Acum trei ani vizionam documentarul "Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders", bazat pe cartea detectivului Greg Kading, cel care a condus echipa a politiei din Los Angeles ce a descoperit ucigasii lui Tupac si Biggie. Apoi am vazut documentarul "Who Shot Biggie and Tupac", care ajungea cam la aceleasi concluzii. Daca vreti sa intelegeti cauzele care au dus la decesul acestor mari artisti, trebuie sa stiti ca filmele biografice "Notorious" si "All Eyez on Me" sunt doar niste versiuni romaticizate, deseori criticate de cei care au trait acele vremuri. Iar "City of Lies", filmul care nu a aparut inca din cauza unor probleme, este bazat pe investigatiile detectivului Russell Poole, ale carui concluzii nu au fost conforme cu realitatea.
Daca sunteti pasionati de acest subiect, exista multe documentare, clipuri si interviuri pe net care va pot ajuta sa intelegeti ce s-a petrecut in lumea hip-hop a anilor '90. Povestea incepe mai inainte, iar un prim pas ar fi sa vedeti "Straight Outta Compton", povestea trupei NWA si inceputurile muzicii rap in Compton. Pentru a afla mai multe despre Tupac si Biggie va recomand sa vedeti documentarul "Murder Rap", despre care am scris mai sus, seria TV "Unsolved", care spune povestea investigatiilor conduse de Russel Poole si Greg Kading, documentarul "American Dream/American Knightmare" al carui protagonist este Suge Knight, dar si seria "Death Row Chronicles", mini-seria "Raw Deal: The Last BIG Night" care il are in prim-plan pe Gene Deal, fostul bodyguard al lui Puff Daddy. Nu in ultimul rand, va recomand orele de interviuri facute de DJ Vlad pe Youtube despre Tupac, dar in special discutiile cu Ayanna Jackson, Dresta & BG Knocc Out, Mob James, Reggie Wright Jr si cele cu Greg Kading, in mai multe ocazii.
Greg Kading
Dupa toate astea, tot aveam cateva intrebari, asa ca l-am contactat pe Greg Kading, in speranta ca imi va raspunde la cateva intrebari. Spre surpriderea mea, a fost extrem de amabil - i-am trimis curiozitatile mele si mi-a raspuns clar si la obiect.
Alex Pinkish: From what I've learned so far, Puffy did not order the hit on Suge and Tupac per se, but was really scared of the Death Row entourage and would have done anything to eliminate the source of his fears. After Tupac was shot, he called and asked Keffe D if it was them who did it and Keffe D confirmed. In order to incriminate Puffy in any way, you stated the police only had Keffe D's confession, a drug dealer and a murderer whose word would go against the word of a wealthy, standup citizen in Sean Combs. But there are at least three other people that could have been 'leaned on', so to speak, just like in Keffe D's case:
- Zip (Eric Martin), known drug dealer, who was alive until 2012
- Faith Evans, who I understand called Keffe D herself to find out who shot Tupac
- the informant that told investigators in 1997 that Puffy had hired the Southside Crips to kill Suge and Tupac
- the witness in Zip's entourage in Las Vegas who testified that he'd heard Zip saying "we have artillery out here", meaning the gun in his armrest that was used to kill TupacSo my question is: if Puffy can't be prosecuted for conspiracy to commit murder, why can't he be prosecuted as an accessory after the fact and why weren't any of the above leads followed up to get more information on Puffy?
Greg Kading: In theory, Puffy could be charged with conspiracy. But the practical reality is it will never happen. The only person remaining to testify would be the drug dealing gang member Keffe D. Faith Evans cannot be forced to testify and why would she at this point? The 1997 informant settled out of court with Puffy and has a non-disclosure agreement as a result of the civil case. The witness in Zips entourage only implicated Zip, not Puffy.
Without a much-stronger case, the District Attorney would not prosecute a case he is likely to lose to Puffy's multi-million dollar defense team.
My intention was to get to Zip and use him against Puffy, but I was taken off the case before I could accomplish that and then Zip died.
AP: In the case of Biggie's murder, Tammie Hawkins (Theresa Swann) admitted she took cash from Death Row and gave it to Poochie. Tammie talked with Suge inside the prison and David Kenner, Suge's lawyer, may or may not have heard these talks. You said several Death Row employees knew Suge needed $25,000 in untraceable cash, but they did not know the reason behind it. A video of Poochie's funeral is on Youtube and it looks like the guy was well-loved within his community, but from what I know no-one else knew about him killing Biggie, the way Orlando's friends and family (aunt) knew about Orlando killing Tupac.
My question is: do you have reason to believe other people knew Poochie had killed Biggie, maybe David Kenner, Poochie's girlfriend/family or high-ranked Death Row employees?
GK: The only other person (that we know of) who knew Poochie had killed Biggie is George Williams and he is not willing to talk.
AP: Trevon Lane (Tre) was involved in the fight with Orlando Anderson at the Foot Locker, at the Lakewood Mall. Trevon was with 2 other bloods, but I don't know anything about Orlando and how many they were and if they made it off with Trevon's medallion. Some people say Orlando got the medallion, some people say he didn't. Trevon Lane posted a photo of his Death Row chain on Instagram, but no one can be sure if it's the same one.
Did you or any other police officers ever interview Trevon Lane and what details do you have of that fight: how many crips were with Orlando and did Orlando get away with Trevon's Death Row chain/medallion?
GK: We interviewed Trevon and he wasn't talking. We learned from MOB James that Trevon was able to get his medallion back during the fight at the mall. One of the Crips who was involved in the fight said the Crips outnumbered the Bloods. I believe he said there were 5 or 6 Crips.
AP: Dexter Isaac said in a written statement that in 1994, Henchman (James Rosemond), a friend of Puffy's and a police informant at some point, hired Isaac to rob Tupac at the Quad Studio in New York. Henchman gave Isaac $2500 plus all the jewelry he took, except for one ring, which Henchman wanted for himself. Isaac said he still had the chain that he took in the robbery. This agreement between Henchman and Isaac was also confirmed by Henchman's proffer sessions/court transcripts.
Did your investigation go as far back as the Quad Studios shooting and do you have any other information about that incident?
GK: We were aware of the 1994 Quad attack on Tupac and studied some of the case files. Dexter Isaac's explanation of the incident is accurate.
AP: You were taken off the task force in 2009 for an unrelated IA investigation and were exonerated, but in the meantime the task force had been dismantled and you decided to retire. You said you were pulled off the task force shortly after Tammie's confession and never got the chance to do all the follow-up stuff with Suge's lawyer, David Kenner, and other things that needed to be done. Also, many of the holes in the book are there because nobody followed-up on the investigation once you got taken off.
My final question is: do you feel that you could have uncovered even more if the task force had still been active today and what steps were you about to take to further the investigation at the time of you abrupt dismissal?
GK: Yes, I believe if I had been able to finish what we started, we would have made much more progress. I believe I would have gotten to Zip and would have gotten to Suge.
Intre timp, la una din intrebarile mele am cateva detalii suplimentare:
Travon Lane (Tre), Kevin Woods (K-Dog) and Maurice Combs, Mob Pirus Bloods, went to Foot Locker at the Lakewood Mall in Compton. As they went back to their '96 Lexus, they were confronted by a group of the Southside Crips and Orlando Anderson (Baby Lane), who had been beaten by members of Death Row at a party months before.
Au trecut 23 de ani de la moartea lui Tupac si Biggie. Vor mai fi discutii, se vor mai face interviuri si documentare, filme sau seriale TV. E important sa cunoastem adevarul si sa-l intelegem: marii vinovati in cazul acestor doua crime sunt Suge Knight si Puff Daddy. Suge e falit si tocmai a intrat la inchisoare, unde va sta minimum 12 ani, iar Puffy are o viata frumoasa, al carei confort e asigurat de averea estimata la 820 de milioane de dolari.
