The Waltham Murders and The Boston Marathon Bombing

Quote in New York Times, July 10, 2013

Appearance on Rachel Maddow, July 17, 2013

New Details in the FBI Shooting Death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev Associate Ibragim Todashev’s live-in girlfriend, Tatiana Gruzdeva, reveals what happened in the days leading up to the shooting in their Florida apartment. September 20, 2013, Boston

FBI Reportedly Denied Ashurmamad Miraliev An Attorney The Council on American-Islamic Relations alleges Constitutional rights violations against the friend of Ibragim Todashev. September 25, 2013, Boston

Girlfriend of Alleged Tamerlan Tsarnaev Accomplice Arrested Tatiana Gruzdeva, the girlfriend of Ibragim Todashev, said she’s going to be deported for talking to the press. October 1, 2013, Boston

Martha Coakley Hasn't Followed Through The victims’ families are growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of information about the investigation into the 2011 slayings. October 3, 2013, Boston

Tatiana Gruzdeva Spent Her 20th Birthday Behind Bars Update: Gruzdeva, the girlfriend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev associate Ibragim Todashev, was deported to Moscow. October 9, 2013, Boston

Tatiana Gruzdeva: I Want to Move On New details emerge in the circumstances that led to Gruzdeva, the girlfriend of a Tsarnaev associate killed by the FBI, getting thrown out of the U.S. October 18, 2013, Boston

What the Waltham Murders Have To Do With Dzhokhar Last week, federal prosecutors confirmed the link between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the 2011 Waltham triple murders. October 28, 2013, Boston

Ibragim Todashev's Father Makes A Plea [Warning: Graphic] Abdul-Baki Todashev is calling for justice for his son, the Tamerlan Tsarnaev associate who was killed by the FBI in Florida. December 30, 2013, Boston

Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield February 26, 2014, interview on MSNBC (transcript)

The Murders Before the Marathon Waltham, September 11, 2011: Three men, throats slit, cash and drugs left on the bodies. Two years later, two dead suspects: Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and a friend who the FBI says was about to confess. One haunting question: Could solving this case have prevented the Boston Marathon bombings? March 2014 cover story, Boston

519: Dead Men Tell No Tales Last May, a weird story made the news: the FBI killed a guy in Florida who was loosely linked to the Boston Marathon bombings. He was shot seven times in his living room by a federal agent. What really happened? Why was the FBI even in that room with him? A reporter spent six months looking into it, and she found that the FBI was doing a bunch of things that never made the news. March 7, 2014, This American Life

FBI Agent Cleared In Shooting Death of Ibragim Todashev The FBI did no wrong when its agents shot Ibragim Todashev to death last May 22 while interrogating him in his apartment in Tampa. That’s the conclusion of two different investigations of the incidents—conducted by the FBI and Florida State Prosecutor Jeff Ashton—according to reports leaked to several major news outlets today. March 21, 2014, Boston

Ibragim Todashev's Last Confession “We put them on the ground,” his confession reads in part. March 25, 2014, Boston

Solving a triple murder case might have prevented the Boston Marathon bombings March 25, 2014, interview on PRI

Waltham Crime Scene Didn't Match Description of Triple-Murder in Todashev's Confession The English is awkward and the handwriting in places illegible, but the threadbare narrative that emerges from Ibragim Todashev’s alleged confession note seems to contradict the facts of the crime to which Todashev was allegedly confessing. March 27, 2014, Boston

Boston Murder Connected To The Marathon Bombings, The Price of Privacy, And Hot Dog Emojis April 3, 2014, interview in NHPR

Broadside: Murders Before the Marathon, April 3, 2014, interview on NECN

Could Ibragim Todashev's Confession Have Been False? This American Life takes a look at the evidence. April 4, 2014, Boston

Five myths about the Boston Marathon bombing. April 4, 2014, The Washington Post

The Guilt of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Trial in Review Apr 9, 2015, interview on NECN

ACLU Sues FBI, Carmen Ortiz for Details on Ibragim Todashev Shooting Among other things, the Massachusetts ACLU suit would compel the FBI to release audio and video recordings of what the agency has described as Todashev’s confession to his and Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s roles in a triple murder in Waltham. April 11, 2014, Boston

FBI Admits It Missed Opportunities to Stop Tamerlan Tsarnaev In a newly unclassified report, bureau agents describe a “huge” lapse that could have “changed everything” about the Boston marathon bombing. April 11, 2014, Boston

Broadside: New questions in Todashev case Apr 15, 2014, interview on NECN

FBI: Tsarnaev Surveillance Allegations 'Patently False' The bureau maintains it didn’t know the identities of the bombing suspects until after Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s corpse was fingerprinted, contrary to what an MIT patrol supervisor has to say. April 24, 2014, Boston

Ibragim Todashev's Death, One Year Later Since then, every detail about Todashev’s death seems to raise more haunting questions. May 22, 2014, Boston

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Friend Pleads Guilty If a judge accepts the agreement, Dias Kadyrbayev, facing obstruction charges for disposing of Tsarnaev’s backpack after the Marathon bombings, will serve a maximum of seven years. August 22, 2014, Boston

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Appears for First Time in a Year The Boston Marathon bombing suspect attended a hearing, his first appearance in more than a year. December 18, 2014, Boston

Looking Ahead to the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Trial December 23, 2014, interview on NECN

Tsarnaev Trial Set to Start Despite Attempts at Delay Experts believe that the jury selection process for the case could be difficult. January 2, 2015, Boston

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Trial Has Started Thousands of Eastern Massachusetts residents are expected to be called for jury duty in the next three weeks. January 5, 2015, Boston

A Tale of Two Bombing Trials Timothy McVeigh’s attorney Stephen Jones offers his insight into the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial. January 12, 2015, Boston

Jury Selection Continues in Tsarnaev Trial The second phase of jury selection in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial kicked off this morning at Boston’s John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse. January 15, 2015, Boston

A Long Day in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Jury Pool One by one, 20 residents of Eastern Massachusetts took a seat at a table across from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and stated whether they would be able to sentence him to death if the jury finds him guilty. January 16, 2015, Boston

Arguments Pushed Back in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Trial Court says the January 26 start date “is not realistic.” January 22, 2015, Boston

The Grisly Murder That Could Save Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Jan 27, 2015, Vocativ

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Is Smart to Plead Not Guilty Why the alleged Boston Marathon bomber’s plea is not as crazy as it may seem. January 30, 2015, Boston

In ‘Extraordinary’ Move, Appellate Court Rules to Hold Hearing in Midst of Tsarnaev Trial Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has one last chance to take his case out of Boston. February 12, 2015, Boston

Tsarnaev Attorneys to Appeals Court: Public’s Faith in Justice at Risk The argument fell on slightly new ears. February 19, 2015, Boston

FBI Faces $30m Lawsuit for Killing Tsarnaev’s Friend Ibragim Todashev A Chechen national was killed in his home by the FBI during their investigation into the Tsarnaev brothers; today his family has filed a wrongful-death claim. March, 2, 2015, The Daily Beast

Is the Boston Bomb-Maker on the Loose? The government admits there's no evidence showing Dzhokar Tsarnaev actually built the bombs he's accused of setting off. March 3, 2015, The Daily Beast

Who Made the Boston Marathon Bombs? Mar 4, 2015, interview on NECN

How the D.C. Sniper Defense Could Get the Boston Bomber Off: Dzokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers banking on a jury that believes he was brainwashed by his brother. It worked in the case of the D.C. sniper. March 5, 2015, The Daily Beast

Politics Nation with Al Sharpton March 5, 2015, interview on MSNBC

Jailed For Knowing the Boston Bomber: Is Mustafa Ozseferoglu a victim of overzealous police work, or is he a key cog in a larger investigation? March 8, 2015, The Daily Beast

The Devastating Story of Lingzi Lu's Last Breath And why gruesome testimony early on could actually help Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s case. March 11, 2015, Boston

The Phantom Video of the Boston Bomber Trial You did not see a video of Dzokhar Tsarnaev placing explosives at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. You may think you did, but you didn't. So why can you remember it anyway? March 13, 2015, The Daily Beast

The Downfall of the Boston Bombers’ Gun Runner Stephen Silva’s life as a drug runner fell apart after his childhood friend Dzokhar Tsarnaev allegedly set off a bomb at the Boston Marathon. But with his somewhat sympathetic defense, why did the government call him to the witness stand, anyway? March 18, 2015, The Daily Beast

Mind and Motive of Tsarnaev Brothers Mar 19, 2015, interview on NECN

‘The FBI Is Trying to Destroy My Life’ After a year of being trailed by the FBI for knowing the Boston bombers, Khairullozhon Matanov was arrested. He is now headed to jail. And he’s not alone. March 26, 2015, The Daily Beast

Can Tsarnaev Avoid the Death Penalty? Apr 6, 2015, interview on NECN

Jury Must Decide If Tsarnaev Is Evil or Just Brainwashed The prosecution and defense aren't arguing about his guilt but rather his frame of mind during the Boston bombing. April 7, 2015, The Daily Beast

Guilty 30 Times Over, The Boston Bomber Finally Stops Smiling The government is closer than ever to its ultimate goal: sending Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, now a convicted terrorist, to death row. April 8, 2015, The Daily Beast

‘They Made Me Do It’ Defense Fizzles in Boston The defenses in the two murder trials gripping Boston—one with Aaron Hernandez, the other with now-convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—have a lot in common. April 9, 2015, The Daily Beast

Blood Brothers: Sibling Influence in Crime April 9, 2015, interview on WYNC

How Feds Blew The Boston Bombing Case The inability of the Joint Terror Task Force to admit any intelligence failures means that events like Monday’s marathon are no safer in 2015 than they were two years ago. April 21, 2015, The Daily Beast

Life or Death? First Day of Tsarnaev Sentencing Phase Apr 21, 2015, interview on NECN

How Could Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Wife Not Have Known? The inability of the Joint Terror Task Force to admit any intelligence failures means that events like Monday’s marathon are no safer in 2015 than they were two years ago. April 28, 2015, The Daily Beast

Tsarnaev Relative Emotional in Court May 4, 2015, interview on NECN

Tsarnaev’s Dead Eyes Got Him Killed The surviving member of the pair of Boston Bombers showed little remorse—or any emotion, really—during his trial. It may have earned him the death penalty. May 15, 2015, The Daily Beast

Tsarnaev Death Sentence: How the Jury Decided May 15, 2015, interview on NECN

Tsarnaev sentenced to death for Boston Marathon bombing May 15, 2015, interview on PRI

A US jury has sentenced Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death by legal injection. May 16, 2015, interview on BBC4

FBI Releases Files Relating to Killing of Ibragim Todashev Belated and heavily redacted, of course. June 17, 2015, Boston

Was Tsarnaev’s Apology Part of a Strategy to Keep Him Alive? Was the Boston bomber’s apology part of a last-second appeals trick to keep him off death row? Legal experts are split. June 24, 2015, The Daily Beast

Boston Marathon bomber apologizes at sentencing hearing June 24, 2015, interview on PRI

Maura Healey Hasn’t Been Briefed on the Waltham Triple Murder Case Nearly half a year after stepping into office, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey still has not been briefed on the 2011 Waltham triple murder, which, had it been solved, may have prevented the Boston Marathon bombing. June 25, 2015, Boston

Tsarnaev Juror Speaks, Tries to Sell Book A former federal judge says keeping jurors anonymous is unprecedented. August 14, 2015, Boston

Man linked to Tsarnaev gun sentenced on weapons charges The man convicted of supplying the black Ruger P95 ultimately obtained by Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev was sentenced to six months in prison.July 26, 2016, Boston.com

Judge orders FBI, Ortiz to turn over documents on Mass. Joint Terrorism Task Forces, A U.S. District judge has ordered the FBI to turn over documents about the state’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. August 17, 2016, Boston.com

Reniya Manukyan, Wife of Ibragim Todashev, Indicted She allegedly lied to the FBI. September 26, 2016, Boston

Boston Bomber Told FBI He Was Approached by Mystery ‘Men in Suits’ Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have called the FBI when they interviewed him about shadowy figures—not about intelligence saying he might be a terrorist. April 13, 2017, The Daily Beast

Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the FBI Apr 14, 2017, interview on NECN

Tsarnaev, Three Murders in Waltham, The Death Penalty, and Me, Feb 4, 2022 Boston Magazine