Ex-cop testifies Keffe D admitted to involvement in Tupac Shakur murder

(CN) — A former LAPD detective told a jury Wednesday Duane Davis, also known as “Keffe D,” told investigators in 2008 he was involved in the killing of Tupac Shakur.Daryn Dupree was assigned to a task force investigating a different unsolved murder of a rap legend, that of Christopher Wallace, otherwise known as the Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls. Wallace was killed in Los Angeles in 1997, a year after Shakur was murdered in Las Vegas.Dupree testified Davis — then a leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang — was interviewed under suspicion he might have something to do with Wallace’s killing, in part because he drove a Chevy Impala, the same type of car Wallace’s shooter had been riding in.The task force met Davis as part of a “proffer session:” an off-the-record meeting between investigators and a criminal suspect that may form the basis of a future plea deal. At the meeting, Davis denied any involvement with the Wallace shooting.“At that time, he said, no, we didn’t have anything to do with that one,” Dupree testified. “We were like, ‘That one? What do you mean?”“He said, ‘We did the other one,’” Dupree added.When asked if he knew what Davis meant, Dupree said, “Me, personally — the only other one was Tupac.”Davis is accused of buying the gun and handing it to the man who would kill the beloved 25-year-old rapper. The murder arose from long-running feud between the South Side Compton Crips and the Mob Piru, based in East Compton.According to prosecutors, the feud escalated when Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, pulled a Death Row Records chain from a man affiliated with Mob Piru. Death Row Records was Shakur’s record label, and run by the notorious Suge Knight, who was also injured in the shooting that killed Shakur.Security camera footage played during Davis’ Las Vegas trial showed Shakur, Knight and their entourage attacking Anderson in September 1996 in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where members of both gangs were for a Mike Tyson fight. Later that night, Shakur was shot four times as he rode in a car being driven by Knight. He died from his wounds six days later.Las Vegas police revived the cold case in large measure because of Davis’ 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” in which he writes, “I’m one of the only living eyewitnesses to Tupac’s killing … Them jumping on my nephew gave us the green light to want to do something."Davis, now 63, has pleaded not guilty, and says the book was a work of fiction. His attorney, Michael Sanft, told the jury during his opening statement that Davis was known to “bullshit.”“What facts do they have to even put Keffe D in a car in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996?" Sanft asked. “What facts?”On Wednesday, Dupree testified that the Davis told investigators a similar story to what would end up in his memoir: that Shakur was killed in retaliation for the Anderson beating.According to the testimony, Davis claimed that four men were in the car that night: Davis, Anderson, Terrence “Bubble Up” Brown, and Deandrae “Dre” Smith — to whom Dupree testified Davis handed a gun to.“[Smith] was afraid to shoot. Mr. Anderson grabbed the gun and shot across Mr. Smith,” he said.When asked by Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo if he had any reason to doubt Davis’ story, Dupree said no.“I didn’t think Mr. Davis was lying because he put the gun in his nephew’s hand,” Dupree said. “Mr. Orlando Anderson was the man. Besides Keffe D, in that neighborhood — he was the prince. His family loved him. I didn’t think Mr. Davis would put the gun in his own nephew’s hand, put that smut on him, unless it was true.”Anderson has long been accused of involvement in the murder, and was even sued by Shakur’s mother for wrongful death, but was never charged. He was killed in an unrelated gang shootout in 1998, at the age of 23.Former FBI special agent, Wade Lee also testified that he interviewed Davis twice off-the-record, once during a different proffer session, and another time when Davis was in prison. According to Lee, Davis denied having anything to do with either the Shakur or Wallace murders.“He said he didn’t know” who was responsible for Shakur’s murder, Lee testified.“He believed that individuals from New York, associated with Sean Puffy Combs, killed Tupac Shakur,” he said.He added: “Mr. Davis said he and Anderson were upset after the casino attack, but weren’t going to strike back with all the police around.”Davis’ murder trial will continue on Thursday, and is expected to last about another month.Possible witnesses include Knight, currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter, and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, the former sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads