The story has been around before, but now there is forensic backing for what was just a theory. And the evidence doesn’t just link Tamerlan Tsanraev to the murders, but his brother as well.
Massachusetts investigators have developed what they call “mounting evidence,” bolstered by “forensic hits,” that point to the possible involvement of both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother Dzhokhar in a gruesome, unsolved triple homicide in 2011, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
In the wake of the Marathon bombings, Middlesex County began to probe a link between the elder Tsarnaev and Brendan Mess, one of the three men killed in the gruesome slaying on Sept. 11, 2011. Officials said Mess and two men were found in a Waltham residence with their throats slit and their bodies covered with marijuana. Tamerlan and Mess were once roommates and did boxing and martial arts training together.
Mess and his friends, Erik Weissman, 31, and Raphael Teken, 37, had ordered dinner from Gerry’s Italian Kitchen at 8:54 p.m., but when a delivery woman arrived twenty minutes later there was no answer at the door and no one answered a call to Weissman’s cell phone, from which the order was placed.
Roughly seven pounds of marijuana was dumped on the bodies and $5,000 in cash was left behind. Neighbors said they did not hear any signs of trouble – even with open windows – and there was no forced entry. In a 2011 interview, Leone said investigators theorized there had been more than one person at the scene of the murders based on “many factors,” but no suspects were identified.
Then, Gerry’s Italian Kitchen became a focal point again on April 24, nine days after the Marathon bombing, after investigators removed a Planet Aid charity donation bin from its parking lot. A driver had discovered discarded fireworks inside and law enforcement sources told ABC News the gunpowder had been removed from the cartridges.
It is unclear how the Tsarnaev brothers were associated with Gerry’s Italian Kitchen, if at all, but looking back, multiple residents of Waltham and Watertown remember Tamerlan Tsarnaev delivering food to their homes and Tsarnaev family members have told reporters the brothers worked as pizza deliverymen. The eatery’s management, however, steadfastly denied that either Tsarnaev brother worked there.
Now law enforcement officials tell ABC News that some crime scene forensic evidence provided a match to the two Tsarnaev brothers. The officials also said records of cell phones used by the Tsarnaevs appears to put them in the area of the murders on that date.
The officials cautioned that until more definitive DNA testing is complete, it is still too early to consider bringing an indictment against the younger of the two brothers.
The owner of Gerry’s Italian Kitchen appears to be the not-very-Italian, Suhail Oweis. Based on the name, Suhail is very likely Muslim. As part of Suhail’s commitment to all things Italian, Suhail Oweis owns Ravioli, Inc which is probably also Raviolis Brick Oven Pizzaria. And then there’s Sabastinos Italian Kitchen.
And also possibly a Global Processing Systems and something called WCD. Inc. Also involved is a Samir Lweis. These interact with Bassam Enterprises, which appears to own at least one of these businesses, and whose owner has links to the Saudi, Qatari and UAE embassies.
In other words, nothing suspicious to see here.