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Members of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s social circle found it odd when he did not attend the funeral of one of his closest friends, Brendan Mess, who was one of the victims of a gruesome triple murder in 2011. But now that the late Tsarnaev is one of the main suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, some of them wonder if his decision to skip his friend’s funeral was a sign that he was involved in the murder. “Tam wasn’t there at the memorial service, he wasn’t at the funeral, he wasn’t around at all,” said a mutual friend of Tsarnaev and Mess. “And he was really close with Brendan. That’s why it’s so weird when he said, ‘I don’t have any American friends.’ He was somebody who was in contact with Brendan on a daily basis.” Tsarnaev took his six-month trip to Russia—which is now being investigated—after Mess’s murder. Prosecutors are also reportedly investigating a link between the 2011 murder and Tsarnaev.