed Tamerlan before he went at the request of Russia, who thought he was a possible terrorist. Now, even though the FBI knew that he was a potential threat, he wasn't put on a no-fly list, so he was still able to leave the country.

And I think Tamerlan expected to go to Dagestan and find people that would help him plan these terrorist attacks and kind of teach him the way. But that wasn't really the case. There isn't a lot known about Tamerlan's trip to Russia, but we do know that he was trying to get in touch with these extremists and he wasn't able to find them.

and he was kind of rejected by the people of Dagestan as a whole. He went there trying to prove he was this radical Muslim, but they didn't really take him seriously. So after about six months, he decided to come back to America.

Now, since the FBI already knew that he was a potential threat, their system should have picked up when he came back to the US, especially when he was away in Dagestan for a whole six months doing who knows what. But for whatever reason, they didn't catch it. After the bombings, the FBI tried to save face and say that their text alert on him was expired, so they didn't catch it.

But that isn't true. The Intelligence General Report proved that the alerts were still active. They just failed to question him after he returned.

he would end up flying back into the United States on July 17th, 2012. And it was later admitted that if someone had looked into Tamerlan's travel, it would have "changed everything." And by that, they mean that the Boston Marathon bombing likely would have never happened. When Tamerlan returned to Cambridge after six months, friends say he appeared more extreme in his views.

Commissioner Davis, if you knew of a Russian intelligence warning that this man was an extremist and may travel overseas, and the fact that he did travel overseas and came back into the United States, would that may not have caused you to give this individual a second look? Absolutely.

So after Tamerlan's failed attempt at being radicalized in Dagestan, he came back into the US and became even more invested in these Islamic extremist publications. One in particular was called Inspire Magazine and was produced by Al-Qaeda.

And this magazine is very relevant to our story because it was specifically written in English. So these extremist groups could reach people in places like America. And it would state things like, If you have the right to slander the messenger of Allah, we have the right to defend him. If it is part of your freedom of speech to defame Muhammad, it is part of our religion to fight you. Other articles in the magazine were titled things like, Make a bomb in your mother's kitchen.

And their main message to their readers was that you can really become a part of something big. You know, you don't have to be this random person going through life. You can do something radical for your religion. And you also don't have to be a part of these huge terrorist groups that spend years learning how to fly planes into buildings.

you can learn how to do it by yourself, by, for instance, making a homemade bomb. And this really spoke to Tamerlan. After his failed trip to Dagestan, he decided that he could learn how to commit a terrorist attack right at home on his computer. And it's here where he started planning his terrorist attack on the US with his little brother, Jahar.

At the time, Jahar was a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. He was described as a good kid and he made friends pretty easily. He was also known as a weed dealer at his school. And after his brother Tamerlan really started tapping into his religion, he would get on to Jahar, telling him that he needed to stop partying and smoking as much and put more of his focus on his Islamic faith. And since their father Anzar had moved back to Russia, Tamerlan was the only male figure he had in his life.

It was known that Jahar was heavily influenced by his brother because of this. And we're not at all making any excuses for Jahar. He was a grown man when he decided to do what he did. But it's known that Tamerlan, his big brother, was a big influence on him. And while Jahar was in school, he and Tamerlan would get together and learn how to make these homemade bombs. And it seemed like they were dedicating a lot of time to this practice because eventually Jahar's grades would drop.

His GPA was a 1.094 and he was on the verge of losing his financial aid. But at this point, that didn't really matter to him because he and Tamerlan's main focus was planning out this terrorist attack.

and the warning signs were all there. In late 2012, after returning from his long trip to Russia, Tamerlan even created a YouTube channel where he posted videos under a category titled "Terrorists". He also posted many videos of jihadist militants and other videos that suggested he was becoming more and more radicalized. But no one caught on to it, and the brothers continued to plan their attack on the city of Boston.

A few months before the bombing, in February 2013, Tamerlan visited a fireworks store in Seabrook, New Hampshire, because they're illegal in Massachusetts. He bought two large boxes of fireworks, including the lock-and-load reloadable mortar. He paid for one box of 24 mortars and received a second box for free due to a promotion at the store. So in total, he had about 8 pounds of explosive powder, and he spent about $200 on it.

On March 20th, 2013, about a month before the bombings, both Tamerlan and Jahar drove to Manchester, New Hampshire and rented two 9mm handguns. They also bought about 200 rounds of ammunition and they target practice for about an hour. Around that same time, Tamerlan goes to a Macy's in Boston.

where he purchases the five pressure cookers that he would later use to make the bomb. Now a major component to a bomb is the electronic portions and Tamerlan had ordered them online but they actually didn't come in until the night before the bombings. And then lastly, they bought the backpacks used to conceal the bombs and a prepaid cell phone under Jahar's name but with a different spelling.

And that cell phone is what would be used to detonate the bombs. From here, Tamerlan and Jahar packed the pressure cookers with BB pellets, gunpowder, and nails. They wanted to cause as much damage as possible. And they would. They were ready for Boston's biggest celebration of the year: the Boston Marathon.

That morning on April 15th, 2013, the Tsarnaev brothers left their apartment in Cambridge and headed towards Boylston Street in downtown Boston. They parked their car a few blocks away and walked towards the finish line with their backpacks. As thousands of people stood on the sidelines cheering on the runners, the brothers eventually split up, with Tamerlan walking about 200 yards ahead.

He ultimately decides to stop in front of the marathon sports store, likely because there were more people standing around. From here, he places the backpack on the ground and calmly walks away. Then, at approximately 2:49 PM, the first bomb detonates. -

This blast would kill Crystal Campbell and injure many others. By this point, Jahar is standing in front of the Forum restaurant where spectators are looking in the direction of the explosion. Tamerlan calls Jahar on his prepaid cell phone and seconds later, the second bomb detonates, killing Lingzi Liu and Martin Richards.

After watching the terror unfold, the brothers walk back to their car and make their way to Whole Foods and that night they had dinner with a friend. I will call him by his last name which is Matanoff, but he was the one that ate dinner with the brothers that night.

And he said he never suspected that they were the bombers and that they were acting completely normal. But then he went on to say that they discussed the bombings and he mentioned how sad it was that a kid was murdered. To which Tamerlan replied, well, what about the US drones that dropped bombs overseas? Many children died from those. So what if a kid dies? God will take care of him, end quote.

Afterwards, Tamerlan goes home to his wife and infant daughter, and Jahar goes back to school. Friends would later say that on the day of the bombing, Jahar had acted completely normal. He attended classes, went to the gym. No one had any idea that something was amiss. In an interview with ABC News, Andrew Glasby, a friend of Jahar's, would say, "...I can't believe he had the balls to come back and act like nothing happened. I thought it was just regular old Jahar."

We had a typical conversation. He was not startled. He was not scared. He was not anything. He was just the same old Jahar. It really makes me wonder, the person next to you, are they really that person, acting like they are the best person, but instead, they are blowing up people? For the next few days, the brothers seemed to think they got away with it. That is, until their pictures were posted across every TV screen in America.

Interestingly, after the news aired the photos of the two suspects, Jahar's friend Diaz Khadirbaev, who is also a 19-year-old UMass student, texted him and asked if he had watched the news broadcast about the bombing. Diaz thought it looked a lot like him, and apparently, Jahar responded saying, "I saw the news. Better not text me, my friend. LOL." Then Jahar texted him again saying that he could go to his dorm room and take whatever he wanted.

Jahar texted two more friends, Azamat Tzayikov and Robel Filippos, instructing them to go to his dorm room and take his belongings because he was going to leave town. And surprisingly, they did.

Diaz, Azamant, and Robel went to Jahar's dorm and discovered a backpack with fireworks, Vaseline, and a thumb drive. The fireworks had been opened, and it was clear that the explosives inside were missing. Believing that their friend, Jahar, was a suspect in the bombing, the friends emptied the contents from the backpack into a trash bag and discarded the items in the dumpster behind the apartment complex. Diaz also took a laptop computer from Jahar's room but didn't discard it, and

Instead, he kept the laptop concealed and he never notified the police that he had taken Jahar's laptop and they would end up getting in a lot of trouble for this, obviously.

Azamat Tazaikov was convicted of obstruction of justice and served three and a half years in prison He also returned to his home country of Kazakhstan after serving his sentence. Rabel Filipos was sentenced for lying to FBI agents about being in Jahar's dorm room. He would serve three years in prison for his crime. And after serving the sentence, he agreed to be deported back to his home country of Kazakhstan.

In a later interview, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz would say, "The concealment and destruction of evidence can have profound effects on the course of an investigation." Mr. Kadyrbaev knowingly concealed and disposed of critical evidence relating to the Boston Marathon bombing. He now faces the consequences of those actions, six years in federal prison with deportation to follow.

But not long after the FBI released the Tsarnaev brothers' photos, they would continue their reign of terror by killing a police officer, hijacking a car, and having a shootout with the Watertown police officers that would ultimately kill Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Then the following day, Zhahar would be apprehended after waiting out the night inside of a boat.

One thing we didn't mention was that while he was inside of that boat for hours, bleeding out, he wrote a message that partly read, quote, "...I'm jealous of my brother who has received Inshallah before me." Which means Allah's will. "...I do not mourn because his soul is very much alive."

It goes on to say, "God has a plan for each person. Mine was to hide in this boat and shed some light on our actions. The US government is killing innocent civilians, but most of you already know that. As a Muslim, I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished. We Muslims are one body. You hurt one, you hurt us all. Now, I don't like killing innocent people. It is forbidden in Islam.

After Jahar Tsarnaev successfully made it out of surgery, he was transported to prison to await trial, and the city of Boston could now focus on what really mattered here, the victims. On April 22nd, a ceremony was held and a flag was given to the mayor signifying the return of Boylston Street to the city of Boston.

The crime scene was officially cleared and now businesses and residents would be permitted to return. A private crew worked well through the night to restore streetlights, broken windows, and clean any remaining blood from the streets. And by the next day, Boylston Street was reopened to the public. On April 24th, a large memorial was held at Briggs Stadium to honor and remember MIT officer Sean Collier. Over 30,000 people attended the memorial, including the vice president, governor, MIT staff, and students.

and law enforcement officers from all over the country. By this point, pictures of the brothers were all over the media. So much of the investigative energy is now focused on understanding why these two immigrant brothers could turn against the nation that took them in.

With all of the press surrounding the Tsarnaev family, their mother, Zubedat, decided to move back to Dagestan. And apparently, once there, she talked very highly of Tamerlan and how he was a hero for what he did.

So it appears that he wasn't the only radical in the family, which just confirms everything the Russian government said when they sent in that tip about Tamerlan and his mom's phone call in 2011. But as the world was learning of the Tsarnaev brothers and flashing their pictures across the news, there was one group of people who recognized Tamerlan.

And it was the friends of Brendan Mess, Eric Wiseman, and Raphael Teigen. They said that when they saw Tamerlan's picture and learned that he was the Boston Marathon bomber, they were shocked. I mean, Tamerlan and Brendan were very good friends, and they had all hung out with Tamerlan on multiple occasions.

And based on Tamerlan's actions after the murders, they always had their suspicions that he was responsible for the triple homicide. But now, more than ever, they were sure of it. I mean, what are the odds that the Boston Marathon bomber was friends with a murder victim? At that time, there was still no movement in the case.

The Middlesex Police Department said that they were following leads, but to the public, no one knew what was going on in the investigation. But soon enough, they would get the confession that they had all been waiting for.

After the bombing, the FBI wanted to get into contact with people that knew the Tsarnaev brothers, people they associated with. And through phone records, they were led to a man in Orlando, Florida named Ibrahim Todeshev. We briefly mentioned him earlier in our story, but he and Tamerlan were good friends and worked out together at the Y Crew gym, the same gym Brendan Mess used to go to.

Now, after Tamerlan's boxing career failed and he started getting more radical, he and Ibrahim became very close. The two had a lot in common. They were both Russian immigrants, both Muslim, and they both loved to fight.

Now, like we mentioned, years before the bombings took place, Tamerlan and Ibrahim had been messaging each other about committing violence in the name of their religion.

Then after the bombing, Ibrahim tried to delete phone calls he had with Tamerlan from his phone, but obviously the FBI can still see them. So the question is, why did he delete it? You only do that if you have something to hide. So clearly the FBI had some questions for Ibrahim. And on May 22nd, 2013, a little over a month after the bombings, they made their way to Orlando, Florida to pay him a visit.

When the FBI came knocking on his door, Ibrahim Todeshev was living in an apartment with his girlfriend, Tatiana Grusteva.

The officials were invited inside and at first, they started talking with Ibrahim about Tamerlan and the Boston Marathon bombing, but then they bring up the triple homicide. According to the officers, Ibrahim was very surprised when they brought it up and after a few hours of being there, he starts to confess. He was given a piece of notebook paper and a pencil

And there, in his apartment, he starts to write about what he and Tamerlan did that night, on September 11th, 2011. We are going to read you part of that confession, but certain words aren't legible, so you will hear when we aren't sure what was written. My name is Ibrahim Todeshev. I want to tell the story about the robbery me and Tam did in Walton in September of 2011.

But that's where the confession ends. You see, as Ibrahim was writing about his involvement in the triple homicide, he was shot and killed inside of his apartment.

A Florida man was fatally shot while Boston investigators were questioning him about the Marathon bombings. Agents and police questioned him about his connection to the Tsarnaevs. The FBI and the Massachusetts State Police claimed that Ibrahim suddenly came after them and they had no other choice but to kill him in self-defense. But the details of exactly what happened were a little unclear. For example, some sources said that Ibrahim came after them with a knife.

He was being questioned by the FBI when he lunged at an agent with a knife. Some sources say he came after them with a sword. Ibrahim Tadachev actually flipped a table at an agent and then waved a ceremonial sword at him. And then other sources say he didn't have a weapon at all. According to law enforcement sources, Ibrahim Tadachev was unarmed. Ibrahim Tadachev was not holding a weapon when he was shot.

From looking at the crime scene photos, it is clear that there definitely was a struggle inside of the apartment. There was a coffee table flipped on its side, stuff scattered all over the ground, and Ibrahim's incomplete confession was lying there with drops of blood on it. But it is interesting that there were different accounts as to what exactly happened.

And it's even more interesting that all of the media surrounding this focused a lot on the shooting, while barely even mentioning the fact that he was in the middle of confessing to a triple homicide that he and the Boston Marathon bomber committed together. Investigators in Massachusetts are taking a new look at an unsolved murder case from back in September of 2011. Those two brothers could be linked to another horror.

a triple murder on the anniversary of September 11th. Now, about a month after the shooting of Ibrahim, on May 29th, 2013, the FBI released an internal shooting review, which was very short and vague, and it still didn't include a lot of details, so people still had some questions. Now, the department in charge of investigating the Waltham triple homicide was Middlesex County, and their DA's office would later release a statement saying that Ibrahim's death was not in their jurisdiction, so they wouldn't be investigating it.

So again, there's really not a lot going on here in terms of solving this murder. But Susan Zalkin did a lot of research on her own into this homicide. And here's what she found throughout her research. At the time of the Waltham murders, Ibrahim was living in Boston. And while there, he and Tamerlan became pretty close. Like we mentioned, they both went to the Y Crew gym. And the people there said that Ibrahim was a very angry guy.

both in the ring and outside of it. People that knew him said that he was crazy and would fly off the hinges at the smallest things. In 2010, a police report was filed saying he threatened to kill someone. Now, it's important to note that around the time of the murders, Ibrahim was not making a lot of money. In fact, he barely worked at all.

so there clearly wasn't a lot of money coming in. But randomly, after the murders, he was able to rent an apartment and he purchased a very nice white Mercedes.

And if you remember, the Tsarnaev family suddenly came into a lot of money after the murders as well. So much so that they were able to buy a computer and fund Tamerlan's six-month trip to Dagestan. Now, something else to note is that Ibrahim also had a wife at the time, as well as a girlfriend. But his wife's name was Reni and she was living in Atlanta at the time he was killed by the FBI.

Susan Zalkind reached out to Rennie and she wanted to ask her about the vehicle, the white Mercedes. Rennie claimed that it wasn't Ibrahim's car, it was her car, and she was the one that purchased the Mercedes in late 2012, about a year after the triple homicide.

But that isn't true. Susan actually reached out to the person who sold them the car and he said that it was Ibrahim that bought it, not Rennie. He also said that it was definitely purchased two months after the murders, not a year after like Rennie claimed. So why would she lie about that? Susan also spoke to Rennie and asked if she thought Ibrahim was responsible for the triple homicide.

And she said that there's no way he could have been involved. In fact, she claimed that she had bank statements proving that Ibrahim was in Atlanta at the time of the murders. Now, Susan asked to see these bank statements, but Rennie refused. So, it's hard to believe her. And Susan wasn't the only person that Rennie lied to. She also lied to the FBI.

They actually had proof that Rennie picked up someone in New York City on September 13th, 2011, which was two days after the murders. Now, the name of who she picked up is redacted, but it's pretty obvious that it's Ibrahim. But anyway, after she picked this person up, she drove to Atlanta. But when the FBI talked with her about this, she lied.

And in 2016, she would actually be indicted for lying to the FBI, but by that point, she had already fled to Russia. So again, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but it's assumed that Tamerlan and Abraham committed the triple homicide, stole the victim's money, and then Abraham got his wife to pick him up, and he quickly fled the state of Massachusetts.

But there are some people out there that don't believe Ibrahim's confession. And many people point to the fact that the confession didn't match up with the crime scene. For instance, Ibrahim said that the victim's hands were tied, but none of them were bound when investigators arrived on scene. But maybe we would have those answers if he wasn't killed in the middle of his confession.

Now his father, who lived overseas, actually started working with an organization whose goal was to protect Muslim Americans against the FBI. And they believe that the FBI committed a crime by killing him in the middle of an interview. What we want to be able to do right now is seek justice for Ibrahim Tadachev and also shed light on some of the malpractices and the brutality of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

They would eventually sue the Massachusetts State Police and the FBI for Ibrahim's death, and his father would release Ibrahim's autopsy photos to show the world all the damage to his son's body. The FBI was saying they killed him in self-defense, but his father says the autopsy photos show otherwise, that he had been shot seven times.

only one time in the head. And in his father's opinion, there was no need to shoot him when all four of the officers in the room were heavily armed. In his opinion, even if he did come after them, why wouldn't they just shoot Ibrahim in the leg or something? Especially if he's in the middle of a confession to a triple homicide. The case, however, never went to trial. In about 10 months after Ibrahim's death, the FBI finally released a report on what happened.

As it turns out, they had been questioning Ibrahim for weeks regarding he and Tamerlan's relationship. But up until that point, they had never mentioned the triple homicide. Then randomly, they asked him if he knew Brendan Mess and he started to get nervous. Then they brought up the fact that through his cell phone records, they noticed he didn't use his cell phone at all in the hours after the murders.

Then, immediately after, he changed his phone number. Ibrahim was obviously caught, and by 10.25 that night, he started confessing to the murders. While Ibrahim was writing it out on a piece of notebook paper, the lead investigator stepped outside to make a phone call, and some of the troopers that were in the room with him began texting each other. One of the messages read, quote,

he's in a vulnerable position to do something bad another message read be on guard i see him looking around at times then according to the fbi agents abraham picked up a coffee table and threw it at them then he grabbed a broomstick and charged the troopers they said that they shot at him but even after being shot he jumped back up and tried to charge at them again

so the FBI agent took him down. So this report about Ibrahim's death did clear up some confusing questions, but it still didn't mention much about the triple homicide. And apparently there were audio recordings of Ibrahim's confession, but there was none from when he was murdered, which is weird because the confession came right before he was killed, and none of the recordings have ever been released to the public.

So that's where this story kind of ends. Despite Ibrahim confessing that he and Tamerlan were in fact responsible for the murders, the case is still unsolved. His wife, Rennie, would later admit that Ibrahim was definitely in Boston on the day of the murders. So it's safe to assume that he was telling the truth in his unfinished confession. Even further, remember Jahar's friend who took his laptop from his dorm?

Well, he was charged with obstruction and wanting to make a deal, he told investigators that Tamerlan "committed jihad" in Walton, Massachusetts. So that's pretty convincing to me. And the reason this story is so important to tell is because Tamerlan's reign of terror started years before the Boston Marathon bombing.

The FBI won't classify the murders as a terrorist attack, but he nearly decapitated three men on the anniversary of 9/11 and then used their money to become radicalized. So to me, that plays into everything. And what's really unfortunate is that if the investigators would have properly investigated the triple homicide and followed up on all of the tips that pointed to Tamerlan,

They could have prevented the Boston Marathon bombing, but they didn't and you can't turn back time.

And Jahar Tsarnaev's defense team really wanted to use this triple homicide in their favor. To them, the fact that Tamerlan was already murdering people before the bombing just showed that he was radicalized years earlier and that he heavily influenced Jahar. But the FBI didn't want the Waltham murders brought up at trial because they thought it was a state case and not a federal case. So ultimately, the judge decided that the triple homicide could not be discussed during Jahar's trial, which would start on January 5th, 2015.

Ultimately, there were 30 charges against him including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, conspiracy to bomb a place of public use, carjacking, and possession and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Some of the charges were punishable by death, but he was pleading not guilty.

Jahar's defense wanted to make it seem like he was this impressionable young man heavily influenced by his radical brother.

But the prosecution showed a video of him in his jail cell around the time of his arraignment, and in it, you can see Jahar walk up to a security camera and stick up his middle finger. A big "fuck you" to anyone watching. The prosecution claimed that the video, taken a few months after the bombing, showed that Jahar felt no remorse for his actions.

But the arrogance he portrayed during his arraignment was not in the courtroom that day. Jahar had been held in solitary until his trial, and it was obvious that it had taken a toll on his once youthful appearance. The trial began with U.S. Attorney William Weinreb announcing to the jury the atrocities that had occurred between April 15th and April 19th: the bombings of the Marathon, the victims, and the suffering that they had endured, and the murder of MIT officer Sean Collier. Jahar's attorney, Judy Clark, also stood up and made her opening statements. She started:

It was him. We meet in the most tragic of circumstances, tragedy in the lives of the victims of the bombings, lives that were lost and torn and shattered, the loss of a precious eight-year-old boy whose smile captured all of our hearts, a young woman who, with an infectious laugh, who was always there for her friends and family, a young graduate student whose passion for music was so clear, and she embraced Boston as her home away from home, and a very fine young police officer whose lifelong dream was to protect and serve, the

"The circumstances that bring us here today are still difficult to grasp. They're incomprehensible. They're inexcusable." Clark continued to describe what had happened during the months leading up to the murder and how Jahar's brother, Tamerlan, had become obsessed with radical Islamic beliefs, and how in 2012, after visiting Russia and meeting with violent jihadists, he had brought the beliefs back to the States and began teaching his younger brother.

Ultimately, her argument was that it had started with Tamerlan and Jahar had followed. When Clark had delivered her speech, it was time for the victims to take turns speaking directly to the man who had caused them harm. The witness statements were emotional, many describing how they lost limbs, watched their loved ones lose limbs, and some had even witnessed death.

Many people had to endure multiple surgeries and physical therapy Some lost their homes because they could no longer walk up staircases All through the emotional statements, Jahar showed no emotion Nor did he wince when the horrible videos were played Showing exactly what had happened on that terrible day Rebecca Gregory took the stand with her prosthetic leg and demanded Jahar to look at her But he didn't Jahar's aunt took the stand, saying he had always been a good boy His cousins said the same thing

The defense attempted to humanize Jahar by showing the jury a series of family photos from when he was growing up They also wanted to point out that Jahar's mother, Zubidat, was unstable, leaving Jahar to be raised by his older brother, Tamerlan But their tactics would not persuade the jury And on April 8th, 2015, Jahar Tsarnaev would be found guilty and sentenced to death

And although he remained silent throughout his entire trial, he wanted to address the court. His speech was over four minutes, so I'm just going to read part of it, but he said: "The bombing, which I am guilty of, if there is any lingering doubt, let there be no more. I did it, along with my brother. I ask Allah to have mercy on me, my brother, and my family. Now, I am sorry for the lives I've taken. For the suffering that I've caused you, for the damage that I've done. Irreparable damage."

Allah said in the Quran that no soul is burdened with more than it can bear. And you told us just how unbearable it was, how horrendous it was, this thing I put you through. I also wish that far more people had a chance to get up there and speak. But I took them from you. I pray for Allah to bestow his mercy upon the deceased, those affected in the bombing, and their families. I pray for your relief, for your healing, for your well-being, for your strength.

Following this, the judge closes with quote, You redefined what it is to be an innocent person. It was monstrous self-deception. You had to forget your own humanity. Whenever your name is mentioned, what will be remembered is the evil you have done. No one will remember that your teachers were fond of you. No one will mention that your friends found you funny and fun to be with.

No one will say you were a talented athlete, or that you displayed compassion by being a best buddy, or that you showed more respect to your women friends than your male peers did. What will be remembered is that you murdered and maimed innocent people and that you did it willfully and intentionally. You did it on purpose.

"Surely, someone who believes that God smiles on and rewards the deliberate killing and maiming of innocents believes in a cruel God that is not and cannot be the God of Islam. Anyone who has been led to believe otherwise has been maliciously and willfully deceived." And here were some of the victim impact statements:

MIT officer Sean Collier's sister said, "...he is a leech abusing the privileges of American freedom, and he spit in the face of the American dream." A survivor of the Boston Marathon named Elizabeth Bergolt said, "...a coward in the strongest sense of the word."

The defendant's God will condemn him into eternity of suffering equal to, if not much more than what he caused to others." Crystal Campbell's mother, Patricia, said, "You're pretty bright. You could have helped your brother get help. What you did to my daughter was despicable. I don't know what to say to you. I think the jury did the right thing." Bill Richard, Martin Richard's father, said,

End quote.

And finally, here is survivor Lynn Julian after the sentence. I just wanted to vent a little bit about the first time we heard his voice today. Nobody really realized that we didn't know what he sounded like after two years. And after we heard it, we wish we hadn't because the things he had to say were sort of shocking.

He talked at first about Allah and this being the month of forgiveness, implying that we should all forgive him. And the last thing we wanted to hear was about Allah and why he did this in the first place and changed all our lives forever. And then he went on to say,

give a sort of Oscar type speech thanking the judge and thanking the jury and thanking his legal team and those who couldn't be here and his family for testifying and making, and I quote, making my life easy for the past two years. Well, our lives have been anything but easy and our lives will never be the same again. I live a block from the finish line and my neighborhood has changed forever.

Now, in 2020, Jahar's death sentence was actually overturned, stating that there were mistakes during his pre-trial publicity, as well as evidence that was not presented that might have been helpful to his defense. However, in 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence. The ruling was 6-3.

Justice Clarence Thomas said, "Jahar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes. The Sixth Amendment, nonetheless, guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury. He received one." Today, Jahar and his defense attorneys are still trying to appeal his death sentence.

And surprisingly, many people including some of the victims, like the Richard family, do not support Jahar's death sentence. And I'm not crazy about the death penalty either, but I think if anyone deserves to be put to death, it's terrorists. And that includes all terrorists, even domestic ones like mass shooters.

Those are the people who absolutely deserve to be put to death, if anyone. Now, Tamerlan's body was held in a Massachusetts funeral home for almost a month before someone agreed to take it. Apparently, the state of Massachusetts, as well as other nearby states, didn't want to bury the body in any of their cemeteries. He was ultimately taken to the state of Virginia and buried in an unmarked grave.

As for Jahar, he is currently being held at the ADX Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado, where he will remain until his death.

Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge, but luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I absolutely adore. Online shopping can be a little bit difficult, but Quince makes it so easy. When I was going through and adding items to my cart, there were so many options that I had to choose from and...

I was so obsessed with all of them. Every piece of clothing is so high quality. It will last you forever and everything is so cute.

quince offers so many high quality products for all different types of people like cashmere sweaters from fifty dollars pants for every occasion washable silk tops and so much more the best part all quince items are priced 50 to 80 percent less than similar brands so after ordering from quince i received the 100 european linen blazer the flow knit breeze performance tee and the flow knit breeze performance polo and

I was absolutely stunned by the quality of the clothing and the European linen blazer is perfect. I mean, it fits me so unbelievably well. It's slimming and I can't tell you enough. It's just ridiculously high quality. So if you're having a hard time switching your wardrobe from summer to fall, I highly, highly recommend you shop at Quinn.

It makes switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high-quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash america for free shipping on your orders and 365-day returns. That's quince, q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash america to get free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash america

If you're like me, you're constantly thinking about the safety of the people and things you value the most. After doing this podcast for years and reading about home invasions and robberies gone wrong and all sorts of tragedies, I knew I needed to secure my home with the best. My research led me to SimpliSafe.

I've trusted SimpliSafe to protect my home for three years now, and the level of security and customer care has been incredible. I sleep better every night knowing SimpliSafe's 24-7 monitoring agents are standing by to protect me if someone tries to break in, and it gives me comfort knowing that they'll send emergency help when I need it the most.

I want you to have the same peace of mind that I and so many listeners experience every day, which is why Courtney and I have partnered with SimpliSafe to offer listeners 20% off a system. Just visit simplisafe.com slash inamerica. What I love most is that SimpliSafe just keeps getting better. With exclusive live guard protection, SimpliSafe agents can act within 5 seconds of receiving your alarm, and can even see and speak to intruders inside your home, warning them that the police are on their way.

As a SimpliSafe user that's seen all of this firsthand, it's no surprise that SimpliSafe has been named Best Home Security Systems by U.S. News & World Report for five years running and the Best Customer Service in Home Security by Newsweek. So, protect your home this summer with 20% off any new SimpliSafe system when you sign up for Fast Protect Monitoring. Just visit simplisafe.com slash inamerica.

That's simply safe with an I dot com slash in America. There's no safe like simply safe. And now let's get back to our story. Hey, everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for joining us for this week's episode of Murder in America. This is such a crazy, crazy story. And I don't know, I just feel like I didn't know that much about this crime until we started researching for the podcast. And wow, we had to make it two parts. We had to share all this with you.

But I want to shout out all of our new patrons this week. Molly Miracle, Gigi, Sarah Blade, Kennedy Aronson, Brooke Bordner, Molly Ansel, Brian Flatt, Emma Hollenbaugh, Maya Franklin, Holy City Runner, Christopher Katzel, Ashley, Skeeter5958, Melissa Michelle, Verdiana Penaloza, TequilaLisi101, Shailaha Sharma, Gabriella Moda, Jada Cohen, Lily, Sade Morris, Morela, and

Thank you.

Kate is me, Maria D'Antonio, Jesse Clark, Kelly Plemons, and Lori Ordway. Oh my God, people, that is so many new patrons. Thank you all so much. And I'm sorry if I slaughtered any of your names, but if you're wondering what that list is, you can go sign up to become a patron at our Patreon. Just go to patreon.com and search Murder in America. We post the ad-free version of every single episode on our Patreon as soon as the episode drops on all streaming platforms. So if you don't like the ads, go sign up to become a patron today and we'll read your name at the end of an episode.

If you want to follow us, follow us on Instagram at Murder in America. We just hit 30,000 followers. We post crime scene photos from the cases we cover on there. And yeah, there's a mouthful today, everybody. But thank you for listening and we will see you next week. We love you.