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Source: Man killed by FBI agent 'directly involved' in murders, knew Tsarnaevs
By Michael Martinez. Tom Watkins and Susan Candiotti, CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/justice/florida-fbi-shooting-boston/index.html
May 22, 2013 -- Updated 2010 GMT (0410 HKT)
NEW: Ibragim Todashev is "directly involved" in a triple murder in
Massachusetts, a source says
He knew deceased Boston bombing suspect through martial arts
Todashev had Tamerlan Tsarnaev's phone number in his cell phone, source says
Boxer-turned-jihadist William Plotnikov was part of Web forum joined by Todashev
(CNN) -- Ibragim Todashev, shot dead early Wednesday by the FBI in
Florida, was "directly involved" in a 2011 triple homicide in Waltham,
Massachusetts, a law enforcement official told CNN Wednesday.
Todashev was fatally shot by an FBI agent during questioning about
those homicides and whether he played a role in last month's Boston
Marathon bombings.
"During questioning, it became clear that he was involved in the
murders," said the official on condition of anonymity.
There was a confrontation between him and police during the
questioning, according to a second law enforcement official, which led
to the shooting and Todashev's death.
The unsolved triple murder received renewed interest after it was
learned that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a deceased suspect in the Boston
Marathon attacks, had been a good friend of one of the victims, all of
whom were found with their throats slit.
Todashev also had ties with Tsarnaev and had been acquainted with him
at a mixed martial arts center near Boston, said a source who was
briefed on the bombing investigation.
Todashev had Tsarnaev's phone number in his cell phone, the source said.
Both were members of the mixed martial arts forum Sherdog.com, along
with Russian-Canadian boxer-turned-jihadist William Plotnikov, the
source said.
Last month, CNN reported that Plotnikov and six others died in a July
2012 firefight with Russian forces in the southwestern republic of
Dagestan, while Tsarnaev was visiting the region, according to a
source briefed on the investigation.
Photos: Suspects tied to Boston bombings
Police: Man linked to Tsarnaev shot
An FBI agent fatally shot Todashev in Orlando as authorities
investigated whether Todashev was connected to the Boston Marathon
bombings, a U.S. law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the
Boston case told CNN.
Todashev, 27, also knew Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is also a suspect in
the April 15 bombings, the official said. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, injured
and captured after a manhunt, is being held by authorities. Tamerlan
Tsarnaev, his older brother, was killed in a shootout with police
shortly after the bombings.
The agent shot in self-defense in the incident, which occurred at
Todashev's house, the law enforcement source said.
Todashev was from the Chechnya region, as were the Tsarnaev brothers,
the source said.
Todashev was granted political asylum in 2008 but that he came to the
US some time before that, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
Todashev has living in the US as a legal resident because of that
asylum claim, the official said.
While the man was being questioned by an FBI agent, two Massachusetts
State Police troopers and other law enforcement personnel, "a violent
confrontation was initiated by the individual," FBI spokesman Jason
Pack said.
Todashev was killed and "the agent sustained non-life-threatening
injuries," Pack said.
Agents were led to Todashev, who had once lived in Boston, "through
investigative leads," the official said.
In the 2011 Massachusetts triple homicide, the Middlesex County
district attorney's office said at the time that the victims and two
unknown perpetrators appeared to know each other and that it was not a
random crime. No suspects were named then. The three victims were
killed by "sharp force injuries of the neck," District Attorney Gerry
Leone said.
Suspect: Bombing was payback for hits on Muslims
Todashev had been living in the United States as a legal resident
since approximately 2008, the source said.
The source added that the FBI had been investigating Todashev for about a month.
The FBI had followed Todashev for days, his friend told CNN affiliate
Florida News 13.
Khasuen Taramov told the TV station that Todashev was living in Boston
a couple of years ago when he became acquainted with Tamerlan
Tsarnaev; after the deadly Boston Marathon bombings, the FBI began
questioning and following Todashev and Taramov.
Todashev "wasn't like real close friends (with Tsarnaev), but he just
happened to know him," Taramov said. "But he had no idea that they
were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know
what I mean?"
He told CNN affiliate WESH that Todashev and Tsarnaev had spoken by
telephone about a month before the bombings.
"It was a complete shock to him," Taramov said.
The two met in Boston, where Todashev had lived and where there is a
small, closely knit community of Chechens, said Taramov.
Their telephone conversation before the bombings contained nothing but
routine pleasantries, he said. "It was 'How are you doing, how's your
family?' That's all."
Taramov said he himself was questioned by the FBI for three hours
Tuesday night. Asked what he was asked, Taramov said, "Different kind
of questions like 'what do you think about bombings,' 'do you know
these guys,' blah blah blah, what is my views on certain stuff."
He said Todashev was not a radical. "He was just a Muslim. That was
his mistake, I guess."
Taramov said his friend had told him he had a bad feeling about the
direction the investigation was heading. "He felt like there's going
to be a setup ... bad setup against him. Because he told me, 'They are
making up such crazy stuff, I don't know ... why they doing it. OK,
I'm answering the questions, but they are still making up some, like,
connections, some crazy stuff. I don't know why they are doing it.' "
Before meeting with the FBI for a 7:30 p.m. interview Tuesday, Taramov
said, his friend asked him to take his parents' telephone numbers. "He
just told me, 'Take the numbers, in case something happens, if I get
locked up, or whatever, call them.' You know what I mean?
"We were expecting to get him locked up, but not getting him killed. I
can't believe it."
Todashev was unemployed and had been living on insurance money after
surgery for an accident. "He used to be a fighter, MMA fighter,"
Taramov said, in a reference to mixed martial arts.
Todashev was arrested this month on a charge of aggravated battery
after getting into a fight over a parking spot with a man and his son
outside an Orlando mall.
The son was taken to a hospital with head injuries, a split upper lip
and several teeth knocked out of place, the Orange County Sheriff's
Office said in a report.
"Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had
surgery in March," the report said. He told the police that he was a
former mixed martial arts fighter, it said.
Todashev, described as 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, was released on $3,500 bond.
Asked about the incident, Taramov downplayed it. "He had a fight in
the parking lot, the two guys jumped on him ... pretty much he just
defended himself against two," he told WESH. "The only mistake: he did
kick their ass and left."
Todashev had recently gotten his green card and had been planning to
visit his parents in Chechnya, and then return to the United States,
but canceled the plans, Taramov said.
Now, he added, he was planning to call his friend's parents.
An FBI shooting-incident review team was expected to arrive within 24
hours in Orlando, said Special Agent Dave Couvertier, an FBI
spokesman. Such reviews are standard when an agent is involved in a
shooting.
By Michael Martinez. Tom Watkins and Susan Candiotti, CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/justice/florida-fbi-shooting-boston/index.html
May 22, 2013 -- Updated 2010 GMT (0410 HKT)
NEW: Ibragim Todashev is "directly involved" in a triple murder in
Massachusetts, a source says
He knew deceased Boston bombing suspect through martial arts
Todashev had Tamerlan Tsarnaev's phone number in his cell phone, source says
Boxer-turned-jihadist William Plotnikov was part of Web forum joined by Todashev
(CNN) -- Ibragim Todashev, shot dead early Wednesday by the FBI in
Florida, was "directly involved" in a 2011 triple homicide in Waltham,
Massachusetts, a law enforcement official told CNN Wednesday.
Todashev was fatally shot by an FBI agent during questioning about
those homicides and whether he played a role in last month's Boston
Marathon bombings.
"During questioning, it became clear that he was involved in the
murders," said the official on condition of anonymity.
There was a confrontation between him and police during the
questioning, according to a second law enforcement official, which led
to the shooting and Todashev's death.
The unsolved triple murder received renewed interest after it was
learned that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a deceased suspect in the Boston
Marathon attacks, had been a good friend of one of the victims, all of
whom were found with their throats slit.
Todashev also had ties with Tsarnaev and had been acquainted with him
at a mixed martial arts center near Boston, said a source who was
briefed on the bombing investigation.
Todashev had Tsarnaev's phone number in his cell phone, the source said.
Both were members of the mixed martial arts forum Sherdog.com, along
with Russian-Canadian boxer-turned-jihadist William Plotnikov, the
source said.
Last month, CNN reported that Plotnikov and six others died in a July
2012 firefight with Russian forces in the southwestern republic of
Dagestan, while Tsarnaev was visiting the region, according to a
source briefed on the investigation.
Photos: Suspects tied to Boston bombings
Police: Man linked to Tsarnaev shot
An FBI agent fatally shot Todashev in Orlando as authorities
investigated whether Todashev was connected to the Boston Marathon
bombings, a U.S. law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the
Boston case told CNN.
Todashev, 27, also knew Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is also a suspect in
the April 15 bombings, the official said. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, injured
and captured after a manhunt, is being held by authorities. Tamerlan
Tsarnaev, his older brother, was killed in a shootout with police
shortly after the bombings.
The agent shot in self-defense in the incident, which occurred at
Todashev's house, the law enforcement source said.
Todashev was from the Chechnya region, as were the Tsarnaev brothers,
the source said.
Todashev was granted political asylum in 2008 but that he came to the
US some time before that, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
Todashev has living in the US as a legal resident because of that
asylum claim, the official said.
While the man was being questioned by an FBI agent, two Massachusetts
State Police troopers and other law enforcement personnel, "a violent
confrontation was initiated by the individual," FBI spokesman Jason
Pack said.
Todashev was killed and "the agent sustained non-life-threatening
injuries," Pack said.
Agents were led to Todashev, who had once lived in Boston, "through
investigative leads," the official said.
In the 2011 Massachusetts triple homicide, the Middlesex County
district attorney's office said at the time that the victims and two
unknown perpetrators appeared to know each other and that it was not a
random crime. No suspects were named then. The three victims were
killed by "sharp force injuries of the neck," District Attorney Gerry
Leone said.
Suspect: Bombing was payback for hits on Muslims
Todashev had been living in the United States as a legal resident
since approximately 2008, the source said.
The source added that the FBI had been investigating Todashev for about a month.
The FBI had followed Todashev for days, his friend told CNN affiliate
Florida News 13.
Khasuen Taramov told the TV station that Todashev was living in Boston
a couple of years ago when he became acquainted with Tamerlan
Tsarnaev; after the deadly Boston Marathon bombings, the FBI began
questioning and following Todashev and Taramov.
Todashev "wasn't like real close friends (with Tsarnaev), but he just
happened to know him," Taramov said. "But he had no idea that they
were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know
what I mean?"
He told CNN affiliate WESH that Todashev and Tsarnaev had spoken by
telephone about a month before the bombings.
"It was a complete shock to him," Taramov said.
The two met in Boston, where Todashev had lived and where there is a
small, closely knit community of Chechens, said Taramov.
Their telephone conversation before the bombings contained nothing but
routine pleasantries, he said. "It was 'How are you doing, how's your
family?' That's all."
Taramov said he himself was questioned by the FBI for three hours
Tuesday night. Asked what he was asked, Taramov said, "Different kind
of questions like 'what do you think about bombings,' 'do you know
these guys,' blah blah blah, what is my views on certain stuff."
He said Todashev was not a radical. "He was just a Muslim. That was
his mistake, I guess."
Taramov said his friend had told him he had a bad feeling about the
direction the investigation was heading. "He felt like there's going
to be a setup ... bad setup against him. Because he told me, 'They are
making up such crazy stuff, I don't know ... why they doing it. OK,
I'm answering the questions, but they are still making up some, like,
connections, some crazy stuff. I don't know why they are doing it.' "
Before meeting with the FBI for a 7:30 p.m. interview Tuesday, Taramov
said, his friend asked him to take his parents' telephone numbers. "He
just told me, 'Take the numbers, in case something happens, if I get
locked up, or whatever, call them.' You know what I mean?
"We were expecting to get him locked up, but not getting him killed. I
can't believe it."
Todashev was unemployed and had been living on insurance money after
surgery for an accident. "He used to be a fighter, MMA fighter,"
Taramov said, in a reference to mixed martial arts.
Todashev was arrested this month on a charge of aggravated battery
after getting into a fight over a parking spot with a man and his son
outside an Orlando mall.
The son was taken to a hospital with head injuries, a split upper lip
and several teeth knocked out of place, the Orange County Sheriff's
Office said in a report.
"Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had
surgery in March," the report said. He told the police that he was a
former mixed martial arts fighter, it said.
Todashev, described as 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, was released on $3,500 bond.
Asked about the incident, Taramov downplayed it. "He had a fight in
the parking lot, the two guys jumped on him ... pretty much he just
defended himself against two," he told WESH. "The only mistake: he did
kick their ass and left."
Todashev had recently gotten his green card and had been planning to
visit his parents in Chechnya, and then return to the United States,
but canceled the plans, Taramov said.
Now, he added, he was planning to call his friend's parents.
An FBI shooting-incident review team was expected to arrive within 24
hours in Orlando, said Special Agent Dave Couvertier, an FBI
spokesman. Such reviews are standard when an agent is involved in a
shooting.