Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations (34 page)

EPILOGUE

C
ASES HAVE A WAY OF
coming back around, even the cold ones…especially the cold ones. Years go by with no new leads. Witnesses die and evidence disappears. But, despite being buried in the sands of time, the dead still cry out for justice. I truly believe that.

I never intended to walk away from the Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur murder investigations. Not even when I retired from the force…especially not then. I knew I still had something to do, that there was one option left for me to bring the truth to light.

You’re holding that option in your hands.

I could never have written a book about what I knew and how I knew it if I was still a cop. There’s a document called the “
Law Enforcement Code of Ethics”
by which I lived my professional life. It states in part, “Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.”

As long as I was wearing a badge I couldn’t betray that oath. But, by the same token, what was “necessary in the performance of my duty” had remained unfinished. I needed to quit in order to persevere, to leave the force in order to fulfill my sworn duty.

I hope this book serves the purposes for which it was intended. I want it to bring closure to the families of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur. I want it to reveal the truth about their deaths, a truth that has been hidden and distorted and bent to suit a dozen different agendas. I want to make it known how the case had almost been solved and who was responsible for the failure to see it through.

But more than anything, I want to keep the case
alive
. Perhaps this book will serve as a spur for the LAPD to do the right thing, to reopen the case one more time and finally conclude the investigation on the basis of the evidence it already has or is not too late to gather.

Baby Lane and Poochie are gone. But Suge Knight isn’t. Neither is Zip Martin, or Theresa Swann or Terrence Brown, or several other principal players in the murders.

Of course, they could deny it all, every word I’ve written in these pages. They could hire lawyers to argue that the sources we used to solve the murders were unreliable criminals, the scum of the earth, acting under duress, who just happened to tell convincing, compelling, and coherent narratives.

Maybe this story would never hold up in court. But maybe it will hold up in the court of public opinion.

You decide.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
N THE LAPD:
Captain Kyle Jackson, Captain Denis Cremins, Lieutenant Don Hartwell, Detective Brian Tyndall, Detective William Holcomb, Detective Frank Trujilllo, and Sergeant Omar Bazulto.

In the DEA: Special Agents Briane Grey, Sean Vickers, Amin Fard, and Task Force Officers Chris Marshall and Tim Harrington.

In the FBI: Special Agents Dan McMullin, Danny Martinez, Craig Harris, Charles Gravis, and Mecole Spencer.

In the BATF: Special Agents John Ciccone and James Black.

In the IRS: Special Agent Mark Pearson.

In the LA County Sheriffs Department: Lieutenant Tracee Edmonds, Lieutenant Randy Dickey, Lieutenant Dave Coleman, Detective Karen Shonka, Detective Greg Thurman, and Detective Tim Brennan.

Special thanks to Daryn Dupree, a great detective, a great partner, and an even better friend.

To my wife, Donna, and son Dane, “I love you both beyond words”.

And to those I can’t publicly acknowledge, thank you for all your encouragement and support on this project.

Michele, Ronda and the team at
1106 Design
for the cover art and layout design: Thank you for your patience and professionalism.

To Glenda Ebersole at
E Grafxx
for web design and business logo: Thank you too, for all your patience and professionalism.

To my agents Paul Bresnick and Joel Gotler: Thanks for believing in this book and all your efforts to push it forward.

Thanks to Don Seitz and Marcus Chait for giving me invaluable insight and instruction on this newly traveled road.

Thanks to Tyson Cornell at
Rare Bird Lit.
for planning and execution.

Thank you John and Sophia, for having my back past, present, and future.

And to Davin Seay, who brought this story to life and gave me a new friend in the process. You are a Godsend!

And speaking of God: To the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, thank You for “all things”.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

G
REG KADING
is a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective. Specializing in the fields of gangs, narcotics, and homicide, Detective Kading spent most of his career assigned to federal task forces to investigate complex criminal cases in the City of Angels. Decorated with the Medal of Valor for bravery and Police Star for heroic action, Detective Kading achieved the departments highest ranking as an investigator. After his 25-year law enforcement career he retired in 2010 to write this book.

Greg Kading lives in southern California with his wife, Donna, and two bulldogs, Ricky Bobby and Evil. He is the proud father of a son, Dane, who is a Marine serving in Afghanistan.

Table of Contents

Murder Rap

Contents

Part One

Chapter 1: Hit ’Em Up

Chapter 2: Incident #7068000030

Chapter 3: Mad Dogging

Part Two

Chapter 4: The Call

Chapter 5: The Conspiracy

Chapter 6: Wrongful Death

Chapter 7: The Team

Part Three

Chapter 8: Clearing The Rubble

Chapter 9: Fishing Expeditions

Chapter 10: Ballistics

Chapter 11: Keffe D

Chapter 12: The Sit Down

Part Four

Chapter 13: Who Shot Ya?

Chapter 14: 662

Chapter 15: “That Wasn’t Us”

Chapter 16: “Was That Us?”

Part Five

Chapter 17: “Cleared Other”

Chapter 18: Sugar Bear

Chapter 19: The Impala

Chapter 20: Stutterbox

Part Six

Chapter 21: Theresa

Chapter 22: Starbucks

Chapter 23: The Shooter

Chapter 24: The Ruse

Chapter 25: Reckless Disregard

Chapter 26: Perception

Chapter 27: Policy and Procedure

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author