Case overview
On September 11, 2011, three men were found dead in a Waltham, Massachusetts apartment, their throats slashed and bodies covered in marijuana. No arrests were made for more than a year, until investigators began examining a personal connection to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died during the manhunt following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The case remains officially unsolved.
The scene at 12 Harding Avenue
Brendan Mess, 25, Erik Weissman, 31, and Raphael Teken, 37, were discovered in Mess’s ground-floor apartment on the evening of September 12, 2011. All three had been killed by deep cuts to the throat. Their bodies were positioned face-up, and several pounds of marijuana were scattered across them. Cash and other valuables were left untouched. The apartment showed no signs of forced entry.
Middlesex County investigators treated the scene as a targeted killing. The violence suggested familiarity between the victims and the assailant. The lack of defensive wounds indicated the victims may have been incapacitated or caught off guard. No murder weapon was recovered.
The victims
Brendan Mess was a personal trainer and former high school athlete. Erik Weissman worked in marketing and lived in Waltham. Raphael Teken was a bodybuilder from Cambridge. All three were described by family and friends as involved in recreational marijuana use and occasional sales, though none had serious criminal records.
Mess had been close friends with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a former Golden Gloves boxer. The two had trained together and socialized frequently. Tsarnaev did not attend Mess’s funeral, a detail later cited by investigators as unusual given their documented friendship.
The investigation stalls
In the months following the murders, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office made little public progress. No suspects were named. No clear motive emerged. Investigators canvassed the neighborhood, interviewed associates, and examined financial records tied to the victims’ marijuana activity, but no arrests followed.
The case received limited media attention. It was classified as a drug-related homicide, and the investigation appeared to slow considerably by early 2012.
The Boston Marathon bombing shifts focus
On April 15, 2013, two pressure-cooker bombs detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds. Within days, federal and local authorities identified brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as suspects. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a shootout with police in Watertown on April 19, 2013. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured later that day.
As investigators examined the brothers’ backgrounds, a connection to Brendan Mess surfaced. Records showed Tsarnaev and Mess had been close friends. Investigators reviewed the Waltham homicides and began treating Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a person of interest.
Evidence reviewed but never brought to trial
Investigators identified circumstantial links between Tsarnaev and the September 11, 2011 murders. According to reporting by Boston Magazine and other investigative outlets, authorities found that Tsarnaev had no verifiable alibi for the night of the killings. His phone records placed him in the area. He stopped contacting Mess after September 11, despite their prior frequent communication.
Authorities also noted that Tsarnaev’s behavior shifted following the murders. He became more religiously conservative, stopped boxing competitively, and distanced himself from former associates. Investigators explored whether the killings were connected to a drug transaction, a personal dispute, or ideological motivations tied to Tsarnaev’s increasing radicalization.
Despite this scrutiny, no charges were filed. Tsarnaev was never formally named as a suspect by the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.
The Todashev interrogation and shooting
In May 2013, FBI agents and Massachusetts State Police traveled to Orlando, Florida to interview Ibragim Todashev, a mixed martial arts fighter who had known both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Waltham victims. During the interrogation, Todashev allegedly began drafting a written confession implicating himself and Tsarnaev in the triple homicide.
According to the FBI, Todashev became violent during questioning, lunging at agents with a metal object. He was shot and killed by an FBI agent. The shooting was later ruled justified by Florida authorities.
No signed confession was recovered. The details of what Todashev said, and how much of his account was corroborated, remain partially sealed in investigative files. His family disputed the FBI’s version of events and questioned whether he would have confessed to a crime he did not commit.
Where the case stands
The Waltham murders remain open and unsolved. The Middlesex District Attorney’s office has not declared the case closed, nor has it publicly cleared or charged any individual. Tamerlan Tsarnaev is widely considered by investigators and journalists to be the primary suspect, but the absence of a trial, a surviving suspect, or a full confession means the case exists in a procedural gap.
Families of the victims have expressed frustration with the lack of resolution. In interviews, they have questioned why the case was not prioritized earlier and whether evidence was compromised by the delayed focus on Tsarnaev.
The case underscores a recurring issue in homicide investigations tied to individuals who die before charges are filed. Without a conviction or formal closure, the families are left with strong suspicions, but no legal resolution.
Where to look next
- Documentary: “Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing” (HBO)
- Book: “Long Mile Home: Boston Under Attack, the City’s Courageous Recovery, and the Epic Hunt for Justice” by Scott Helman and Jenna Russell
- Podcast: “The Waltham Murders” (“In the Dark”, APM Reports)
