FL - Ibragim Todashev Shooting Incident, Orlando, 22 May 2013

[i.b.nora]

From the article linked above (Eyewitness: Waltham Crime Scene Didn’t Match Description of Triple-Murder in Todashev’s Confession):

"But when Hiba Eltilib discovered the bodies of her boyfriend Brendan Mess, 25, Erik Weissman, 31, and Raphael Teken, 37, their hands were not bound or taped, she said Wednesday in a phone call from Sudan. Eltilib said that she found the bodies in three different rooms, all belly-down, in neat pools of blood, heads turned to the side.

“None of their hands were tied as I recall,” she said."

Astounding!

Also, who verified that the handwriting in the note was that of Ibragim?

 

[i.b.nora]

This is an interesting WESH report that I had not seen before today. It shows pages from what I think is the official FBI report which was loaned to Ashton and which no one is supposed to see. It shows their floorplan of where things were or where they ended up, and a photo or two of the actual final scene with (presumably) the dead body blacked out.

It does make it easier to picture the written descriptions.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GM2MX3vSzzo

Also, Rachel talked a little last week about Ashton's report. I couldn't really bring myself to deal with it at all until today, apparently.

She pointed out, as I recall, that Ashton didn't actually talk to anyone to do his investigation, he/they just read what the FBI reported, and I guess looked at the autopsy (which is also Top Secret).

He also started out, in my opinion, to effectively dismiss the culpability of the officer before he even started the so-called investigation. Ergo, this quote from one of the Globe articles.

"... But even as he states that there was no misconduct, Ashton also seemed to question whether law enforcement officers should ever bear responsibility for “poor judgement” at all."

Sometimes I think the FBI and law enforcement does some good things, for instance, I have been following the Leland Yee and "Shrimp Boy" Chow case and am still slowly working my way through the 137 page criminal complaint. It's going to make a great movie!!! The undercover FBI investigation has gone on for a number of years, involves at least 26 people being arrested, and so far no one has been killed.

 

[time]

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2014/04/update-dead-men-tell-no-tales

I don't know why I am finding Trainum's comments about false confessions confusing, may need more coffee.

We called Jim Trainum, to get his take on it. Trainum is a former D.C. police detective who’s an expert on false confessions. (We did a story about Trainum and false confessions last fall.) Trainum does not have inside knowledge of Ibragim's case. But he said that in general, in a reliable confession, when someone gives incorrect details it's usually because they're minimizing their role in the crime, not increasing it.

"For example," he said, "a guy who kidnapped and murdered a child will admit to those but not to the sexual assault. However, if it were the opposite — if you had no sexual assault and the person admits sexual assault — then what’s going on there? Why increase their culpability?"

...Richard Wallsh, the executive director of Florida State Attorney Jeff Ashton’s office, told us the chief investigator in charge of looking into Ibragim’s shooting did consider the possibility that Ibragim had given a false confession. But Wallsh said that wasn't the focus of their investigation, and the fact that the Massachusetts state troopers felt they had probable cause to arrest Ibragim led the investigator to conclude that the confession was legitimate.

...We believe it’s possible that law enforcement is correct about Ibragim’s confession, and that he told the truth. But we believe there’s also a possibility that Ibragim gave a false or partially false confession. It’s possible he was not involved in the triple murder.

Unfortunately, my bet is that the Waltham murders will not be dealt with thoroughly until after DT's trial.

Much has been done on false confessions in the last few years, so I hope to hear more about what experts in the field think about IT's confession. I'd really lke to know what else he said and if he had any knowledge that would not be known to the public, for instance, or if anything he said sheds any light on the murders (or not).

 

[time]

Sometimes I think the FBI and law enforcement does some good things, for instance, I have been following the Leland Yee and "Shrimp Boy" Chow case and am still slowly working my way through the 137 page criminal complaint. It's going to make a great movie!!! The undercover FBI investigation has gone on for a number of years, involves at least 26 people being arrested, and so far no one has been killed.

That was all a shocker...glad they uncovered all of it though. Per the movie, yes, it will be great. You know what they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

 

[i.b.nora]

The This American Life article was good!

I think I understand what Trainum said. But, it helped me to listen to the interview with him about the false confession of "Kim", for which he was directly responsible. There is a link to it in the article. It begins about ten minutes into the program.

I kind of doubt we will ever here anything again about the Waltham case. I find this whole thing is just too depressing. To me, the only value in the Ashton 'investigation' is that portions of it have been leaked and it allows us to get a glimpse of what was in the FBI investigation. Otherwise, it seems more like a poorly researched, bad term paper.

 

[time]

Interesting listening to the Kim story and Trainum's path to realizing he was leading the witness into a false confession. I'm surprised how many false confessions actually happen still. It's a travesty along with other things that lead to wrongful convictions.

I'm still a bit confused about Trainum's comments in relation to Ibragim. I'm just trying to be objective, so I'm trying to be open to the idea of whether his confession was the truth or not, coerced or not. Again, I'm sure the FBI and other law enforcement often makes mistakes and sometimes are culpable of wrongdoing (keeping it broad here), so take this in that light.

I highly suspect that Ibragim was involved in the Waltham murders. Evidently, he was a POI and the FBI wanted to interview him partially or mostly about his alibi for Sept 11, 2011. In the long report by Ashton, it does say they had new info on his whereabouts that day and I think the indications are that he was in the area. I think it's possible Ibragim just thought it was a burglary or for some other reason, but IDK.

While I am a little dismayed with some of what transpired by the FBI, etc. I am also dismayed about the info that was evidently held back (or was unknown) by the other side...

The attorneys for the Todashev family elected not to share the purported alibi information with the government. They advised that the witness who had the information was afraid to come forward to federal authorities. (cite)

Todashev’s widow spoke to WBZ-TV exclusively by phone from Russia.


“No. I don’t believe it,” Reni Manukyan said of the report. “Besides that, there were so many different versions of what happened. They had released so many different things that he was with a gun, with a knife, with a grate, with a broomstick, with a chair.”

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/03/...ared-in-shooting-death-of-tsarnaev-associate/

BBM - first of all, I think most of this came from anonymous, supposed LE sources, but never the FBI (some analysis of claims here). And, I think Reni owes it to both Ibragim and the rest of us to read the entire report before commenting on the news. Her comments only seem to pertain to those iffy anonymous official sources, but none of the substance that could be drawn from the lengthy report. What is claimed in the report involved three possible weapons, a sword (not used but removed from the wall by LE), a table (and the officer does have a big gash on his head and his blood/DNA all over), and a broomstick (just the stick).

I think we are wise to question our government, FBI, CIA, local LE and so on. I just don't think in this case, they are wrong and it's too bad in some ways this has become just one more sensationalized news story instead of looking at this more objectively.

 

[BostonMom]

Still frustrating the City of Waltham knows nothing! Not even the Mayor!

The mayor of Waltham says she is frustrated by the lack of information available to the public about the unsolved 2011 slayings of three men that have been linked to one of the men suspected in the Marathon bombing.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...t-homicides/zl1NTk6ye5CleOVmNAGYKO/story.html

 

[time]

Interesting side story about IT's visa into the US and later granting of asylum.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Suspect_had_a_common_exchange_visa_.html

"...the Portland-based Council on International Education Exchange and several federal agencies contacted Tuesday provided no details about how Ibragim Todashev was selected for the J-1 work and travel program or the security vetting he received before coming to this country. CIEE requested that questions be submitted by email, but would not answer questions about his case, including what job he had applied for and how he failed to comply with the requirements of his visa, which prompted CIEE to withdraw its sponsorship of him.

...The month after Todashev’s arrival in June 2008, according to Collins, CIEE determined he violated the terms of his temporary work visa and told him he had to leave the country. Instead, he remained in the U.S. and was granted asylum in November 2008."

 

[i.b.nora]

Both the Globe article and the Portland Press Herald are well worth reading in their entirety.

I especially agree with this from the Globe article:

"“You need complete transparency in order to regain public trust and we don’t have that right now,” said Jessie Rossman, staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. “If the investigation is closed, this information should be made public. If the investigation isn’t closed, we should at least know what is happening right now.”"

And, Susan Collins' work on this is revelatory and admirable, in my opinion.

 

[time]

I agree, it seems a little weird they haven't really said it was closed although I think it seems clear that the part about whether the FBI agent should or shouldn't face criminal charges is closed (my inference probably as they made it clear this did not mean they handled all this well, etc.).

Would they be keeping it open for other reasons?

 

[Elley Mae]

Ibragim Todashev shooter had stormy record as officer

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...ord-officer/7zJ1ha78Z0SpfDey0PBuJJ/story.html

Boston agent who killed Tsarnaev friend was target of brutality suits with Oakland police


The Globe obtained their names by removing improperly created redactions from an electronic copy of Florida prosecutor Jeffrey L. Ashton’s report — which in March found the shooting of Todashev justified — and then verifying their identities through interviews and multiple government records. Those records include voting, birth, and pension documents.

That research identifies the FBI agent as Aaron McFarlane, 41.

McFarlane’s full name and birth date on records in Massachusetts and New Hampshire match that of the Oakland police officer who was involved in several controversies during his four years with that police force. He retired with a pension of more than $52,000 annually for the rest of his life.

In California, lawyers who had sued McFarlane in Oakland were stunned that the FBI later hired him.

 

[time]

Ah, Elley, you beat me to it... seems all kinds of side stories of import are connected to this one and Tsarnaev (his gun connected to a gang in Maine)

 

[i.b.nora]

Wow!!!

 

[i.b.nora]

From 11 years ago, this article with mention of Aaron McFarlane:

'Riders' case goes to jury / Oakland cops' trial is longest in county history
Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer
Published 4:00 am, Friday, May 30, 2003

"Two officers who were trained by Mabanag and testified in his defense found themselves forced to defend police reports they may have falsified under the defendant's direction.

In March, officers Aaron McFarlane and Jennifer Farrell vouched separately for Mabanag's character and said he taught them to write accurate reports. But in his cross-examinations, Hollister presented each officer with reports that included information that appeared to contradict their earlier testimony."​

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Riders-case-goes-to-jury-Oakland-cops-trial-2644879.php

 

[i.b.nora]

So many questions.

"Oakland officials are investigating why a former police officer is collecting $52,488 a year in medical disability benefits from the city even though he has been working as an FBI agent in Boston.

The unusual case of FBI Special Agent Aaron McFarlane, 41, came to the attention of Oakland officials after the agent was identified last week as the federal officer who shot and killed a key figure last year in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.

The disability benefit that McFarlane is collecting under the California Public Employees' Retirement System is awarded when a worker is unable to perform the usual duties of his or her current position "due to an illness or injury that is expected to be permanent or of an undetermined duration," said Joe DeAnda, a CalPERS spokesman."

*

""It does seem odd to me that somebody would be on disability from one agency and be hired by another agency," said Tony Ribera, a former San Francisco police chief and the director of the International Institute of Criminal Justice Leadership at the University of San Francisco.

Civil rights attorney John Burris, who frequently sues the city of Oakland for alleged misconduct by police officers, said he was "sickened" by what he called "the real scam that takes place when officers take medical retirement and go on to another job, and the city is stuck with it. It's pretty shocking to me that the officer with his record at OPD winds up with the FBI. It makes you wonder about the screening process.""​

Much more ...

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Oakland-probes-disability-pay-of-ex-cop-who-s-now-5499860.php

 

[i.b.nora]

From The Boston Magazine a few days ago:

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/05/22/one-year-since-fbi-killed-ibragim-todashev/

It’s Been One Year Since the FBI Killed Ibragim Todashev
Since then, every detail about Todashev’s death seems to raise more haunting questions.

By Susan Zalkind | Boston Daily | May 22, 2014 4:46 pm

"Ibragim Todashev was shot to death one year ago today. At the time, the vague, piecemeal reports of his death trickling out of the FBI added another layer of mystery to a story that had already transfixed Boston: the marathon bombings. Todashev had come to the attention of the FBI because he was a friend of bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. But leaked FBI sources said that just before he was killed, Todashev had connected himself and Tsarnaev to another crime: a 2011 triple murder in Waltham."

*

"When the FBI first made contact with Todashev, days after the bombings, they were looking for information about his friend Tamerlan Tsarnaev. But after a month of interrogations, clandestine surveillance, and the detainment of Todashev’s girlfriend, state troopers Joel Gagne and Curtis Cinelli, along with Boston-based Special Agent Aaron MacFarlane, travelled to Orlando to interview him in connection to the Waltham case. ... "

*

"The officers’ mission in interviewing Todashev wasn’t necessarily to make an arrest, but to, “either confirm or dispel any type of involvement,” said Curtis Cinelli, the other Massachusetts State Trooper who was there."

*

Recent reports by the Boston Globe about McFarlane have raised new questions as well. ... In an editorial, the Globe demanded that the FBI release the tapes of Todashev’s confession. “The official accounts of Todashev’s shooting can no longer simply be accepted as complete and reliable. Ending the secrecy around the tapes would be a good first step to restore confidence.”

McFarlane himself apparently told a supervisor that he wanted the tapes released. “It would be nice if we released the video because it would refute many of the press’ allegations,” the Ashton report quotes him as saying."

More. The 'confession' does not match the facts at the scene in Waltham...

 

[time]

<snip>

McFarlane himself apparently told a supervisor that he wanted the tapes released. “It would be nice if we released the video because it would refute many of the press’ allegations,” the Ashton report quotes him as saying."

More. The 'confession' does not match the facts at the scene in Waltham...

Good that he wants the tapes released.

I HAVE wondered if the confession matches the facts, but I'm still wondering what the actual facts are. And, I'm wondering who is privy to those facts. I wish all that info on the Waltham murders was released... are any of these people claiming they have seen all the police/forensics reports? I'm honestly asking because I don't know what the police or those questioning them are going on. I'm tired of all sides posturing on all this, e.g., DT's lawyers now claim TT was the murderer but we still don't know that. We don't know if there was tape on the Waltham victims at one point or if a gun was used to gain control, just not to kill them. Alternately, we don't know if IT relayed somethings as facts, that are not, on purpose (I believe a previous article posted here explains why that might be) or if he was not involved at all or something in between.

 

[time]

Much more ...

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Oakland-probes-disability-pay-of-ex-cop-who-s-now-5499860.php

Ugh... this is reminding of that Fire Chief in Contra Costa County who somehow got off molestation charges and promptly retired on 6 figure$.

 

[i.b.nora]

Ugh... this is reminding of that Fire Chief in Contra Costa County who somehow got off molestation charges and promptly retired on 6 figure$.

Yup. I think it happens way more often than the public is normally aware of.

 

[i.b.nora]

Update

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-checking-records-of-city-workers-on-5519484.php

Oakland checking records of city workers on disability
Will Kane
Updated 4:14 pm, Saturday, May 31, 2014

"Oakland is reviewing seven years worth of police disability retirements after learning that a former police officer who left because of an injury in 2004 was working as an FBI agent in Boston.

City officials will spend the next several weeks comparing the list of police officers who have taken medical retirement with requests for background checks to find any former police officer who may have claimed disability but ended up working in law enforcement elsewhere, said Karen Boyd, a city spokeswoman.

"It will be revealing to go back seven years," Boyd said, adding that the city also will look at firefighters and other city workers out on disability pensions."

More...

I think it should be a routine procedure at the end of each year or some sort of frequency that makes sense.