A memory. One evening when I was eighteen years old I came home after my night shift at McDonald’s to a police officer standing in my driveway next to my second used car, a fly burgundy ’78 Volvo. He informed me that my car had been seen leaving the scene of a crime. Allegedly someone had driven my car to break into another car in my neighborhood and steal an amplifier. Since I had walked to work that evening and had left my car at home I knew I hadn’t committed the crime. So I turned to look at my younger, more “criminally active” brother who was standing on my front stoop and was welcomed by the guilt ridden expression on his face. It was then that Mr. Officer leaned over and whispered into my ear, “I know your brother did this, just get him to say he did it.” After the pig asked me to snitch on my own brother, I turned back around and stretched out both of my arms to be handcuffed. That evening cemented in my mind, along with years of personal experience and healthy doses of N.W.A., Geto Boys, and Eightball & MJG, that pigs have an ethical responsibility to be as unethical as possible in patrolling and controlling mine and your community. So when I got a chance to speak with the lead investigator in the Tupac Shakur murder case, Sgt. Kevin Manning, my level of trust in his integrity regarding this case was nil. Unfortunately, nothing Sgt. Manning had to say to me in our conversation reversed my initial wary feeling. You see, much like David Roger, the District Attorney in Vegas, Sgt. Kevin Manning just doesn’t appear interested in this case. So if you feel the need to motivate Mr. Manning into submitting a case to the District Attorney for prosecution in the murder of Tupac Shakur, give him a call at (702) 229-3521 or send him a motivational message at: k2434m@lvmpd.com. Everyone needs motivation once in awhile. [The views expressed by this writer don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of AllHipHop.com] Allhiphop.com: Who do you believe murdered Tupac Shakur? Kevin Manning: Who I personally believe (murdered him) doesn’t matter. It’s the evidence that matters, not my personal belief. Allhiphop: According to Det. Brent Becker in a statement he made to Primetime Live, in 1996 your department knew who murdered Tupac Shakur. So why then wasn’t a report with recommendations for prosecution submitted to the District Attorney in this case? Kevin Manning: As of this date, and its been this way since day one, there is no evidence to submit to the District Attorney for a prosecution of anyone. Allhiphop: So that statement that he made to Primetime Live in 1996 – “we know who did this, we just don’t have anyone willing to come forward” – was that accurate or inaccurate? Kevin Manning: He had his belief as to who’s responsible; I have my belief as to who’s responsible. And as I said from the beginning, my belief doesn’t matter; it’s the evidence that matters. Allhiphop: Is there still a lack of witness issue, as he alluded to, with this investigation? Kevin Manning: When I say evidence, that includes direct evidence that would come from witnesses and any circumstantial evidence. And as of today we have no evidence that would implicate any individual. Allhiphop: So you don’t even have a prime suspect? Kevin Manning: Once again, we have no evidence, circumstantial or direct, which would implicate any one or more individuals. Allhiphop: Was there any circumstantial evidence at any point to try and take this case to a grand jury? Kevin Manning: If we had that we would have done that. Allhiphop: In most gang killings there are no willing witnesses, so why couldn’t this case have been proven without witness testimony? Kevin Manning: The only direct evidence that we have in this case is nothing that can connect to an individual, and so the only thing left is either circumstantial or witness testimony, and since we don’t have any witnesses who’ve ever come forward to say that they recognized or saw anyone commit this crime there’s nothing to submit to a grand jury or to the District Attorney for prosecution. Allhiphop: Do you believe that there were any eyewitnesses to the murder in addition to Yafeu “Kadafi” Fula? Kevin Manning: There was a bunch of eyewitnesses, including Suge Knight himself. Allhiphop: Do you believe Mr. Knight was deliberately uncooperative in the investigation? Kevin Manning: You’d have to ask him that question. Allhiphop: Why weren’t ballistics test done on the .40 caliber Glock that was believed to belong to Orlando Anderson to see if the gun matched the bullets found in Tupac’s body? Kevin Manning: I don’t know where you’re getting your information from, but we’ve done testing on numerous weapons over the years. And I’m not gonna get into specifics, who’s weapons we have or have not tested. Allhiphop: There wasn’t a .40 caliber Glock recovered from the house that Orlando Anderson was believed to reside in? Kevin Manning: I know for a fact that the information from the cartridge cases and the like has been entered into the national system and there has never been a match. Allhiphop: Why wasn’t Tim Brennan’s affidavit (see Chuck Philips – “Me Against The World”) enough circumstantial evidence to seek an indictment against Orlando Anderson for Tupac’s murder? Kevin Manning: Because it has no evidence in it. There’s a lot of hearsay, and that’s not sufficient for prosecution. Allhiphop: Can you tell me if the information in the affidavit was ever followed up, were those witnesses ever re-interviewed by your department? Kevin Manning: We’ve talked to hundreds and hundreds of people over the years. And once again, as of today, no one has ever provided any evidence that’s substantial and would be needed for an indictment. Allhiphop: According to a statement made by Orlando Anderson to Chuck Philips, as of October of 1996 your […]

Grand jury. What is a grand jury? According to the American Bar Association (no liquor, but lots of drunk lawyers) "the primary function of the modern grand jury is to review the evidence presented by the prosecutor and determine whether there is probable cause to return an indictment." Basically, the grand jury was designed as a safeguard against tyrannical prosecutors, preventing them from prosecuting in their own interests and not the people’s. Unfortunately, the grand jury hears only cases brought to it by the prosecutor. And in the case of the murder of a hip-hop legend, one man, David Roger, has decided that the people don’t deserve to take a look. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Roger, the District Attorney of Clark County, Nevada, and absorbing some good ‘ole fashioned prejudicial gibberish. As you will read for yourself, selective prosecution was alive and well in this great land of ours long before 9/11. The man who decides which Vegas hookers go to jail and which get sent back to Hollywood seems a little apathetic about the Tupac Shakur murder case. He just doesn’t seem interested. Well, all public officials need to be encouraged once in awhile, prodded into actions deemed necessary by the people they’re sworn to serve. So if you feel the need to encourage Mr. Roger to have a grand jury convened to investigate the murder of Tupac Shakur, give him a call at (702) 455-4711 or send him an encouraging message at: rogerd@co.clark.nv.us and remind Mr. Roger that he can’t ignore this case any longer. 7 years is long enough! Allhiphop.com: Did the Las Vegas Metro Police submit a report to your office with recommendations as to what charges should be filed in the Tupac Shakur murder case? David Roger: Not that I’m aware of. I’m the present District Attorney, I took office January 6th, and so anything that happened in a prior administration would not be within my knowledge. But I don’t think they submitted a case to us. Allhiphop: Why then wasn’t a grand jury convened in this case to see if there was enough evidence to prosecute Orlando Anderson or anyone else for the murder of Tupac Shakur? David Roger: We use the grand jury primarily to present cases that we intend to seek indictments. The procedure is that the detectives present us with their reports when they believe that they have sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. We review the case and if we agree with their statement that there is sufficient evidence, then we either file charges in Justice Court or we proceed to a grand jury and we present the case to them. And it’s my understanding that they did not present a case to us. There was no evidence to present to a grand jury. There are times when detectives will ask us to assist in the investigation and subpoena witnesses to testify before the grand jury in its capacity as an investigative division, but to my knowledge that did not occur. Allhiphop: Since you’ve been in the District Attorney’s office have you ever had a grand jury convened in a case where no suspect was clearly identified by the police? David Roger: No sir. Allhiphop: Have you ever prosecuted a murder case where there was no witness to the crime? David Roger: No witness to the crime? Allhiphop: No witness to the murder itself. Have you ever prosecuted a murder case where there was no witness to the murder? David Roger: If you’re asking me whether I have personally prosecuted a case where there are no eyewitnesses to the murder but instead strong circumstantial evidence which would suggest beyond a reasonable doubt that a person committed the crime, the answer is yes. If you’re asking me the broad question of whether I’ve prosecuted a case where there are no witnesses period, the answer is no. As prosecutors we have an ethical obligation to proceed only with those cases where we have an abiding conviction in the truth of the matter, and that we know that we can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. When you have a case with no witnesses period, it’s obvious that you can’t prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore there’s no attempt to prosecute the case. Allhiphop: Have you ever been successful in a case like that, where there was no witness to the murder, have you ever obtained a conviction in such a case? David Roger: I guess you need to clarify what you mean by no witness. Allhiphop: Basically, you have circumstantial evidence, but you have no person, no witness to the actual murder itself that will get up in a court and testify. David Roger: You mean no eyewitness? Allhiphop: No eyewitness. David Roger: I have prosecuted many circumstantial evidence cases. Allhiphop: Have you been relatively successful? David Roger: Yes I have. Allhiphop: Did you personally ever review the initial police report or any case file on Tupac Shakur’s murder? David Roger: No. Allhiphop: Did anyone else to your knowledge within the DA’s office review this case? David Roger: Not to my knowledge. Allhiphop: Can your office choose to prosecute in a case without a specific recommendation from a police department? David Roger: It’s rare that we get involved in investigations that are initiated by our office. We rely on law enforcement to present complete, trial ready cases to us for prosecution. We file approximately 22,000 felony cases each year and we don’t have the manpower to have our own investigative branch of the District Attorney’s office. Allhiphop: So basically a majority of the time it is based on police recommendation? David Roger: Correct. Allhiphop: As I understand it you were Deputy District Attorney at the time of the Tupac Shakur murder correct? David Roger: Yes. Allhiphop: Were you involved in any investigative element of that case via your position at the time? David Roger: No. Allhiphop: Do you believe that […]

Cathy Scott, the author of the bestseller The Killing of Tupac Shakur, as well as the jaw-dropping The Murder of Biggie Smalls is one ambitious lady. In addition to her teachings (journalism at UNLV) and her column ("Crime and Punishment" for Las Vegas CityLife), she even manages time to solve a murder or two. Her ambition as a writer (get it) is to always tell you, the reader, the truth. ALLHIPHOP.COM: Who do you believe murdered Tupac Shakur? CATHY SCOTT: It’s pretty common knowledge and widely believed that the Crips killed him, specifically the triggerman, Orlando Anderson. ALLHIPHOP: Are you 100% certain of that? CATHY SCOTT: I’m about as sure as you could be. ALLHIPHOP: Why do you think he did it? CATHY SCOTT: I don’t know if we’ll ever know why he did it. The motive is there obviously, he got beat up by Tupac and others and went and got his buddies, it wasn’t difficult to find Tupac that night, and shot him. Who knows if that’s what it was, because he was roughed up or if it’s just some bad blood. It’s just street justice that’s all it is, real simple. ALLHIPHOP: I don’t really want to cover too many details of the case that most of our readers already know, so is there any new piece of info regarding the shooting that you can divulge? CATHY SCOTT: I’ve included new interviews and that sort of thing in my book, but as far as anything new, it’s really just the same thing, the cops have not pursued this case actively for a very, very long time. And they’ve said themselves and I’ve got in on the record and in my book that they know who killed him, but they say they didn’t have the evidence to arrest him, and low and behold that person (Orlando Anderson) is dead now isn’t he? ALLHIPHOP: Yes, unfortunately. Now, let’s address a couple of the more shocking claims surrounding the shooting. First, Biggie Smalls is staying in a penthouse suite at the MGM Grand Hotel under a false name the night of Tupac’s murder, fact or fiction? CATHY SCOTT: Fiction. Absolutely fiction. You’re talking about Chuck Philips’ article in the L.A. Times right? ALLHIPHOP: Yes. What was your impression of that piece? CATHY SCOTT: I talked to a couple of gang cops there who’ve been in Compton for years and years on the streets, and they said they told Chuck Philips before he came out with the article, "you’re wrong, you’re dead wrong on this," and he came out with the article anyway. They told him, "you are wrong Chuck," and he came out with it anyway. His source was some gangbanger, some little kid who’s probably never left Compton and is probably laughing his head off right now and saying, "look what I just did." ALLHIPHOP: Here’s another one of the more shocking claims surrounding the shooting, Suge Knight is shot in the head, where the bullet remains logged to this day, fact or fiction? CATHY SCOTT: Fact. It’s actually shrapnel. He’s got some shrapnel at the base of his skull, top of his neck. ALLHIPHOP: So why do you believe Nick Broomfield said that he was only struck by flying glass in his Biggie & Tupac documentary? CATHY SCOTT: I don’t know why, he’s got Russell Poole for a source, a disgruntled cop who worked on the investigation for about five minutes. You know the cops here don’t elaborate about a lot and when something comes out on the details of a shooting, they’ll tell you who was shot, and Suge Knight was one of those who was shot. And yeah, he’s got some shrapnel stuck in his head. ALLHIPHOP: I basically wasn’t asking why he said what he said, but if he’s basing his claim on a medical report, do you know for a fact that Suge was struck by something other than glass? CATHY SCOTT: It’s based on the facts that came out early on in the case that were released from the hospital. The hospital released facts on the shooting, as far as the victims, which there were two victims, Suge and Tupac, and then the police initially on the condition of the victims, and Suge was one of those victims, and they gave out condition reports. ALLHIPHOP: During your research did you explore the theory that Suge orchestrated all of this? CATHY SCOTT: Yes I did explore it. There is absolutely not one shred of evidence that backs up that theory. And you know how badly the cops want him, if he did have something to do with Tupac’s shooting he’d be in prison for that right now, and not on some stupid parole violation. ALLHIPHOP: In the Biggie & Tupac documentary, Nick Broomfield seems to suggest that Orlando Anderson was merely a Lee Harvey Oswald-type patsy hired by either Suge or members of Suge’s crew to just be there in the casino that night. CATHY SCOTT: That’s absolutely fictional, and let me get this straight, Suge is a Blood, and Orlando is a Crip, yet Suge supposedly hired the Crips to do something for him, I mean they’re a rival gang, it’s just all a bunch of nonsense. It’s just people who don’t have anything better to do with their time and they’re trying to point fingers at people and it just didn’t happen that way. It’s a very simple shooting, it really is. ALLHIPHOP: Also from that film, Russell Poole says, "Suge’s people, people that Suge hired" were used in the shooting. In any of your research did you ever come across any other possible shooter than Orlando Anderson? CATHY SCOTT: No. Now, there were four people in the car, three others with Orlando, but all of the evidence, the gang sources, it all points to Orlando being the shooter. Plus, Orlando went back home to Compton and bragged about shooting him, plus he had a .40-caliber Glock, the same type of gun […]

E.D.I., so named for his physical semblance to former Ugandan President Idi Amin, may be an outlaw by moniker, but he’s a hustler by nature. The Co-CEO of One Nation Music Inc., along with his Outlaw partners, Young Noble and Kastro, has managed to triumph over tragedy and advance through adversity to become a major figga in the independent rap game, powerful and savvy enough to turn down numerous major label offers that would have stripped him of his independent hustle in favor of the one major (can’t spoil the surprise) that will finally bring the Outlawz to their well-deserved place on the world stage while allowing them to stay on their indie grind. Currently wrapping up his work for the soundtrack to this fall’s Tupac: Resurrection feature film documentary, a compilation album entitled Outlawz: Reloaded, as well as work for the major label debut from the Outlawz due next year, E.D.I. agreed to revisit the night that forever changed his life, offer some shocking insight into the murders of both his mentor, 2Pac, and his outlaw comrade, Kadafi, and shine a light on the darkness of a purposefully sabotaged police investigation. Allhiphop.com: Who do you believe murdered Tupac Shakur? E.D.I.: I don’t think it was one person, I think several people had something to do with it, several persons had something to do with it. I can’t point the finger at one individual person, I just feel it was more of a conspiracy type of thing, and you know conspiracies involve more than one person. Allhiphop: Is there any particular theory out there that you align yourself to? E.D.I.: No. Allhiphop: Where were you in that caravan of cars that night on the strip? E.D.I.: I was in the car behind Tupac. Allhiphop: Where in the vehicle were you? E.D.I.: I was in the back seat, passenger side. Allhiphop: What did you see? E.D.I.: I just seen a white Cadillac roll up and start shooting. Allhiphop: This has been reported different ways; did you happen to see if someone got out of that Cadillac? E.D.I.: No, nobody got out of the Cadillac. Allhiphop: And were you able to make out any type of description of the person who actually did the shooting? E.D.I.: No. Allhiphop: Did you happen to see how many people were actually in the shooter’s car? E.D.I.: I thought it was only three individuals, I’ve heard there was four, I heard there was only two, I thought I saw three. Allhiphop: Did the Las Vegas Metro Police interview you after the shooting? E.D.I.: No, they didn’t interview me that evening; they more or less sequestered us. They were more or less thinking that we had something to do with the shooting. Allhiphop: Were you actually placed into custody, were you put in handcuffs? E.D.I.: For a short period of time, then they took the handcuffs off of us and we just sat on the strip. Allhiphop: Did they order you to sit there? E.D.I.: Yes. Allhiphop: How long did all of this take place before they actually let you go? E.D.I.: It was about two, three hours, maybe even longer than that. Allhiphop: So they put you on the sidewalk, and then they take you to the station to interview you or they interview you there on the spot? E.D.I.: No, they just asked the questions, "what did we see," "did we see the vehicle," "did we see the shooters," and that was pretty much it, they just had us sitting there. And then they started getting into a whole bunch of other questions that didn’t even have anything to do with the shooting, like, "what gang are you from," "who got guns on ’em," "who got weed on ’em." Allhiphop: So they had automatically assumed this was gang related? E.D.I.: Yes, especially when they saw we had tattoos. When they saw our tattoos, they were like, "what Outlaw gang is in L.A., is it a Crip gang or a Blood gang?" Allhiphop: How would you categorize the overall treatment that you received from the police? E.D.I.: I’ll put it to you like this, anybody that’s been to Vegas know how Metro get down. Metro is basically the same as LAPD, probably even a little bit worse. When ‘Pac and Suge spun out we all ran up to the vehicle and the police immediately approached us with shotguns to our face and said, "don’t step an inch further." Allhiphop: Did the police ever follow-up with you after that night? E.D.I.: No. Allhiphop: They never called you up and asked you to come down to the station or anything like that? E.D.I.: No, not at all. Allhiphop: Were you ever shown any kind of photo lineup to identify anyone you may have seen in that car? E.D.I.: No. Allhiphop: What are your personal feelings overall about the police investigation? E.D.I.: I don’t wanna weird people out, but I really think they are under direct orders from some agency, somebody, someone not to really investigate this any further. It’s Las Vegas, nothing that big can happen on the strip without a whole lot of people being involved. I feel like it would behoove them not to pursue this anymore. Allhiphop: I interviewed Cathy Scott and she has spoken to cops who were close to the case and they said they didn’t pursue it because it was bad for tourism. E.D.I.: Right, there it is, money! There it is right there. And if it ever got out to the general public that something like this can happen in Las Vegas on the strip tourism goes down. And that goes all the way up to the origins of Las Vegas, the people that started Las Vegas, and even higher than that. Allhiphop: Do you believe Suge Knight had anything to do with Tupac’s murder? E.D.I.: I don’t really have an opinion on that, my opinion is time will tell, and that’s where I’ll leave that at. Allhiphop: Do you believe […]