In "Who Killed
Tupac Shakur?"
a controversial two-part
article published
in the Los Angeles
Times, journalist
Chuck Philips presented
evidence that Notorious
B.I.G. was behind
the murder of Shakur.
According to Philips,
after Orlando Anderson's
beating at the hands
of the Death Row Bloods,
Anderson went back
to his hotel room
and called his brother
Crips who hastily
put together a retaliation
plan. The Crips, figuring
that they could make
some profit off a
hit on Shakur, sent
an emissary to Notorious
B.I.G. who Philips
contends was in Las
Vegas for the Tyson
fight, staying at
a hotel under another
name. The emissary
negotiated a $1 million
fee for the murder
of Shakur whom B.I.G.
had allegedly come
to despise not only
for being a staunch
member of the West
Coast rappers who
disparaged him regularly
in public but also
for releasing a song
called "Hit 'Em
Up," in which
he boasted of having
had sex with B.I.G.'s
estranged wife. But
according to Philips,
B.I.G. agreed to pay
the fee on one condition:
the hit had to be
done with his own
gun. In Philips's
scenario Notorious
B.I.G. gave the Crips'
emissary his ".40-caliber
Glock pistol."
In the meantime the
Crips had organized
a team to hunt down
Shakur. Philips writes
that they had two
cars, a late-model
white Cadillac and
an older yellow Cadillac
driven by a lone Crip
armed with an AK-47
assault rifle. Their
plan was to take out
Shakur at Club 662,
but when they happened
upon the Death Row
caravan on Flamingo
Road, they seized
the opportunity and
struck.
Vibe magazine, however,
cast doubt on this
scenario when it presented
a time line of the
events as Philips
describes them. On
fight nights, the
streets of Las Vegas
are always jammed
with vehicle and pedestrian
traffic. The shooting
occurred two hours
and thirty-two minutes
after the beating
of Orlando Anderson.
According to Vibe,
the Crips couldn't
possibly have gotten
a hit team on the
street in that time.
They would have needed
at least another 22
minutes and probably
much more.
Search Warrant affidavit
regarding Orlando
Anderson
Furthermore, Notorious
B.I.G. claimed he
was not in Las Vegas
on the night of Shakur's
shooting, and he had
an alibi. Witnesses
swore that B.I.G.
was in a studio in
New York recording
new songs that night.
His best friend, rapper
Lil' Cease, claimed
that they both went
back to B.I.G.'s home
in New Jersey after
the recording session
to watch the Tyson
fight on television.
As Sam Anson points
out in his Vibe article,
it should have been
relatively easy to
confirm that "a
6'3", 315-pound
black celebrity with
an entourage"
was present in Las
Vegas on the night
of the shooting, but
the Las Vegas police
have been unable to
confirm B.I.G.'s whereabouts
that night. The murder
of Tupac Shakur remains
an unsolved homicide.
Six months after the
death of Tupac Shakur,
Notorious B.I.G. was
in Los Angeles for
the 11th Annual Soul
Train Music Awards
at the Shrine Auditorium
and Expo Center. When
he took the stage
to present an award,
the audience booed
him.
He leaned into the
microphone and tried
to lighten the mood.
"What's up, Cali?"
he said.
The booing increased
and continued through
his presentation of
an award to singer
Toni Braxton.
B.I.G. left the stage
deeply embarrassed.
He had been trying
to distance himself
from the rap feuds
and just make music,
but rumors were circulating
that he was in some
way responsible for
Shakur's murder.
A party hosted by
Vibe and Qwest Records
was scheduled for
the next night at
the Petersen Automotive
Museum on Wilshire
Boulevard. According
to Cathy Scott in
her book The Murder
of Biggie Smalls,
B.I.G. wasn't in the
mood for partying
after being booed
at the awards ceremony,
but he agreed to go
"because Puffy
Combs had asked him
to go." They
were both eager for
the release of B.I.G.'s
next album Life After
Death 'Til Death Do
Us Part later that
month, and being seen
at the party would
be good promotion.
Witnesses reported
that B.I.G. had a
good time at the party.
He spoke to old friends
and met several flirtatious
women. Some asked
him to dance, but
he was walking with
a cane, still on the
mend from a leg injury
due to a car accident,
so a few of the women
danced suggestively
in front of him as
he sat and watched.
The party was the
place to be that night
as 2,000 people crowded
the museum space,
and outside 200 more
jostled to get in.
By midnight fire marshals
decided that the museum
was dangerously overcrowded,
and at 12:35 A.M.
they shut the party
down and ordered everyone
out. The crowd disbursed,
disappointed guests
heading for the doors.
B.I.G. was moving
slowly with his injured
leg, so he, Puffy
Combs, and the rest
of the Bad Boy entourage
hung back and let
the others go first.
They walked to their
two rented G.M.C.
Suburbans, a black
one and a dark green
one, which they'd
parked on the street
because the valet
parking lots were
full by the time they
had arrived. B.I.G.
got into the front
passenger seat of
the dark green Suburban
along with two friends
and his driver. Puffy
and his friends piled
into the black Suburban.
At night, the two
vehicles looked identical.
Puffy's vehicle pulled
out first, followed
closely by B.I.G.'s
and then a Ford Blazer
carrying their bodyguards
who were all off-duty
Inglewood police officers.
All three vehicles
drove to the intersection
of Fairfax Avenue
and Wilshire Boulevard
where they stopped
for a red light. They
were heading for an
after-party. The stereo
in Biggie's car was
pumping, playing his
new album.
While they waited
for the light to turn,
a man called out to
the green Suburban.
Thinking it was a
fan who just wanted
to wish him well,
B.I.G. rolled down
his window. Then,
a dark-colored Chevrolet
Impala pulled up along
the right side of
B.I.G.'s vehicle.
The driver—a
black man wearing
a suit and bow tie—pulled
out an 9mm automatic
pistol and opened
fire on the rapper.
B.I.G. was hit several
times in the chest.
Puffy got out of his
Suburban and ran to
B.I.G.'s side as the
Impala sped off, but
B.I.G. had already
lost consciousness.
They raced to get
him to the hospital,
but B.I.G. was already
gone.
