Cathy Scott - The Killing of Tupac Shakur

THE KILLING OF TUPAC SHAKUR

Other Huntington Press titles:

Policing Las Vegas:

A History of Law Enforcement in Southern Nevada

by Dennis N. Griffin

Cullotta:

The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness

by Dennis N. Griffin

Surviving the Mob:

A Street Soldiers Life Inside the Gambino Crime Family

by Dennis N. Griffin and Andrew DiDonato

Battle Las Vegas:

The Law vs. The Mob

by Dennis N. Griffin

Beneath the Neon:

Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas

by Matthew OBrien

My Week at the Blue Angel:

And Other Stories from the Storm Drains, Strip Clubs, and Trailer Parks of Las Vegas

by Matthew OBrien

Of Rats and Men:

Oscar Goodmans Life from Mob Mouthpiece to Mayor of Las Vegas

by John L. Smith

Cathy Scott

HUNTINGTON PRESS

Las Vegas, Nevada

The Killing of Tupac Shakur

Published by:

Huntington Press

3665 Procyon Street

Las Vegas, NV 89103

(702) 252-0655 Phone

(702) 252-0675 Fax

E-mail:

Copyright 2014 Cathy Scott

ISBN 10-Digit: 1-935396-01-3

ISBN 13-Digit: 978-1-935396-01-7

Print History:

1st Edition: 978-0-929712-17-8 (1997)

2nd Edition: 978-0-929712-20-8 (2002)

3rd Edition: 978-1-935396-54-3 (2014)

Author Photo: Clay Myers

Cover Design: Maile Austraw

Production: Laurie Cabot

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may translated, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner.

First, to the memory of my grandmother, Esther Rose (1901-1990), a Carmel, California, artist with an intellect far too early for her time.

Second, to the grieving mothers who have lost their sons to gangsta violence: My sincere sympathies to you all as you struggle to make sense of their deaths.

And last, to the memory of Tupac Shakur: May he live on through his music, films, and legend.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people stood by me as I finished this manuscript. To borrow the words of Tupac Shakur, You are appreciated.

First, to Anthony Curtis at Huntington Press and his staff for believing that the killing of Tupac Shakur was a Las Vegas story that needed to be told and I was the one to tell it. And especially to Deke Castleman for his expert editing of not one, but three editions, making it a better book.

To the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, notably now-retired Lieutenant Wayne Petersen and detectives Brent Becker and Mike Franks, for their interviews, and Sergeant Kevin Manning, the lead detective on the case, for putting up with my many questions and allowing me to flesh out the story. And to Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives who helped fill in the details of the murder of Biggie Smalls.

To Geoff Schumacher (formerly my boss at the Las Vegas Sun) for giving me time off to finish the first manuscript, and to the Suns daytime copy desk for their endless good humor and encouragement, and to photographers Steve Marcus, Marsh Starks, and Aaron Mayes for their images. A special thanks to the Suns online department for its innovation in packaging the daily Tupac stories.

To my attorney and friend Victoria Pynchon for her legal counsel and lifetime of friendship that began in grade school where we had early aspirations in our first writers group, Sisters of the Pen, of one day becoming writers.

To Kevin Doty, esquire, and Kent Lauer with the Nevada Press Association for their advice. To Reggie Wright, owner of Death Rows security company, for answering my calls, and the late Frank Alexander, a former bodyguard, for his interviews.

To my sources, who for obvious reasons I wont name. And to one in particularyou know who you area thank you from the heart for reading every word I wrote and for understanding the role of a journalist.

To my fellow newswomen and newsmen, allies and sterling journalists all: Kevin Powell for his sensitive description of the man, not just the rapper; Tonya Pendleton for her insights into the world of rap; Charlene Charlie Fern for enforcing style, style, style at my first daily paper; Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith for his confidence in my abilities; Muriel Stevens for her sound literary advice; Myram Borders for her Las Vegas history; and the Suns executive editor, the former and late Nevada Governor Mike OCallaghan, for believing in me; you are missed.

To my family, most of whom were long-distance boosters: my son Raymond Somers Jr. for his never-failing encouragement and blessings; my late mother, fellow writer Eileen Rose Busby, who taught me I could achieve whatever in life I chose; my father, the late James Melvin Scott, whose writing of a book at age 85 prompted me to pen my own; my big brother Dr. J. Michael Scott for his scholarly and brotherly advice; my sister, the late Sally Scott, for passing on to me her love of literature; and my twin sister Cordelia Mendoza for always being there.

To Tupac Amaru Shakur, may your case one day see justice.

Finally, my gratitude to Robert E. Moore, a former Grossmont College instructor, whose critiques of my work as a sophomore in his creative-writing class continue to influence me today.

PROLOGUE

For nearly 20 years, Ive endeavored to uncover the truth surrounding the killing of Tupac Shakur. Perhaps no one will ever know for certain who pulled the trigger, although police have said they know who did it. What is known is this: The gunman got away with murder.

Not since John Lennon was cut down on the streets of New York City was a major entertainment figure murdered at the pinnacle of his popularity. As in the Lennon killing, Shakurs death resonated far beyond the world of musical entertainment. Unlike the Lennon killing, Tupacs murder was never officially solved.

From the start, my goal was to separate fact from fiction in the tremendously high-profile case. Much of the information I gathered and presented in the first edition of this book, published in 1997, had never before been seen in print. In some cases, I identified errors previously reported and replaced them with the facts as I learned them and knew them to be true.

This book is based on interviews, research, and observations that began the day Tupac was shot. I gleaned information from a prodigious paper trail, including county, city, police, and legal documents and records. I perused hundreds, if not thousands, of newspaper and magazine articles. In piecing together the events of September 7, 1996, and the aftermath, I diligently and pains-takingly checked and rechecked the facts. At the time, I was a police reporter by trade; it was my job to get it right.

I interviewed more than 200 people about the case. More than 100 are cited. Some of my sources provided background information only and their names were not included in the text. Although I had many conversations with Shakur family members and their attorneys, agents, and assistants, Tupacs mother, Afeni Shakur, did not submit to an interview. Instead, I included the few published comments she made about Tupacs death.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, known as Metro, was forthcoming at times and less so at others. Through the years, Las Vegas cops have been notoriously tight-lippedall the way up the chain of command to the highest levels. Long-term former Sheriff John Moran (now deceased) consistently refused to talk to reporters; even when he retired in December 1994, Moran declined to give a final interview, standing his ground and closing his door to the press one last time. Its a Las Vegas tradition to snub reporters.