2Pac murder solved?

[BigUp]

FROM TODAYS LA TIMES


By Chuck Philips
Los Angeles Times

September 6, 2002

Las Vegas -- The city's neon lights vibrated in the polished hood of the black BMW as it cruised up Las Vegas Boulevard.

The man in the passenger seat was instantly recognizable. Fans lined the streets, waving, snapping photos, begging Tupac Shakur for his autograph.

The car, with rap magnate Marion "Suge" Knight at the wheel, was leading a procession of vehicles to a hot new nightclub. It was after 11 on a Saturday night -- Sept. 7, 1996. The caravan paused at a crowded intersection a block from the Strip.

Shakur, 25, flirted with a carful of women -- unaware that a white Cadillac had pulled up beside him. A hand emerged from the Cadillac. In it was a semiautomatic pistol, aimed at Shakur.

Six years later, the killing of the world's most famous rap star remains officially unsolved. Speculation continues to flourish in the music media and among Shakur's followers. One theory is that Knight, owner of Shakur's record label, arranged the killing so he could profit from the rapper's martyrdom. Another persistent legend is that Shakur faked his own death to escape the pressures of stardom.

A yearlong investigation by the Los Angeles Times reconstructed the crime and the events leading up to it. Evidence gathered by the paper indicates that:

The shooting was carried out by a Compton, Calif., gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of a member by Shakur a few hours earlier.

Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur had attacked, fired the fatal shots. Las Vegas police interviewed Anderson only once, briefly. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting.

The murder weapon was supplied by Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G., who agreed to pay the Crips $1 million for killing Shakur. Notorious B.I.G. and Shakur had been feuding, exchanging insults on recordings and at concerts. B.I.G. was gunned down six months later in Los Angeles. That killing also remains unsolved.

Before they died, Notorious B.I.G. and Anderson denied any role in Shakur's death. This account of what they and others did that night is based on police affidavits and court documents as well as interviews with investigators, witnesses and members of the Southside Crips. Fearing retribution, they agreed to be interviewed only if their names were not revealed.

The slaying silenced one of modern music's most eloquent voices -- a ghetto poet whose tales of urban alienation captivated young people of all races and backgrounds. Shakur, who grew up in tough areas of New York and Baltimore, had helped elevate rap from a street fad to a complex art form.

But he never put what he called the "thug life" behind him. While serving a 41/2-year term in New York for sexual assault, he was visited by Suge Knight, founder of Death Row Records. Knight offered to finance an appeal if Shakur would sign a recording contract. Shakur accepted and was released in 1995 on a $1.4-million bond. Hours later, Shakur entered a studio to record "All Eyez on Me."

The double CD sold more than 5 million copies, making Shakur a superstar.

On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur, still out on bond, traveled to Las Vegas for a championship boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand Hotel. The arena was jammed with high rollers and an assortment of underworld and street-gang figures. Shakur, accompanied by armed bodyguards from the Mob Piru Bloods, a Compton street gang, sat in the front row with Knight.

After the fight, one of Shakur's bodyguards noticed a member of the rival Southside Crips lingering near a bank of elevators. The man was Orlando Anderson, 21, a Crip who had recently helped his gang beat and rob one of Shakur's bodyguards at a mall in Lakewood, Calif. The Bloods had been fuming for weeks, waiting to exact their revenge. Now, unexpectedly, there was Anderson, standing before them.

Shakur charged the Crip. "You from the South?" he asked. Before Anderson could answer, Shakur punched him. His bodyguards jumped in, pounding and kicking Anderson before security guards broke up the 30-second melee.

Shakur and his entourage stomped triumphantly out of the hotel, planning to regroup later at a benefit concert for a youth boxing program featuring Shakur and other Death Row acts at Club 662.

News of the beating swept through the gang underground. Anderson set up a meeting with more than a dozen gang members at the Treasure Island hotel. According to people who were present, the Crips decided to shoot Shakur after his performance.

For the Crips, the beating of Anderson was an affront warranting fatal retaliation. Still, the Crips thought, why not make a little money at it? They decided to ask Shakur's biggest enemy -- Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, -- to pay for the hit.

Wallace had been prodding the gang to kill Shakur -- and promised to pay handsomely. On Sept. 7, 1996, the Crips took him up on the offer.

The Crips sent an emissary to a penthouse suite at the MGM, where Wallace was booked under a false name. People who were present said the envoy explained that the gang was prepared to kill Shakur for $1 million. Wallace agreed, with one condition, a witness said. He pulled out a .40-caliber Glock pistol and placed it on the table. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing the fatal bullet came from his gun.

A white Cadillac carrying four Crips headed toward Club 662. It was followed by an older yellow Cadillac driven by one Crip with an AK-47 assault rifle.

The driver of the first car saw a caravan of vehicles, carrying Mob Piru Bloods and Death Row employees, stopped at a red light across from the Maxim Hotel. Leading the convoy was Knight's black BMW. Shakur was in the passenger seat. He and Knight were alone in the car, unarmed. The Crips decided not to wait.

The white Cadillac raced up beside the BMW. Bullets shattered its windows. Four bullets shredded Shakur's chest.

The white Cadillac screeched around the corner. A bodyguard in the Death Row caravan fired at it. In a ruse designed to confuse Shakur's entourage, the Crip in the yellow Cadillac chased the white car around the corner, as if in hostile pursuit.

Las Vegas police were soon on the scene. After summoning an ambulance for Shakur, they ordered everyone else in the convoy out of their cars at gunpoint. By the time detectives figured out that Knight and his caravan were victims, not suspects, the Crips were leaving town.

The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Co. newspaper.
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

[el cabron.]

d-uh. what a surprise!! i don't know what took em so long to figure that **** out!!

[2Rude4MyOwnGood]

anything is possible but i dont buy all of that story. its very likely that the gang had something to do with the murder, but i dont think Biggie was stupid enough to tell them to use his own gun, making it much more easy to trace. i mean, what kind of moron would do that?

and also, Biggie was the one who didnt want this so-called 'east vs. west' war to blow up. the press made it out to be something much bigger than it actually was.

[Fizza]

it is all good them printing this for the interest of the public but is 2pac really dead? I dont believe so and there are many reasons that back this.


Is this article really the truth?

[/\/\etallic/-\]

Sounds more like an well imagined story than a newspaper article

[Black_Superman]

Thing is they were talking about this on MTV this morning. I just don't buy that about Biggie telling them to use his gun. Doesn't make any sense

[irpker]

This was actually printed in the LA times? A fairy tale? Wow, I thought all the "Times" newspapers in major cities were respectable; I guess not anymore.

[dez\null]

im at school now so...

(gary coleman picture of him saying" Who ****'in Cares?")

[Immortal]

I dont really believe it, how did they get in touch with biggie so quick? and wasn't the shooting right after the fight? so they assembled a meeting and met with biggie in like less than an hour.

[Immortal]

dez/null - Please dont' comment if you have nothing nice to say at all.

[joe78]

I always thought it had something to do with B.I.G., but the gun thing seems too suspicious to be true.

[Jay]

And why isn't 2pac's insurance claim cashed?


Jay

[Jay]

So this is really how he died? Its on mtv?


Also how can they meet biggie so fast.........


Gonna check mtv/bet.com right now.


Jay

[Jay]

Junior Mafia denies it!

Mom does also!

What a surprise, not saying its true....

http://bet.com/articles/0,,c3gb3798-4482,00.html

[Immortal]

Actually the more I hear it the more I believe it.

[Jay]

Live by the gun die by the gun...............


Three days before his own murder on March 9, 1997, Wallace discussed his feud with Shakur in an interview with a San Francisco radio station.

Asked whether he had a role in the Shakur's death, Wallace said he "wasn't that powerful yet."

But if anyone seen the 1st shooting of Pac biggie and p.diddy looked very suspicious when ya see them walking out the building puffy acts like some bad ass with a piece of thing hanging out his mouth.



Jay

[Antaeus]

Originally posted by Black_Superman
Thing is they were talking about this on MTV this morning. I just don't buy that about Biggie telling them to use his gun. Doesn't make any sense

Actually 2Pac was fukking Biggie's wife. And Pac bragged about on one of his singles. If that's not enough motive for a g I don't know what is.

But yeah the timing seems a little too close... Assembling a meeting and all that.

[FATHER FLEX]

Originally posted by Immortal
I dont really believe it, how did they get in touch with biggie so quick? and wasn't the shooting right after the fight? so they assembled a meeting and met with biggie in like less than an hour.

Yeah it's b.s....

[mass monster]

yea i think biggie had to do somethin with it tho...with his trick fat ass

[Immortal]

Anyone read about how 2Pac before he died, told people how he wanted his albums to come out, and if he died before biggy release this, and if biggy died first and whatever. thats some cool ****.

[Immortal]

Just saw the newscast for it on MTV, I think they believe it too.

[outlaw]

edi from the outlawz said if this is proved to be true, puffy will be banned from the west coast. part 2 of that article came out today can anyone in la post it here?? **** biggie! **** bady boy as a staff, record label and as a mother ****in crew and if you wanna be down with bad boy then **** you too-(pac)

[Mad Professor]

I will show more respect.

[FATHER FLEX]

Originally posted by Mad Professor
Tupac is dead. No one cares. Get over it already. Its only been 6 years.

Go bump some Jarule or something...some people like real music.

[Immortal]

No rapper comes close to 2Pac, I hate all these stupid bitches calling Biggie the kinf after only 2 albums, only one that was real good. If Biggie did have 2Pac killed his fat ass deserved to die, I think Puff Daddy should, ok excuse me, P. DIDDY, needs his " take that, take that, take that, ass kicked.

[Mad Professor]

Originally posted by FATHER FLEX


Go bump some Jarule or something...some people like real music.

Cut it out, homeboy. All rap is crap. Hell, music itself is crap. All you gotta do to make it big is wear underpants on your head, your pants around your knees 4 sizes too big and have gold teeth and chains. Pathetic really.

[FATHER FLEX]

Originally posted by Mad Professor


Cut it out, homeboy. All rap is crap. Hell, music itself is crap. All you gotta do to make it big is wear underpants on your head, your pants around your knees 4 sizes too big and have gold teeth and chains. Pathetic really.

Look just because rap isn't based on melody (based on rhythm) doesn't mean it isn't music. Just because it doesn't come from Europe doesn't mean it isn't music. The most of the people of the Americas and Africa based their music on rhythm and not melody. Rap was always looked down upon(and because it is black music and that is taboo) because it went against everything Europe viewed as music. Just because one small area on the planet and its people decided that music was to sound like this; does not mean the rest of the world has to follow. Once again just because you have no rhythm and can't even bop your head to the hock pocky does not meant you need to show disrespect for a wonderfull, and above all very different type of music. Besides....RAP IS HERE TO STAY!!!!

[Mad Professor]

In my PM Box

FATHER FLEX wrote on 09-08-2002 11:57 PM:
I responded to you in the tupac thread....I look forward to your reply.

Originally posted by FATHER FLEX


Look just because rap isn't based on melody (based on rhythm) doesn't mean it isn't music. Just because it doesn't come from Europe doesn't mean it isn't music. The most of the people of the Americas and Africa based their music on rhythm and not melody. Rap was always looked down upon(and because it is black music and that is taboo) because it went against everything Europe viewed as music. Just because one small area on the planet and its people decided that music was to sound like this; does not mean the rest of the world has to follow. Once again just because you have no rhythm and can't even bop your head to the hock pocky does not meant you need to show disrespect for a wonderfull, and above all very different type of music. Besides....RAP IS HERE TO STAY!!!!

I don't give a **** about music. I am not musically inclined. I don't care that you assume that rap is taboo because it is primarily black people who peddal the 'beats' and so forth. I don't 'bop my head' to anything. I don't want a history of music out of Europe - and if I did, I'd ask someone who was qualified in the field and knew a little bit about it - not some punk ass wanna be gangster. I never said it wasn't music, I said all music is ****. How about you quit jacking it all the time - its messing with your eyesight. By the way - the real gangsters are Italian, smooth and wear suits - not from the ghetto, and they don't wear their pants 4 sizes too big around their knees.

[Immortal]

SHut up and quit bitching you dum Brit. As long as you like listening to it, who cares. If you don't listen to it, why post your dum ass comment in here, go listen to your damn bag pipes. Damn that's Scottish, oh well.

[Mad Professor]

Originally posted by Immortal
SHut up and quit bitching you dum Brit. As long as you like listening to it, who cares. If you don't listen to it, why post your dum ass comment in here, go listen to your damn bag pipes. Damn that's Scottish, oh well.

Dumb Brit and Scottish? Damn - you have no idea, do you? You want to bag me because I am white? Get off back to the Westside, G.