Ibragim Todashev, the mixed martial artist shot dead early today in his home in Florida by the FBI after he tried to stab an FBI agent, was directly involved along with Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a 2011 triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts that some think was an antisemitic or terrorist attack, Pete Williams of NBC News is reporting.

Before he tried to stab the FBI agent, Todashev reportedly admitted murdering Brendan Mess, Erik Weissman, and Raphael Teken on September 11, 2011 – 10 years to the day after the 9-11 terror attacks – with Tsarnaev.
The three victims had their throats slit from ear to ear, and were nearly decapitated.

Thousands of dollars worth of marijuana and cash was thrown on top of their mutilated bodies.

At the time, the district attorney said that it seemed that the killer and the victims were not strangers to each other, and that the murders were not random.

Todashev reportedly told the FBI the motivation for the murders was to cover up their theft of drugs and cash from the victims.
Todashev and Tsarnaev originally planned to steal the drugs and cash, leaving the victims unharmed, Todashev reportedly claimed.

But as the crime unfolded, they became concerned that the tree victims would report them to police or retaliate against them in other ways, so Todashev and Tsarnaev murdered them.

Before the murders, Tsarnaev had described one of the victims, Brendan Mess, as his “best friend,” although the two had grown estranged in the months leading up to the murders due to complaints Tsarnaev reportedly had about Mess’ lifestyle.

Law enforcement sources told NBC News that there is no evidence the murders were terrorism related.