32 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleChristal Hayes,Los AngelesandAnoushka Mutanda-Dougherty,Las Vegas courtroom
The conviction of Duane “Keffe D” Davis in Las Vegas has brought an end to one of the world’s most famous unsolved murder cases.
“We’re talking about the greatest rapper of all time, an icon, and not a single arrest or prosecution for 30 years,” former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the BBC of the conviction in rapper Tupac Shakur’s murder. “This is huge. It was a tough case. It’s a cold case.”
It gives closure to 30 years of mystery, the end of an era, he added.
It led to tears from rapper Shakur’s family in the courtroom, promises from Davis that he would appeal and curiosity from others looking on as to what it could mean for an almost identical case – the unsolved murder of Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, also known by his legal name of Christopher Wallace.
ReutersWallace, a New Yorker, was Shakur’s big rival and the two rappers embodied the East Coast – West Coast feud that dominated 1990s hip-hop. Wallace was killed in Los Angeles a few months after Shakur and in near identical circumstances – a drive-by shooting. No one has ever been charged.
It has long been believed the two murders were linked and Wallace’s name came up a lot in the Duane Davis trial – he and Davis were at the same party that night and David was interviewed by police after Wallace was killed. The investigator who conducted that interview even testified at the latest trial.
Getty ImagesThe breakthrough in finally solving the Shakur case largely came down to one thing – Davis’ own words.
Through documentaries with the media, his own memoir, podcasts and even a secret police interview – he acknowledged his role in Shakur’s death. Davis said he tossed a firearm in the backseat and his nephew, Orlando Anderson, used the gun to fatally shoot Shakur as they pulled up alongside his vehicle in Las Vegas on 7 September, 1996.
Anderson was shot dead in 1998, having denied killing Shakur.
During the trial, there were no eye-witnesses to place Davis as being in the car, no murder weapon presented, no video or photo evidence. His defence team went as far as to argue there wasn’t even proof that he was in Las Vegas that night.
Rahmani said it was a difficult case to prosecute. He noted the rumours and speculation surrounding Davis were nothing new and had been around for decades – but the decision to charge him and go to trial was an “uphill climb” – a gutsy move – for prosecutors.
“Look, when you’re a prosecutor, you’re expected to win every time. They made a difficult decision to charge a case that a lot of people thought might be a loser,” he explained. “And they got justice, where other people didn’t even bother trying.”
Davis’ attorney Michael Sanft asked the jury to consider “what facts do you have?” He urged the panel, before they decided their guilty verdict, to discredit his client as a liar who told tales to sell books and make money.
“There’s no proof,” he argued to the jury.
The moment the guilty verdict was read in court, Shakur’s family burst into emotion. Some cried and wiped tears with tissues. Others hugged and held hands – one family member even embraced one of the prosecutors in the case.
ReutersTrial attorney Shaun Kent said the case really evolved with each interview and moment that Davis decided to open his mouth and talk about the case more.
“There are no other witnesses, besides him,” Kent told the BBC before the trial, noting that the “strongest witness against him – is him”.
Rahmani said in his opinion, Davis would “go down as one of the world’s dumbest criminals”, who likely would have never have faced charges if he had stayed silent.
“He really couldn’t stop himself,” Rahmani added. “Even when he was arrested and in custody, he was giving interviews.”
Much of the Shakur trial forced the jury to place themselves back to the 1990s, at a time of intense gang violence that had infiltrated roots into hip-hop music and rivalries between East-Coast and West-Coast rappers.
It was a time of deep-rooted mistrust in policing and a street code that forbade snitching to authorities.
Even Shakur, after being hit multiple times in the drive-by shooting that would later kill him, refused to talk to authorities. “We’ll take care of it,” he said in an ambulance as an officer tried to question him on who did it.
The silence was echoed months later in the shooting death of Biggie Smalls.
Biggie, one of the biggest East Coast rappers, was leaving an after-party in Los Angeles for the Soul Train Music Awards, when a black Chevrolet pulled up to his vehicle at a red light and opened fire on 9 March, 1997. It was almost exactly six months after the shooting that killed Shakur, one of the biggest West Coast rappers.
Getty ImagesBoth were Grammy-nominated artists at the top of their genre, making millions and being played incessantly on the radio. They were also at the centre of a feud between East Coast and West Coast rap, that spilled over into their lyrics and also led to threats and physical violence.
Both shootings led to no arrests, no convictions, just rumours and conspiracies and gang violence that exploded on the streets of Los Angeles as street gangs sought to hold one another accountable in the aftermath of both rappers’ deaths.
Like Shakur’s death, countless theories and names have surrounded the death of Biggie in Los Angeles, but police with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) have not made any arrests.
“It’s really a stain on the LAPD. The fact that this could happen and not a single arrest was made and no one was prosecuted,” Rahmani said, noting Biggie’s killing happened on a public street in the middle of the second most populous US city.
“Prosecutors don’t like to lose and tend to be a little gun shy,” Rahmani explained. “But, maybe this [Tupac’s conviction] will embolden folks in Los Angeles to maybe take another look at it, a cold case that’s coming up on 30 years.”
Asked about the cases and whether the Tupac murder conviction could revive Biggie’s death, the LAPD told the BBC that it was aware of the conviction and the investigation into Biggie’s case remained active.
“The murder of Christopher Wallace remains an open, unsolved case within LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division,” Lt Elpidio Orozco said, urging anyone with any tips to call authorities.
Get all the latest trial updates on the BBC Sounds ‘Fame Under Fire: The Tupac Murder Trial‘ podcast available wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
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