Notorious B.I.G.,

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The mystery of who gunned down Notorious B.I.G. -- and why -- has frustrated and fascinated the hip-hop world for eight years.

With FBI and police investigations failing to net even a suspect, a swirl of theories implicated corrupt cops, gang hits, bicoastal beefs -- or all three at once. None have been provable, so far.

The case finally is in court, as a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the New York rapper's family against the city of Los Angeles. On Tuesday, a nine-person jury was selected, and opening statements were expected. The panel is expected to at least get a peek inside the so-called murder book showing whom the Los Angeles Police Department interviewed and which leads were followed.

Christopher Wallace was killed early March 9, 1997, on a Los Angeles boulevard after someone in a dark sedan fired seven shots into his sport utility vehicle while both cars were stopped at a light. Wallace was heading to a hotel following an awards show after-party.

The suit claims LAPD officials covered up a former officer's involvement in the slaying and ignored a systemic problem of potentially dangerous moonlighting. The family claims a number of off-duty officers associated with gang members while providing security for Death Row Records, home of Wallace's West Coast rival, Tupac Shakur.

Shakur was slain on the Las Vegas Strip six months before the 24-year-old Wallace was killed, and the two are forever linked in hip-hop culture.

Death themes and dark rivalry

Both savored the good life but were obsessed with death. Shakur flaunted bullet wounds and rapped of dying young. Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, titled his 1994 debut "Ready To Die" and posed for the cover of his posthumously released second album, "Life After Death," leaning on a hearse dressed for his own funeral.

Wallace was discovered by then-rising producer Sean Combs, now known as P. Diddy. Combs groomed the baritone rapper for a mainstream audience through dance-happy samples, guest spots on R&B songs and even a collaboration with Michael Jackson.

But a dark rivalry was forming outside the spotlight. A murky series of conflicts erupted in the mid-1990s between Combs' New York-based Bad Boy Entertainment and Los Angeles-based Death Row, led by Marion "Suge" Knight.

It began after Shakur survived a 1994 shooting at a New York recording studio; Wallace and Combs had been nearby and Shakur blamed them for it. Assaults continued as each company purportedly linked up with rival street gangs -- Bloods for Death Row, Crips for Bad Boy.

A Knight bodyguard was killed in September 1995 after a confrontation with Combs and others at an Atlanta party. In December of that year, a man named Mark Anthony Bell was beaten and tortured at Knight's home by men seeking Combs' home address, according to an affidavit filed by an LAPD detective and released by Wallace's family Monday.

And then there was the war of words. Shakur boasted on record of having sex with Wallace's wife; Wallace released songs with seemingly veiled references to Shakur's 1994 shooting.

'All of a sudden, people get amnesia'

According to the Wallace family lawsuit, both record companies began hiring off-duty policemen as bodyguards. The suit describes several instances in which police investigating assaults involving Bad Boy or Death Row employees arrived to find off-duty officers on the scene.

One officer, David Mack, is at the heart of the lawsuit.

According to a theory advanced by former LAPD Detective Russell Poole -- who's scheduled to testify -- Mack arranged for his college roommate Amir Muhammad to kill Wallace on Knight's behalf. But Knight, who has served time in prison for assault and weapons violations, is not named in the Wallace suit. A lawyer who has represented him, Milton Grimes, did not return a call seeking comment.

Muhammad and Mack, who is now serving a 14-year sentence for bank robbery, have repeatedly denied having anything to do with the killing. The judge dropped both from the suit this month.

Perry Sanders, the Wallace family's lawyer, said evidence will show Mack "used cop tools" such as police radios to help plan the shooting and that the LAPD is liable "for allowing officers to be doing off-duty work, for allowing them to associate with people they shouldn't be associating with."

Several key witnesses have weakened the family's case by backing away from previous statements in recent interviews. Sanders said Monday they were among several reluctant to testify for fear of retaliation.

"All of a sudden, people get amnesia," he said. "Amnesia is a funny thing. It can't be cured in the courtroom."

Attorney Marc Harris, representing Mack, dismisses the case as "a house of cards" with lying witnesses parroting theories offered in books and movies. The trial is expected to feature jailhouse informants who have linked Knight and Mack to Wallace's slaying.

"This theory has gained such currency in the media that it's easy for somebody who wants to get out of jail to say, `Yeah, I was at a party where Suge Knight said he killed Biggie,"' said Harris, who's being paid by the city.

It's unclear whether Knight or players in the hip-hop industry will be called. Combs has given a deposition, but Sanders said it's unlikely he'll testify.

"I'm completely supportive of the family and will always be supportive of the family," Combs said in an interview.

The trial will be split into three phases and could last up to a month.

First, jurors must decide whether Mack was involved in the killing.

If they find he was, they'll then consider whether the LAPD and the city should be held responsible for the off-duty officer's actions.

In a third phase, jurors would award damages. The family is asking for an unspecified amount but can present evidence showing Wallace's potential earnings far exceeded $100 million, Sanders said.

In his two albums, which Nielsen SoundScan says together sold nearly 8 million copies in the U.S., Wallace appears to have foreseen the tumult that's followed his death.

On the final song of "Life After Death," Wallace warbles through the chorus: "You're nooobody til sooomebody kills you."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/2...t.ap/index.html

the truth will come out!

no it won't!

but i sure hope it does ::crosses fingers::

I know who did it!

elvis did it.

Originally posted by Seldoon@Jun 23 2005, 12:31 PM

elvis did it.

Quoted post

fat elvis or thin elvis?

The only elvis i know! Fat elvis baby!

Now It All Makes Sense!!..... it was the butler, in the library, with the candle holder!!..........................CLUE? :king:

it was 2pac

lil' kim did it

naw he killed her shit though hahaha

he shit on her chest nasty girl style

didn't lil kim pass out for having to much cum in her stomach? like she sucked so much dick before a show, she passed out. so i hear lol

I hope they solve the mystery....hopefully the LAPD will learn from this case. Damn coverups and consiracy theories

Originally posted by sarcasm@Jun 23 2005, 04:11 PM

didn't lil kim pass out for having to much cum in her stomach? like she sucked so much dick before a show, she passed out. so i hear lol

Quoted post

I thought that was Donny from New Kids On The Block

Originally posted by sarcasm@Jun 23 2005, 08:11 PM

didn't lil kim pass out for having to much cum in her stomach? like she sucked so much dick before a show, she passed out. so i hear lol

Quoted post

Haha. I heard that too. Nasty girl.

yea like she blow a whole football team i think or some shit i dunno i heard the same thing

assasination is a nasty word...

Originally posted by <KEY3>@Jun 23 2005, 10:36 AM

I know who did it!

 

 

 

 

Quoted post

officer tenpenny?

lil cease did both of em in

maybe it was eazy-e

it was fiddy cent and gay-z

hmmmm

who the fuck cares?

*Snitch Tied Suge To Rap Slay - ex-cop*

Los Angeles - death row records boos Marion "Suge" knight confessed he set up the murder of notorious B.I.G. from his jail cell and ridiculed the way the hefty rapper slumped over when he was struck by gunfire,a prison snitch told cops

Testifying yesterday in a wrongful death suit filed by B.I.G.'s family,retired detective Fred miller recounted the "shocking" story he heard from informant Mario Ha'mmond,who allegedly heard it straight from knight's lips.

According to Ha'mmond, Knight cruelly gloated about B.I.G.'s demise."that fat B---- took it like a b---- ...he rolled over on his a--," Knight allegedly told Ha'mmond when both were in a state prison several months after the March 9, 1997 murder.

The snitch alleged Knight told him he "orchestrated the murder while incarcerated at the L.A. County Jail" using two trusted henchmen and a network of cell phones on the outside.

Ha'mmond said Knight told him Death Row security honchos "Big Sikes (Devon Sikes) and Reg (Reggie Wright Jr.) put the team together," according to Miller.

Knight could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Linking B.I.G's murder to Knight alone will not help the slain rapper's kin win their federal suit against the city of Los Angeles.

To prevail,they must also tie the murder to crooked LAPD cop David Mack,who was ousted from the force after he robbed a bank in Nov. 1997.

The family's case got a boost yesterday when miller testified that one of B.I.G's close pal, Damian Butler, saw Mack outside the music industry party B.I.G attended just before the slaying

Straight from the New york's daily news page 6

Originally posted by mr.yuck+Jun 23 2005, 12:52 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mr.yuck - Jun 23 2005, 12:52 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-sarcasm@Jun 23 2005, 08:11 PM

didn't lil kim pass out for having to much cum in her stomach? like she sucked so much dick before a show, she passed out. so i hear lol

Quoted post

Haha. I heard that too. Nasty girl.

[/b]

I think I remember it was a few Ounces of nut on that bitches stomach..Nastyyyy..

come on people use some common sense

even if she drank a pint of cum, which im she she got nowhere near, why would it make her pass out?

yo thats the urban legend, i see the future. . . .. . ."yo remember back in the day when lil kim bobbed on two record lables, debbie does dallas style"

i know who it really was....

i dont know why they didnt try to keep investigating that mack guy..they found the same car in his garage that was used during the drive by..and they found a gun even after he wasnt a officer anymore..that explains the whole system we have.

because he was already in prison for robbery and the LAPD didnt want to look worse by one of there officers (who was the same one) gettin that pinned on them too...corruption :rolleyes: