Getty Pallbearers wheel the casket containing rap star Biggie Smalls to a hearse after the funeral 18 March in New York. Smalls, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was killed 09 March in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
Russell Poole was the lead detective with the Los Angeles Police Department who was assigned to investigate the shooting death of hip hop artist Biggie Smalls. His investigation into the case spawned conspiracy theories.
Poole’s role in the case is chronicled in the new true crime seriesUnsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. The series is scripted and also discussed theories swirling around the shooting death of Tupac Shakur. Actor Jimmi Simpson stars as Poole in the series, which airs on the USA Network.
Tupac, 25, was murdered in Las Vegas in September 1996. Biggie Smalls, 24, was murdered in March 1997. Both murders have never been solved, and the series takes viewers into both police investigations, including that helmed by Poole.
.@jimmisimpson returns to @USA_Network as Detective Russell Poole in #UnsolvedUSA, premiering February 27. pic.twitter.com/X51UVof35N
— Unsolved (@UnsolvedUSA) February 19, 2018
What happened to Russell Poole? Where is the detective now?
Here’s what you need to know:

1. Russell Poole Died of a Heart Attack in 2015

Russell Poole is no longer around to give his impressions of the series – or the cases. The detective with the LAPD died suddenly of a heart attack in 2015. According to Rolling Stone, he suffered the heart attack “while meeting with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide investigators to discuss a cold case.”
Poole was rushed to a hospital, where he died, after suffering the heart attack. According to The Los Angeles Times, “Poole quit the police force in 1999 after a series of disputes over the direction of multiple investigations, including Wallace’s murder.”
Before they were rivals, they were friends.#UnsolvedUSA. Tomorrow. @USA_Network. pic.twitter.com/RGqVoHAVxe
— Unsolved (@UnsolvedUSA) February 26, 2018
According to The Independent, witnesses said Poole “appeared to suffer a heart attack and fell to the floor after clutching his chest.” Some believed that Poole was collecting materials for a new book at the time he died, reported The Independent.

2. Poole’s Theories About Biggie’s Murder Were Very Controversial

Poole was responsible for floating some of the most controversial and unproven theories in the Biggie Smalls death case. He once alleged that Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight should be considered a suspect in Biggie’s death, even though Knight was behind bars when the slaying occurred.
According to NBC News, “Poole alleged that police were involved in the killing, as part of a general theory that the killing sprang from an East Coast-West Coast rap feud.” Poole’s investigation was featured in a book on his theories that was called LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records’ Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal.
Poole alleged a conspiracy within the LAPD. The book’s description on Amazon says, “During his investigation, Poole came to realize that a growing cadre of black officers were allied not only with Death Row, but with the murderous Bloods street gang. And incredibly, Poole began to uncover evidence that at least some of these ‘gangsta cops’ may have been involved in the murders of rap superstars Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.”
According to Rolling Stone, Poole “believed that Knight, with the help of LAPD officer David Mack and another associate, was responsible for B.I.G.’s death as ‘retaliation’ for the murder of Tupac Shakur a year earlier.” He also thought that Knight allegedly wanted to avoid paying royalties to Shakur. However, Suge Knight and Davis Mack have never been arrested nor charged in connection with the death.
“There’s been different adjectives used to describe this guy,” Lt. Al Michelena said of Knight to Rolling Stone on another occasion. Michelena was then supervising the detective working the case. “‘Key,’ ‘prime,’ etc. I use the adjective possible — possible suspect.”
However, Vice reports that Poole argued that “the chief conspirators were Sharitha Knight and Reggie Wright Jr., head of Death Row Security.” Neither has been arrested nor charged with the death, either. Futhermore, some believe Poole was planning to apologize to Suge Knight before Poole died.
That claim came from author Michael Douglas Carlin. He alleges that “former LAPD detective Russell Poole planned on apologizing to Suge Knight prior to his passing last year,” reported HipHopDx.
“Russell had thought that all of this evidence pointed to an inside job with Death Row Records,” Carlin said, according to HipHopDX. “And he blamed Suge for it. And he was very vocal about that. And he was going to the sheriff’s to apologize to Suge Knight and tell the investigators that they had this case against Suge that’s crumbling. And to abandon that case and get on board with solving the two biggest mysteries in rock n’ roll history…He felt very bad.”
Greg Kading, the author of Murder Rap, who later took over the Biggie Smalls case for the LAPD, said that Poole “failed at being objective…An investigation was done on him for misconduct. He was removed from it. And those are just the facts. Now listen, I’m not saying Russell Poole is a bad guy. I’m not saying he’s a malicious guy. I’m saying he failed at being objective on this one particular case.”
The LAPD detective who later led the investigation, Greg Kading, doesn’t agree entirely with Pooe’s accusations. According to HipHopDx, “Kading does however align with Poole in his belief that Suge Knight orchestrated the hit, but believes that Suge’s ‘go-to guy’ for murders was not a cop.” Again, Suge Knight has never been arrested nor charged in connection with the murder.

3. Busta Rhymes Thanked Poole For His Investigatory Work

Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.
The rapper Busta Rhymes raised questions about Poole’s death on social media. “Coincidentally he dies after meeting with the police about the cold case of Biggie’s death and strangely collapse’s shortly after and was unresponsive and was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital,” he wrote. “Ain’t this some s–t?”
Poole had urged the LAPD to reopen the case before he died. “If this was Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra who got murdered, there would’ve been arrests a long time ago,” Poole says. “This case can be solved, but needs police follow-up. There are clues sitting right in front of the police. It’s a travesty of justice.”
According to Rolling Stone, “In 1999, Poole was essentially forced into early retirement after implicating a fellow officer in Biggie’s death; he later filed a lawsuit against the LAPD claiming that his First Amendment rights were being violated because he couldn’t take his B.I.G. findings public.”

4. Russell Poole Helped Uncover the Rampart Scandal

Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie, or Biggie Smalls, was killed by an unknown drive-by assassin on March 9, 1997, in Los Angeles.
Poole was also part of another major case involving the LAPD: This one related to corrupt cops. Russell Poole “was the decorated LAPD detective who helped unravel the late-90s Rampart Scandal, uncovering widespread police misconduct throughout the LAPD’s Community Resource Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit,” reported Vice. “His work revealed that off-duty LAPD officers handled security for Death Row, many of whom were dirty cops engaged in criminal mayhem.”
In 2000, Poole filed suit in federal court alleging that then LA Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and others “thwarted his efforts to investigate widespread corruption in the Rampart Division.” He claimed he faced harassment after detailing the Rampart allegations to higher-ups, whom he alleged stymied the probe.
“While investigating the murder of rap star Notorious B.I.G. in 1997, Poole found evidence linking fellow LAPD officers to the Bloods street gang,” his suit also alleged.

5. Johnny Depp Was Attached to a Movie In Which He Would Play Russell Poole

Finally, Tuesday has arrived! Tonight we get to see @jimmisimpson as Det. Russell Poole! Don't forget to tune in for the anticipated premiere of @UnsolvedUSA at 10/9c. When tweeting, don't forget to use the hashtag. #UnsolvedUSApic.twitter.com/yl5CWWN1tN
— JimmiSimpsonFan.com (@jsimpsonfansite) February 27, 2018
The Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls murders have spawned multiple literary attempts. In one, Poole will be played by Johnny Depp. Daily Variety reported on the project in 2016.
“In the movie, disgraced LAPD detective Russell Poole (Depp), is unable to solve his biggest case – the murders of the two music icons. After two decades, the case remains open,” Daily Variety reported.
The film is slated for a 2018 release. “Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker…takes on the role of a journalist who teams with him in order to find both truth and redemption on a path that sets them directly against the L.A.P.D.,” reported ComingSoon.net.
The USA Network describes its separate series Unsolved as “a scripted true crime serial that chronicles the two major police investigations by LAPD Detective Greg Kading (Josh Duhamel) into the murders of Tupac Shakur (Marcc Rose) and Biggie Smalls (Wavyy Jonez).”
(Redirected from Murder of The Notorious B.I.G.)
Murder of the Notorious B.I.G.
LocationLos Angeles, California, U.S.
DateMarch 9, 1997; 22 years ago
12:47 a.m. PST (UTC−08:00)
TargetChristopher Wallace, a.k.a. 'The Notorious B.I.G.'
Attack type
Drive-by shooting, assassination
WeaponsBlue-steel 9x19mmpistol (exact model and make unknown)
Deaths1 (Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. 'The Notorious B.I.G.')
PerpetratorWardell “Poochie” Fouse (alleged)
MotiveUnknown
The murder of Christopher Wallace, better known by his stage names 'the Notorious B.I.G.' and 'Biggie Smalls', occurred in the early hours of March 9, 1997. The hip hop artist was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California, one of which was fatal. Despite numerous witnesses and enormous media attention and speculation, no one was ever formally charged for the murder of Wallace. The case remains officially unsolved, as police have searched for years for more details without success.
In 2006, Wallace's mother, Voletta Wallace; his widow, Faith Evans and his children, T'yanna Jackson and Christopher Jordan Wallace (CJ) filed a $400 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department alleging that corrupt LAPD officers were responsible for Wallace's murder. Retired LAPD Officer Greg Kading alleged that Marion 'Suge' Knight, the head of Death Row Records, hired fellow Blood gang member Wardell 'Poochie' Fouse to murder Wallace and paid Poochie $13,000. He also alleged that Theresa Swan, the mother of Knight's child, was also involved in the murder, and was paid $25,000 to set up meetings both before and after the shooting took place. In 2003, Poochie himself was murdered in a drive-by by rival gang members.
  • 4Lawsuits

Prior events[edit]

Christopher Wallace traveled to Los Angeles, California in February 1997 to promote his upcoming second studio album, Life After Death, and to film a music video for its lead single, 'Hypnotize'. On March 5, he gave a radio interview with The Dog House on San Francisco's KYLD, in which he stated that he had hired security because he feared for his safety. Wallace cited not only the ongoing East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud and the murder of Tupac Shakur six months prior, and his role as a high-profile celebrity in general, as his reasons for the decision.[1]Life After Death was scheduled for release on March 25, 1997.
On March 7, Wallace presented an award to Toni Braxton at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles and was booed by some of the audience.[2] The following evening, March 8, he attended an after-party hosted by Vibe magazine and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in West Los Angeles.[2] Other guests included Faith Evans, Aaliyah, Sean Combs, and members of the Bloods and Crips gangs.[3]

Shooting[edit]

On March 9, 1997, at 12:30 a.m. (PST), Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after the Los Angeles Fire Department closed the party early because of overcrowding.[4] Wallace traveled in the front passenger seat alongside his associates Damion 'D-Roc' Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease, and driver Gregory 'G-Money' Young. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two SUVs were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy Records' director of security.[3]
By 12:45 a.m. (PST), the streets were crowded with people leaving the event. Wallace's SUV stopped at a red light on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue[5] just 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A dark-colored Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up alongside Wallace's SUV. The driver of the Impala, a black male, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the Suburban; four bullets hit Wallace.[3] Wallace's entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where doctors performed an emergency thoracotomy, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. (PST). He was 24 years old.
His autopsy was released to the public in December 2012, fifteen years after his death. According to the report, three of the four shots were not fatal. The first bullet hit his left forearm and traveled down to his wrist; the second hit him in the back, missing all vital organs, and exited through his left shoulder; and the third hit his left thigh and exited through his inner thigh. The report said that the third bullet struck 'the left side of the scrotum, causing a very shallow, 3⁄8 inch [10 mm] linear laceration.' The fourth bullet was fatal, entering through his right hip and striking several vital organs, including his colon, liver, heart, and the upper lobe of his left lung, before stopping in his left shoulder area.[6]
Wallace's death was mourned by fellow hip hop artists and fans worldwide. Rapper Nas felt at the time of Wallace's death that his passing, along with that of Tupac Shakur, 'was nearly the end of rap.'[7]

Investigation[edit]

Immediately following the shooting, reports surfaced linking Wallace's murder with that of Shakur six months earlier, due to similarities in the drive-by shootings and the highly publicized East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud, of which Shakur and Wallace had been central figures.[8] Media reports had previously speculated that Wallace was in some way connected to Shakur's murder, though no evidence ever surfaced to seriously implicate him. Shortly after Wallace's death, Los Angeles Times writers Chuck Philips and Matt Lait reported that the key suspect in his murder was a member of the Southside Crips acting in service of a personal financial motive, rather than on the gang's behalf.[9] The investigation stalled, however, and no one was ever formally charged.
In a 2002 book by Randall Sullivan, called LAbyrinth, information was compiled about the murders of Wallace and Shakur based on information provided by retired LAPD detective Russell Poole.[3][10] In the book, Sullivan accused Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records and a known Bloods affiliate, of conspiring with corrupt LAPD officer David Mack to kill Wallace and make both deaths appear to be the result of the rap rivalry.[11][12] The book stated that one of Mack's alleged associates, Amir Muhammad, was the hitman who killed Wallace. The theory was based on evidence provided by an informant[13] and the general resemblance of Muhammad to the facial composite generated during the investigation.[11][12] In 2002, filmmaker Nick Broomfield released a documentary, Biggie & Tupac, based on information from the book.[10]The New York Times described Broomfield's low-budget documentary as a 'largely speculative' and 'circumstantial' account relying on flimsy evidence, failing to 'present counter-evidence' or 'question sources.'[14] Moreover, the motive suggested for the murder of Wallace in the documentary—to decrease suspicion for the Shakur shooting six months earlier—was, as The New York Times put it, 'unsupported in the film.'[14]
An article published in Rolling Stone by Sullivan in December 2005 accused the LAPD of not fully investigating links with Death Row Records based on Poole's evidence. Sullivan claimed that Combs 'failed to fully cooperate with the investigation', and according to Poole, encouraged Bad Boy staff to do the same.[3] The accuracy of the article was later challenged in a letter by the Assistant Managing Editor of the Los Angeles Times, who accused Sullivan of using 'shoddy tactics.' Sullivan, in response, quoted the lead attorney of the Wallace estate calling the newspaper 'a co-conspirator in the cover-up.'[15] In alluding to Sullivan and Poole's theory that formed the basis of the Wallace family's dismissed $500 million lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, The New York Times wrote: 'A cottage industry of criminal speculation has sprung up around the case, with documentaries, books and a stream of lurid magazine articles implicating gangs, crooked cops and a cross-country rap rivalry,'[16] noting that everything associated with Wallace's death had been 'big business.' More recently, the film City of Lies was produced based on Poole's investigation and Sullivan's book: LAbyrinth, and casts Johnny Depp as Poole. The film has yet to be released.[17]
In examining Sullivan's assertion that the Los Angeles Times was involved in a cover-up conspiracy with the LAPD, it is instructive to note that conflicting theories of the murder were offered in different sections of the Times. The Metro section of the Times wrote that police suspected a connection between Wallace's death and the Rampart police corruption scandal, consistent with Sullivan and Poole's theory.[18] The Metro section also ran a photo of Muhammad, identified by police as a mortgage broker unconnected to the murder who appeared to match details of the shooter, and the paper printed his name and driver's license. But Chuck Philips, a staff writer for the Business section of the Times who had been following the investigation and had not heard of the Rampart–Muhammad theory, searched for Muhammad, whom the Metro reporters could not find for comment. It took Philips only three days to find Muhammad, who had a current ad for his brokerage business running in the Times. Muhammad, who was not an official suspect at the time, came forward to clear his name. The Metro section of the paper was opposed to running a retraction, but the business desk editor, Mark Saylor,[19] said, 'Chuck is sort of the world's authority on rap violence' and pushed, along with Philips, for the Times to retract the article.[18]
The May 2000 Los Angeles Times correction article was written by Philips, who quoted Muhammad as saying, 'I'm a mortgage broker, not a murderer' and asking, 'How can something so completely false end up on the front page of a major newspaper?'[20] The story cleared Muhammad's name.[18][21] A later 2005 story by Philips showed that the main informant for the Poole-Sullivan theory was a schizophrenic with admitted memory lapses known as 'Psycho Mike' who confessed to hearsay.[22] John Cook of Brill's Content noted that Philips' article 'demolished'[21] the Poole-Sullivan theory of Wallace's murder.
In the 2000 book The Murder of Biggie Smalls, investigative journalist and author Cathy Scott suggested that Wallace and Shakur's murders might have been the result of the East Coast–West Coast feud and motivated by financial gain for the record companies, because the rappers were worth more dead than alive.[23]
The criminal investigation into Wallace's murder was re-opened in July 2006 to look for new evidence to help the city defend the civil lawsuits brought by the Wallace family.[24][25] Retired LAPD detective Greg Kading, who worked for three years on a gang task force that included the Wallace case, alleges that the rapper was shot by Wardell 'Poochie' Fouse, an associate of Knight, who died on July 24, 2003, after being shot in the back while riding his motorcycle in Compton. Kading believes Knight hired Poochie via his girlfriend, 'Theresa Swann,' to kill Wallace to avenge the death of Shakur,[26] who, Kading alleges, was killed under the orders of Combs.[27]
In December 2012, the LAPD released the autopsy results conducted on Wallace's body to generate new leads. The release was criticized by the long-time lawyer of his estate, Perry Sanders Jr., who objected to an autopsy.[28] The case remains officially unsolved.

Lawsuits[edit]

Wrongful death claim[edit]

In March 2006, Wallace's mother Voletta filed a wrongful death claim against the City of Los Angeles based on the evidence championed by Poole.[12] They claimed the LAPD had sufficient evidence to arrest the assailant, but failed to use it. David Mack and Amir Muhammad (a.k.a. Harry Billups) were originally named as defendants in the civil suit, but were dropped shortly before the trial began after the LAPD and FBI dismissed them as suspects.[12]
The case came for trial before a jury on June 21, 2005. On the eve of the trial, a key witness who was expected to testify, Kevin Hackie, revealed that he suffered memory lapses due to psychiatric medications. He had previously testified to knowledge of involvement between Knight, Mack, and Muhammed, but later said that the Wallace attorneys had altered his declarations to include words he never said. Hackie took full blame for filing a false declaration.[13]
Several days into the trial, the plaintiffs' attorney disclosed to the Court and opposing counsel that he had received a telephone call from someone claiming to be an LAPD officer and provided detailed information about the existence of evidence concerning the Wallace murder. The court directed the city to conduct a thorough investigation, which uncovered previously undisclosed evidence, much of which was in the desk or cabinet of Det. Steven Katz, the lead detective in the Wallace investigation. The documents centered around interviews by numerous police officers of an incarcerated informant, who had been a cellmate of imprisoned Rampart officer Rafael Perez for some extended period of time. He reported that Perez had told him about his and Mack's involvement with Death Row Records and their activities at the Peterson Automotive Museum the night of Wallace's murder. As a result of the newly discovered evidence, the judge declared a mistrial and awarded the Wallace family its attorneys' fees.[29]
On April 16, 2007, relatives of Wallace filed a second wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. The suit also named two LAPD officers in the center of the investigation into the Rampart scandal, Perez and Nino Durden. According to the claim, Perez, an alleged affiliate of Death Row Records, admitted to LAPD officials that he and Mack (who was not named in the lawsuit) 'conspired to murder, and participated in the murder of Christopher Wallace'. The Wallace family said the LAPD 'consciously concealed Rafael Perez's involvement in the murder of .. Wallace'.[30]
United States District JudgeFlorence-Marie Cooper granted summary judgment to the city on December 17, 2007, finding that the Wallace family had not complied with a California law that required the family to give notice of its claim to the State within six months of Wallace's death.[31] The Wallace family refiled the suit, dropping the state law claims on May 27, 2008.[32] The suit against the City of Los Angeles was finally dismissed in 2010. It was described by The New York Times as 'one of the longest running and most contentious celebrity cases in history.'[16] The Wallace suit had asked for $500 million from the city.[16]

Defamation[edit]

On January 19, 2007, Tyruss 'Big Syke' Himes, a friend of Shakur who was implicated in Wallace's murder by the Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV and XXL magazine in 2005, had a defamation lawsuit regarding the accusations thrown out of court.[33]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^'Biggie Told Interviewer He Worried About Safety'. MTV News. March 12, 1997. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
  2. ^ abBruno, Anthony The Murders of gangsta rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.Archived 2007-04-07 at the Wayback MachineCourt TV Crime Library. Retrieved January 24, 2007.
  3. ^ abcdeSullivan, Randall (December 5, 2005). 'The Unsolved Mystery of the Notorious B.I.G.' Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2006.
  4. ^Purdum, Todd S. (March 10, 1997). 'Rapper Is Shot to Death in Echo of Killing 6 Months Ago'. The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  5. ^nevereatshreddedwheat # (March 9, 1997). 'where biggie smalls was shot and killed in los angeles : the notorious b.i.g. | music at popturf'. Popturf.com. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  6. ^Horowitz, Steven J. (December 7, 2012). 'Notorious B.I.G. Autopsy Report Released'. HipHop DX. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  7. ^Smith, Alex M. (August 18, 2014). 'Nas Interview: Tupac, B.I.G. Deaths Were Nearly 'The End Of Rap''. Music Times.
  8. ^Cathy Scott. 'Rap slaying similar to Shakur's'. Las Vegas Sun. March 10, 1997.
  9. ^Philips Laitt, Chuck Matt (March 18, 1997). 'Personal Dispute Is Focus of Rap Probe'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  10. ^ abFuchs, Cynthia (September 6, 2002). 'Biggie and Tupac review' PopMatters. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
  11. ^ abSerpick, Evan (April 12, 2002). 'Review: Rappers' deaths probed in 'LAbyrinth'Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
  12. ^ abcdPhilips, Chuck 'Slain rapper's family keeps pushing suit'Los Angeles Times, February 7, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
  13. ^ abPhilips, Chuck (June 20, 2005). 'Witness in B.I.G. case says his memory's bad'. LA Times. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  14. ^ abLeland, John (October 7, 2002). 'New Theories Stir Speculation On Rap Deaths'. New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  15. ^Duvoisin, Marc; Sullivan, Randall (January 12, 2006). 'L.A. Times Responds to Biggie Story'. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 17, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  16. ^ abcSISARIO, Ben (April 19, 2010). 'Wrongful-Death Lawsuit Over Rapper Is Dismissed'. New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  17. ^Lopez, Ricardo; Lopez, Ricardo (2018-08-07). 'Johnny Depp's Notorious B.I.G. Film 'City of Lies' Pulled From Release Schedule'. Variety. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  18. ^ abcCook, John (May 23–26, 2000). 'Notorious LAT'. Brills Content. Archived from the original on 2012-08-09. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  19. ^Trounson, Rebecca (February 22, 2012). 'Mark Saylor dies at 58; former Times editor oversaw Pulitzer-winning series'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  20. ^Philips, Chuck (May 3, 2000). 'Man No Longer Under Scrutiny in Rapper's Death'. Los Angeles Times.
  21. ^ abCook, John. 'Notorious LAT'. Reference tone. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  22. ^Philips, Chuck (June 3, 2005). 'Informant in Rap Star's Slaying Admits Hearsay'. LA Times. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  23. ^Bruno, Anthony. 'Hip-Hop Homicide — 'Worth More Dead Than Alive' — Crime Library on'. Trutv.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  24. ^Philips, Chuck (July 31, 2006). 'LAPD Renews Search for Rapper's Killer'. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2006. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
  25. ^'LAPD launching new Notorious BIG task force'. Associated Press. August 3, 2006. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
  26. ^Kenner, Rob (March 9, 2012). 'Interview: Former L.A.P.D. Detective Says He Knows Who Killed The Notorious B.I.G.' Complex.com. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  27. ^Quinn, Rob (October 4, 2011). 'Sean Combs Ordered Tupac Murder: LA Cop:And Suge Knight had Biggie Smalls killed in revenge, says book by former LAPD detective'. Newser. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  28. ^Wolfe, Roman (December 8, 2012). 'Lawyer For Notorious B.I.G. Blasts LAPD Over Autopsy Report'. AllHipHop. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  29. ^Estate of Wallace v. City of Los Angeles, 229 F.R.D. 163 (C.D. Cal. 2005);Reid, Shaheem (July 5, 2005). 'Notorious B.I.G. Wrongful-Death Case Declared A Mistrial'. MTV News. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
  30. ^Finn, Natalie (April 18, 2007). 'An Extra B.I.G. Suit'. E! Online. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
  31. ^Estate of Christopher G.L. Wallace v. City of Los Angeles, et al., 2:07-cv-02956-FMC-RZx, slip op. at 15 (C.D. Cal. December 17, 2007) (Cooper, J.).
  32. ^Complaint, Estate of Christopher G.L. Wallace v. City of Los Angeles, et al., 2:07-cv-02956-FMC-RZx (C.D. Cal. May 27, 2008).
  33. ^'Lawsuit involving rapper death dismissed'. Yahoo!. Associated Press. January 20, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
Coordinates: 34°03′46″N118°21′41″W / 34.06278°N 118.36145°W
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_the_Notorious_B.I.G.&oldid=899001866'
TUPAC Shakur was one of the most successful rappers of all time.
Over two decades after his death, his estate teased the release of previously unheard tracks - here's everything you need to know..

Who was Tupac?

Lesane Parish Crooks was born on June 16, 1971, the son of a former Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur.
He was better known to his fans as Tupac or 2Pac.
Hailing from Harlem, New York, the rap star's All Eyez On Me and his Greatest Hits are among the best selling albums in the US.
The artist, who has sold more than 75million records, consistently tops the polls as one of the greatest of all time.
He became embroiled in the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud, involving New York's Bad Boy Records and the Los Angeles-based Death Row Records.

How did Tupac die?

On the night of September 7, 1996, Tupac was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas as he headed to a gig at Club 662.
Death Row Records boss Suge Knight was driving the car and 2Pac was a front seat passenger as they led a convoy of cars.
A shooter in a white Cadillac, which pulled up on the right-hand passenger side of Tupac's BMW at traffic lights, opened fire at 11.15pm.
The star was hit four times - in the chest, arm and thigh - and died six days later.
Hours earlier Tupac and his entourage had watched boxer Mike Tyson fight Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand casino.
In the lobby afterwards, Tupac and his crew - some of whom were associated with LA gang The Bloods - attacked Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson after Pac threw the first punch.
Tupac died of his wounds on Friday, September 13.

Who killed Tupac?

Tupac's killer was revealed to be gang member Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson in a new Netflix documentary.
In a bombshell confession, the alleged murderer’s uncle Duane Keith Davis - known as Keefe D – said he was in the car which carried out the drive-by shooting in 1996.
In the docuseries Unsolved, the Tupac and Biggie Murders, he explains his nephew went looking for revenge after he was beaten up by the acclaimed rapper and his entourage.
Describing the killing, he said: 'I gave it to Dre and Dre was like 'no, no, no’ and Lane was like – popped the dudes.'

Is Tupac still alive?

According to rumours, yes he is – but is it just a big hoax?
The Sun revealed that Tupac's Nike trainers could prove he’s still alive after the stylish star was seen twice wearing shoes that weren't released until AFTER he was gunned down.
  • There have been a number of conspiracy theories that he faked his own death and has since been hiding out in Cuba.
  • One made in a sensational book claims Tupac's murder was 'orchestrated by the CIA' in reaction to the wordsmith politicising street gangs.
  • Latest rumours have surfaced from a man claiming to have spotted Tupac in Somalia alongside well-known friend and founder of Outlawz hip-hop group, Yaki Kadafi, who died two months after Tupac.
  • The Sun reported on all of the alleged sightings of the late rapper since his death in 1996.
  • However, it's thought that an appearance at a protest in Wall Street, New York, in 2011 could be the most likely evidence that Tupac is still alive.

‘SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD’

Tupac is alive and living secretly in LA jail claim online cranks

PAC’S SECRET

Tupac hatched plan to fake death before being gunned down, Suge Knight claims

TU-TH IS OUT THERE

Tupac is 'alive' as pic shows 'rapper's fading tatts’ says conspiracy
Biggie smalls death conspiracy video

RAP SHEET

Tupac a 'riot risk' kept in solitary for own safety, shock jail records reveal

'PAC IS BACK'

Tupac is ALIVE and 'in the studio working on new music’ says Suge Knight Jr

RAP RIDDLE

Tupac 'bodyguard found dead’ as he was due to release 'evidence' rapper is alive

What were the sexual assault charges against Tupac?

In January 2018, Ayanna Jackson spoke on camera for the first time at the abuse she faced from Tupac.
In 1993, the then 19-year-old accused the rapper and his entourage of a gang sex attack but until 2018 had not spoken publically about her ordeal.
Jackson first met Tupac in a club in New York in 1993 and after kissing at Nell's Club in Manhattan the pair went back to his hotel room and had sex 'multiple times'.
Tupac and his road manager Charles Fuller were convicted of first degree-sexual abuse but were acquitted of sodomy and weapons charges.
The rapper, who was 23 at the time, cried as he was sentenced to up to four and half years in prison.
The two men had acknowledged in the trial they had oral sex with Jackson but insisted it was consensual.
During his trial, Tupac said: 'I put my faith in God. Once again, I have no shame. What happens, happens for a reason. I leave this in the hands of God.'
Woman 'raped' by Tupac speaks for the first time on camera about the night she met the rapper

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Fifteen years after Biggie's murder, retired detective Greg Kading debunks a few bogus theories and explains why the case will never officially be solved.

According to the police detective who spent three years investigating the murder of Biggie Smalls, the man pictured above--WardellFouse a.k.a Darnell Bolton a.k.a. “Poochie”—was the triggerman who killed Biggie fifteen years ago today. His fee for murdering the greatest rapper of all time? $13,000.
On March 9, 1997, Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., was shot to death while sitting in a Chevy Suburban outside of a hip-hop industry party in Los Angeles. Biggie’s drive-by shooting occurred just six months after his friend turned foe, 25-year-old TupacShakur, suffered a similar fate after a boxing match in Las Vegas. These killings remain the worst tragedies in hip-hop history.
Seeing the two greatest rappers of a generation cut down in their prime was bad enough. The death of two young men who were so beloved by their family, friends, and fans was worse still. Adding insult to injury, Big and Pac were both murdered on busy city streets, in view of numerous witnesses. Yet there has never been an arrest in either case and both murders remain officially unsolved to this day.
Greg Kading is neither a journalist nor a conspiracy theorist. A retired L.A.P.D. detective, he was in charge of the special task force that investigated Christopher Wallace’s murder.
Although the police investigations in Los Angeles and Las Vegas have failed to bring the truth to light, there is no shortage of websites, documentaries, and books detailing various theories and counter-theories—ranging from rap beef and gang violence to crooked cops and government conspiracies. But the latest book to be published, Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations. by Greg Kading (second photo), is different from the rest.
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Kading is neither a journalist nor a conspiracy theorist. A retired L.A.P.D. detective, he was in charge of the special task force that investigated Christopher Wallace’s murder between 2006 and 2009. After Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace filed suit against the City of Los Angeles and the L.A.P.D.—seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages—the department was highly motivated to solve the case. That’s when Kading got the assignment.
After his efforts led to two sworn confessions from people who said they played a part in the killings of Wallace and Shakur, Kading was suddenly pulled off the case. At the time, he was under investigation by L.A.P.D. Internal Affairs for allegedly making false statements on an affidavit in a separate case. However, in the end, Internal Affairs cleared Kading of any wrongdoing. Around the same time, the Wallace family’s lawsuit was dismissed.
When the 22-year veteran saw the case he built being shelved, he became so frustrated that he quit the force—but not before making copies of his evidence so that he could put all his findings into a book. His conclusions are controversial to be sure, but they are so thoroughly researched that they’re hard to ignore.
POST CONTINUES BELOW
Complex caught up with Kading to talk about the results of his investigation, why no arrests have ever been made, and why he believes these cases will never be officially solved.
As told to Rob Kenner (@boomshots)
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On Biggie’s Murder
“Suge Knight was absolutely enraged. Not only had he been shot at, but his friend [TupacShakur] was killed next to him in the car. Suge always knew who was responsible. He looked directly into the eyes of Keefe D, who was in the shooter’s car. Keefe D was a member of the SouthsideCrips and a well known person to Suge. That explains why the next day this huge war broke out in Compton between Suge Knight’s gang entourage and Keefe D’s gang entourage.
“Suge Knight ended up going to jail on a probation violation, stemming from the beating of Orlando Anderson [Ed. Note—Anderson is Keefe D’s nephew, also a SouthsideCrip who allegedly shot Tupac.] in the MGM Grand hotel. While Suge was in jail, he conspired with his girlfriend. Suge gave her the directive to get Poochie.
Poochie lay in wait outside the Petersen Automotive Museum. As soon as he became aware of where Biggie was sitting in his car, he drove up, and he shot him.
“Wardell ‘Poochie’ Fouse was paid to kill Biggie. At the time, he was a 36-year old member of the Mob Piru Bloods. According to several Death Row insiders and FBI informants, Poochie was a down-for-the-cause, hardcore gang member. Confidential sources from the Death Row entourage, the Mob Pirus, and [Suge’s girlfriend, identified in Kading's book by the alias 'Theresa Swann'], said Poochie had done shootings for Suge in the past. Reggie Wright Jr.—who was the head of Death Row security—said Suge and Poochie’s relationship was different than other members of the gang. They had a very secretive and exclusive relationship.
“[Suge’s girlfriend] and Poochie agreed to terms. He received two payments, one for $9000 and one for $4000. Poochie lay in wait outside the Petersen Automotive Museum. As soon as he became aware of where Biggie was sitting in his car, he drove up and he shot him.”
On Whether The Cases Will Ever Be Solved
“It comes down to how you define solved. Both law enforcement agencies—the Las Vegas Police Department and the L.A.P.D.—have drawn the conclusions that Tupac was killed by Orlando Anderson and Biggie Smalls was killed by Wardell ‘Poochie’ Fouse.
“Those are the facts within law enforcement. They’re considered solved internally, but the public’s definition of solved is different. They haven’t gone through the judicial process and nobody has been prosecuted.
“Both shooters are dead. Orlando Anderson was killed outside a Compton record shop in May 1998. Poochie died in July 2003 as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. He was shot in the back while riding his motorcycle in Compton. He was supposedly killed as a result of in-fighting between the Mob Pirus—Suge’s Blood associates—and another Blood gang known as the Fruit Town Pirus.
Both shooters are dead..That’s all the justice that these cases will see.
“That’s all the justice that these cases will see. The co-conspirators are never going to be prosecuted. Unfortunately, the cases are so complicated and convoluted. These will never see criminal prosecution.
“The co-conspirators are absolutely known and I say that with conviction. I worked directly on these cases for years and know exactly where they stand within law enforcement. They would be very problematic prosecutions because of all of the convoluted peripheral issues that were raised during the investigation.
Death
“The D.A. in Los Angeles knows that this is an extremely difficult situation to try and prosecute. Here’s the problem; You’ve got [Suge’s girlfriend] confessing, and then, there was a bad move by law enforcement to give her immunity. The shooter’s dead, the female confessor has immunity, so you just haveSuge Knight.
“The D.A.’s office in Los Angeles has a policy: They don’t prosecute murders based on the testimony of one witness, which is now just the girlfriend. So the D.A.’s realizing, ‘OK, what are we going to do? We’re going to prosecute Suge Knight for solicitation of murder and the whole thing’s based on the testimony of his girlfriend? We can bring in all this circumstantial stuff and we can bring in the history between these crews, but ultimately, a good defense attorney’s going to say, Hey isn’t this all just an elaborate cover-up, because the L.A.P.D. actually murdered Biggie?’ The defense is going to try and turn the thing back around. So the D.A. realizes that there’s not really a potential for a successful prosecution.”
RELATED: The 50 Best Biggie Smalls Songs
On Why He Was Taken Off The Case
“The whole renewed investigation was born out of this fear of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in this civil case. That was really the impetus to the whole investigation that I was involved in to begin with.
“Once that threat dissipated, the L.A.P.D. said, ‘You know what? We’ve spent enough time and money. We know who killed them. The D.A.’s not going to file charges. Clip studio paint register. So everyone go back to work.’ And the case ended up getting shelved.
“I quit [the force] over the matter. That’s how frustrated I was. I was so disappointed that I was being removed on this very ridiculous basis. [Ed. note—Read more about Kading’s Internal Affairs investigation here.] After all that we had done, it was a personal insult.
“I could not believe that we had taken the case to near conclusion and then I got removed. They just shelved the whole case after the Wallace camp retracted their lawsuits.”
On The L.A.P.D. Saying The Investigation Is Still Open
“That’s just lip-service. That’s what a police department is always going to say—not just the L.A.P.D., any police department, about any unsolved murder case. They’re always going to say, ‘Yes, it’s an open investigation. It’s an active investigation,’ but it’s really just a way to appease those types of inquiries.
“I can guarantee you that there is no proactive investigation. Those books are on the shelf. If somebody were to call and say, ‘I have information on the Biggie Smalls murder,’ investigators would probably entertain an interview with that. They’re not out doing anything to further the case because they’ve already concluded what happened.
“It’s not active, in the sense that you would think that there are investigators out there trying to figure out clues. For all intents and purposes, it’s a stale investigation, that will never be closed—ever.”
On The David Mack & Amir Muhammad Theory
“The name Amir Muhammad was published in the Los Angeles Times as a suspect in Biggie’s murder. One of the biggest problems in the whole Biggie Smalls murder investigation was that there never was [any mention of] Amir Muhammad.
“There was a jailhouse informant in L.A. county jail named Michael Robinson, who provided this very problematic slew of different descriptors of the shooter. But he never mentioned an Amir Muhammad, he just put down the name Amir.
“Actually, Robinson said there was a guy named either Abraham, Ashmir, Amir, Kenny, or Keke. So we actually got fivedifferent names associated with this potential shooter. Then he gives all these other descriptions; He’s this Fruit of Islam guy, he’s from Compton, and all of these different descriptors of the shooter.
There was all this exaggeration of information, and a whole theory was built on it, which never had a basis but captured the popular imagination.
“Coincidentally, there’s a whole other investigation going on behind a rogue cop named David Mack who had robbed a bank. Russell Poole—the L.A.P.D. investigator, who was investigating Biggie’s murder—finds out about David Mack. There’s these very circumstantial indicators that maybe this rogue cop was involved [in Biggie’s murder]. Coincidentally, Mack has a friend named Amir Muhammad. That circumstantial connection, put this investigator down a rabbit hole.
“Now, if Russell Poole would have been responsible with that clue, he would have known that Amir Muhammad a.k.a. Harry Billups could not have been the person that was being discussed in that clue. Harry Billups had no association with Compton, no association with Crips, and no association with the Fruit of Islam.
“All of these supporting identifiers disqualify him as a possible suspect. The only thing that Russell Poole has to hold onto is simply four letters: A-M-I-R. That’s it. That’s the only thing that has ever been even circumstantially compelling. And it’s based on Russell Poole’s inability to properly treat a clue. He finds one name: A-M-I-R, and builds a whole theory behind that, because there’s a dirty-cop who has a friend named Amir.
“There was all this exaggeration of information, and a whole theory was built on it, which never had a basis but captured the popular imagination. Actually, the individual who brought that information to the L.A.P.D. recanted and said, 'I made it all up. It was all bullshit.’
“Remember, Michael Robinson never says any cop [was involved with the murder]. All the clue is, is an Amir. If you take selective information and you ignore the information that refutes your theory, you can put together a conspiracy theory and convince people of it. You’re just selecting the information that works for you.
“The L.A.P.D. always knew the problems with Russell Poole’s theory. They knew his jailhouse informants were discredited, they were unreliable, and they were lying. The L.A.P.D. knew that there was no basis whatsoever to [Poole’s] theory. Even though the public picked up on it and [author/journalist] Randall Sullivan was running with it, with his book LAbyrinth, and Russell Poole had convinced himself that it was such, the L.A.P.D. knew there was nothing behind it.”
On The Video of Biggie’s Shooting
“There is no law enforcement video of the shooting. There was surveillance, out in California, by a task force, that was looking into drug and gun activities, because they were getting ready to indict Biggie and a couple of his friends on some narcotics and some guns that they had found in his house.
“They were doing their investigation into those charges, and there was law enforcement conducting surveillance, and they admit to it. But the conspiracy theory of them being there that night and watching this thing go down and doing nothing, is absolutely ludicrous. There was no law enforcement present at the time of the murder.
“There is a video [of the shooting] that was taken by fans. Some girls from Houston shot the video. They were outside the party just filming the people walking by and they happened to catch the moment when Biggie was shot. That’s the famous video that basically shows the suspect lying in wait and shows the shooting. You never see the actual suspect in the car, but there’s a video.
“There was a misreport of a black Impala that was outside the Peterson, that the suspect had apparently driven. And then, Russell Poole draws a conclusion, ‘Look, David Mack has a black Impala.’ But what Russell Poole doesn’t do is tell people about how every single witness that was in those cars denied it being a black Impala. They said that it was a green Impala.
“Now, when you watch the video, and you dissect that video, and you slow it down and take it frame-by-frame, what you actually see is that, as cars are passing by and illuminating the side of that Impala that’s parked out front, it’s a green Impala.”
On Cops Working For Death Row
“David Mack never worked for [Death Row.] Mack never had any association whatsoever. These were Compton guys and Mack was L.A.P.D. There has never, ever been one single viable connection with David Mack and Death Row whatsoever.
“There was one L.A.P.D. guy, named Richard McCauley, who worked off-duty on several occasions. Every other cop that worked for Death Row was either Inglewood P.D. or Compton P.D. There were cops working for Death Row, but they were not L.A.P.D. cops. That’s where this theory ultimately proved to be untrue.
“The public generalizes L.A. cops. These are distinct agencies: Compton P.D., Inglewood P.D., L.A.P.D.
A fight broke out between this Crip and some of the Bloods that were in Suge’s circle. They dragged him outside, started beating him with chairs and bottles, and they stomped him to death.
“What happened was, an ex Compton cop named Reggie Wright Jr., was providing all of the legitimate security for Death Row. When he opened his security business, he hired who? His buddies from Compton P.D.—all of the guys that were working in Compton when he was there. That’s it. It’s that simple.
“The guys that were working off-duty for Death Row were highly compromised. They were present when there was criminal activity taking place, including a murder. At the El Rey theater, during a Death Row after-party, there was a Crip named Kelly Jamison in the audience. A fight broke out between this Crip and some of the Bloods that were in Suge’s circle. They dragged him outside, started beating him with chairs and bottles, and they stomped him to death. They literally stomped this guy to death.
“These off-duty Compton cops were all present and they all left the scene. They did not cooperate in the follow-up investigation with the L.A.P.D. They all just basically said, ‘I didn’t see anything.’”
On The Wallace Family’s Lawsuit
“I would be the first to tell you if the L.A.P.D. was trying to protect themselves for acting inappropriately. We were told to solve this case by any means possible. The whole purpose of the renewed task force was a response to the Wallace’s civil case, but they never said, ‘Hey, get us out of this.’ It was, ‘Just try to solve it.’
“The L.A.P.D. was not in fear of the discovery that the police were involved. So they told us, ‘Solve this case. Wherever it takes you, run with it.’ And that’s what we did. We looked into everything regarding the cops, but when you get down to it, there’s absolutely nothing.
Ms. Wallace can’t sue the L.A.P.D. for negligence. She can’t sue saying, ‘You guys screwed this case up and you’re a bunch of idiots.’ Even if it’s true.
“This is why the Wallace family had to drop their lawsuit. They came into this lawsuit trying to promote the idea [of cops working for Death Row] because of Russell Poole. Trust me, the risk management division and the L.A.P.D. Internal Affairs as well as the FBI—who opened up a federal investigation based on those allegations—looked into all of this. And there was nothing.
“That’s all been disproven and her attorneys know it. There is no David Mack. There is no Amir Muhammad. There is no evidence whatsoever that any L.A.P.D. people were working for Death Row or that they did a murder on behalf of Death Row.
“Ms. Wallace can’t sue the L.A.P.D. for negligence. She can’t sue saying, ‘You guys screwed this case up and you’re a bunch of idiots.’ Even if it’s true, there’s no legal basis for incompetence in law enforcement. Otherwise, every person who doesn’t like the way an investigation went could sue those departments.
“Remember, all the way back in 2005, Perry Sanders, the Wallace attorney, had already excused David Mack and Harry Billups from the lawsuit. because all of his witnesses were recanting, saying, ‘I made this up.’ Everybody. His whole civil suit just fell apart.”
On Nick Broomfield’s Movie Biggie & Tupac
“It was all bullshit. I’ve talked to [Biggie’s former bodyguard] Eugene Deal several times. We’ve had heart-to-hearts about that so-called ‘identification’ of the shooter. What people don’t know is that Eugene Deal had already been previously shown a police six-pack of different individuals, and he ID’d another guy as this so-called ‘Nation of Islam’ guy he saw outside the Petersen Automotive Museum that he saw acting suspicious that night.
“When he IDs Harry Billups [a.k.a. Amir Muhammad] and says, ‘That’s the guy,’ it’s a very dramatic moment in the video. But when I asked him he completely recanted and said, ‘I didn’t mean to say that was the guy. All I meant to say was that it looked like the guy. There were similarities in the photograph.’ It was a bunch of games being played. One of the factors was that Harry Billups’ photograph was already run in the Los Angeles Times as a suspect in Biggie’s murder.”
On Chuck Philips’ L.A. Times Story Alleging That Biggie Provided The Gun For Pac’s Killing
“The Timesretracted that story. I know the clue that Chuck Philips relied on for that article, and it never actually mentioned Biggie. This is extremely important because it was misreported intentionally. Biggie’s name was never, ever mentioned in that clue.
Biggie felt horrible that Tupac had gotten robbed and that Tupac believed that he had been behind it. In everything that we saw and read in all the interviews, Biggie was an innocent bystander in this whole thing.
“After going through all the research in both of these cases—and I’ve read it all—there was never any indication whatsoever that Biggie had any idea what happened with Tupac in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for Voletta Wallace, she had to suffer that defamation of her son.
“It’s all BS. Biggie was trying to suppress this whole conflict. Biggie wanted nothing to do with it. Biggie felt horrible that Tupac had gotten robbed and that Tupac believed that he had been behind it. In everything that we saw and read in all the interviews, Biggie was an innocent bystander in this whole thing.
“Chuck Phillips knew they couldn’t really publish the story with the facts of that clue. Like I said, I read that clue that he relied on. I know exactly who that source was. It was a SouthsideCrip gang member, who was in a position to know. A tactical decision was made, ‘Hey, Biggie can’t sue us; he’s dead.’ So it was just irresponsible and reckless reporting.”
On The Response To His Book Murder Rap
“I think the L.A.P.D. is very disappointed because I went public with all of this. It makes them look negligent and incompetent with the investigation. So there’s a little bit of embarrassment. I’m sure they’re not happy with it but that’s the extent of it.
“It’s kind of funny. The people who are most opposed to me writing the book and putting this information out there are the people who have the alternate theories, who are now losing money.
“You’ll probably laugh at this; There’s a series of videos called Tupac Assassination, and it proposes the theory that Tupac was killed by Suge. I guess they were moderately popular videos with this really ridiculous proposal. This guy named R.J. Bond who is the director/writer/producer of the venture has filed an official complaint against me with the L.A.P.D.
“He’s so pissed off because we disproved his theory and obviously there’s no more money coming in if people aren’t buying into that theory. He and several other people have had these alternative theories that were really implausible, but now when we bring the truth out, it completely refutes their position.
“People aren’t really interested in what’s true and what’s provable. They’re only interested in what’s going to put money in their pocket. So it just goes to show that they were really never big fans of [Biggie and Tupac] or that they have a pursuit of truth. They just want to propose their theories because it brings in money.”
On His Motivation For Writing The Book
“The burden of knowledge is heavy. I wanted to get the information out and move on. I hated the idea that the public had been so deceived, in regards to both of these murder investigations. I hated the idea that this information would always be suppressed because of law enforcement.
The burden of knowledge is heavy. I wanted to get the information out and move on. I hated the idea that the public had been so deceived, in regards to both of these murder investigations.
“I’ve got an obligation to educate the public as to what really happened. And to let the families know what the investigation entailed, so that they could at least have that peace of knowing everything that law enforcement knows about the cases.
“I didn’t make money off the book. It was self-published. I had a very lucrative offer from Random House, and after they legally vetted it, they decided they could not publish it because of what they termed ‘reckless endangerment.’
“Random House felt that it would put people in harm’s way. They wouldn’t want blood on their hands, and particularly, they thought that by outing [Suge’s girlfriend], Suge might retaliate against her. So Random House decided not to publish it and this was after we had written a complete manuscript.
“I decided to self-publish it, which is not a cheap venture. So I incurred quite a bit of debt over it, and I haven’t even regained that. Self-publishing is not a lucrative venture. [Laughs.]”
On The Aftermath
“I can guarantee you that you will never see criminal prosecution in either of these cases, but Voletta Wallace knows who killed her son. She knows that individual then died a violent death himself. The co-conspirators, yes, they have gotten away with it, but they have been exposed publicly. Suge Knight knows that everybody knows that he was behind Biggie’s murder.
“[Suge’s girlfriend 'Theresa Swann']—she’s in hiding. She knows that her kids, the community at large, and everybody in the hip-hop community knows that she and Suge conspired to kill Biggie. The shooter’s dead. That’s as close to justice as these cases will ever see.
There’s so many people responsible for why this didn’t get solved: All the lying informants, the incompetence on the investigators’ part.
“Mrs. Wallace could pursue a civil case against Suge Knight, but her attorneys know that there’s nothing to gain. Let’s say that you find Suge Knight civilly liable for the murder of Biggie. You get nothing out of it.
“Suge Knight doesn’t have a pot to piss in. He’s broke. So unfortunately—and my heart goes out to her—this is as close to justice as we will ever see, in our judicial system. Now, if there’s street action, and one of Biggie’s zealots decides to take matters into his own hands, that’s a different story.

Tupac And Biggie Conspiracy

“It’s just a huge law enforcement travesty. It’s a huge travesty in all senses, but there’s so many people responsible for why this didn’t get solved: All the lying informants, the incompetence on the investigators’ part. All of the different factors that prevented this from getting solved should have never happened.

Biggie Smalls Conspiracy Theories

“That’s frustrating because these were very solvable cases. The failure to cooperate by the witnesses and the people that were around these camps, law enforcement’s inability to penetrate that barrier—there’s so many unfortunate factors. Everybody ultimately owes some sincere apologies, at least, to both Voletta Wallace and AfeniShakur.”