Gun Used by Boston Marathon Bomber Reportedly Tied to Man Killed in Providence Over Weekend
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
The man shot and killed in Providence over the weekend — Biniam Tsegai, age 35, of Portland, Maine — had reported ties to the Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
In 2014, the Bangor Daily News reported that Biniam “Icy” Tsegai, 28, had been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in a crack cocaine trafficking conspiracy in Maine’s largest city between November 2010 and February 2012, according to the U.S. attorney’s office
“A May 13 Los Angeles Times report cited Department of Justice documents indicating that the 9 mm semiautomatic Ruger allegedly used by Tamerlan Tsarnaev to shoot at pursuing police officers in Watertown, Massachusetts, after the Boston Marathon bombing was purchased at Cabella’s in Scarborough by Danny Sun Jr. of South Portland, originally of Los Angeles,” the Daily News reported.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Sun allegedly said he passed the gun to Tsegai. How the gun ended up with Tsarnaev had not been explained, according to a previously published report,” the Daily News continued.
In 2015, ABC News in “Boston Marathon Bombing: Tale of the Gun” delved into the connection further.
“When Tsegai, an Eritrean immigrant, received the gun, federal prosecutors in Maine said he and others were the target of a multi-agency federal investigation into crack dealing out of Portland hotel rooms. Tsegai would plead guilty to drug charges in 2014,” reported ABC.
“But back in 2012, Tsegai handed the gun off to 21-year-old Merhawi 'Howie' Berhe, according to recent testimony from Stephen Silva, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s ‘best friend.’ Berhe is also Eritrean and was arrested in South Portland on a burglary charge last year, according to a police log. It remains unclear how Berhe, a Cambridge, Mass. resident, knew Tsegai,” ABC continued. “An attorney for Berhe declined to discuss specifics of his case with ABC News and an attorney for Tsegai did not respond to request for comment.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died on April 19, 2013.
On Tuesday, Providence Police Detectives Major David Lapatin said he “could not confirm” whether it was the same individual.
Read more about the latest homicide in Providence here.
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