News Digest

Boston bombing suspect allegedly knew of brother’s role in 2011 murders

Federal prosecutors have identified a witness prepared to testify that Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev knew his older brother and alleged accomplice Tamerlan participated in a 2011 triple murder outside Boston. The disclosure was made by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s defense team in a federal court filing Friday, as part of a larger push by his attorneys to gain access to “discovery” evidence compiled by the federal government in its case against Tsarnaev for the April 2013 bombings which killed three and injured several hundred near the marathon’s finish line.

We have not forgotten about Brendan, Erik or Raphael. Our hope remains that we are eventually able to provide justice for the victims’ families.

Stephanie Chelf Guyotte, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office spokesman

The Sept. 11, 2011, murders, which occurred in Waltham, Mass., a suburb of Boston, remain officially unsolved. But the murders, which were initially written off by local police as a drug deal gone bad, have now become a plot point in the Boston bombings. This is the first time there’s been a suggestion that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might have been aware of his brother’s alleged participation in the murders. Some are speculating that if the the triple murders had been solved, this might have prevented the marathon attacks.