Last week, we discussed the unsolved murder of Tupac Shakur. Shortly after Tupac's death, another hip hop icon, Biggie Smalls, was murdered. Here's a deep dive into the death of Biggie and the possible suspects involved in his murder:
On March 9, 1997, Biggie Smalls (real name Christopher Wallace) was attending a Soul Train Awards after-party at the Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles, CA.
At approximately 1:00am, Biggie left the party with Sean Combs, AKA P. Diddy. Diddy was the C.E.O. of the record label Bad Boy Records, which Biggie was signed to.
While P. Diddy left in one car with a few others, Biggie was in a separate car with his driver and two friends. Biggie's car followed Diddy's north on Fairfax Avenue.
However, while Diddy's car kept driving, Biggie's stopped at a red light on Wilshire Blvd. While his car was stopped, a black Chevy Impala pulled up and fired at Biggie, hitting him four times.
Of the four people in the car, Biggie was the only one who was hit.
According to witnesses, the suspect was a black male in a blue suit with a bow tie.
After Biggie was shot, Diddy got out of his car and ran over to Biggie. Diddy took him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but Biggie was pronounced dead at 1:15am.
Before we get into suspects, it should be noted that former LAPD Lieutenant, Sergio Robleto, remarked how strange the investigation was. He said the LAPD homicide division seemingly left the case untouched for a month after the night of the shooting.
The first, and really the only solid theory of the Biggie case comes from Russell Poole, a former LAPD detective.
Poole believed that Suge Knight, former C.E.O. of Death Row Records, along with corrupt LAPD cops, killed Biggie Smalls.
What motive would Suge have to kill Biggie? Well, possibly it could be to avenge the death of Tupac Shakur (since some people believed Biggie played a part in his death).
Even more suspicious was the fact that several LAPD cops were on the payroll for Death Row Records, Suge Knight's record label. One of the officers was a man named David Mack.
Why is Mack significant? Well, not only was he there the night of the murder, but he also owned at a black Impala... just like the one seen at the scene of the crime.
Mack was also associated with Amir Muhammad, an alleged hitman who knew Mack from college.
But when Detective Poole presented his case to his superiors, he said he was told, "We're not going that way."
Another piece of potential evidence against Suge Knight was information provided by Mario Hammonds, a prison informant. Hammonds said that Suge claimed responsibility for Biggie's assassination, and regretted not getting Diddy, too.
In 2002, several years after her son's death, Biggie's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit which prompted further investigation.
While looking into the case, investigators spoke to Eugene Deal, Diddy's former body guard. Deal claimed he saw a man lurking near Diddy after the party and walking north towards the scene of the crime.
When shown a lineup of photos, he identified none other than Amir Muhammad... the alleged hitman associated with LAPD officer David Mack (who was on Death Row Record's payroll.)
This investigation also revealed some major oversights by lead investigator Steven Katz. Katz failed to do any forensic testing on the black Impala owned by David Mack. He also didn't interview Amir Muhammad and "forgot" to turn in over 200 pages of documents which implicated another LAPD officer in Biggie's murder.
Because of the missing paperwork, the judge declared a mistrial in the case. In 2007, Biggie's mother filed an amended lawsuit, accusing the LAPD of a conspiracy. However, this lawsuit was dismissed.
In 2011, the FBI file on Biggie Smalls' murder was released. This file revealed that Biggie was shot by Gecko 9MM armor-piercing ammunition, an ammunition so rare it was carried by only two distributors in the U.S. This same ammunition was found in David Mack's home.
Unfortunately, Russell Poole passed away from a suspected heart attack in 2015. That same year, Suge Knight ran over two men with his car, killing one of them. Knight is currently in jail awaiting trial.
So, while the case against Suge Knight and corrupt cops is a solid one... it still remains technically unsolved. Other theories are that the FBI killed Tupac and Biggie to end the East Coast / West Coast rap rivalry or that Biggie and Tupac are still alive.
Despite the evidence, this case, like Tupac's, still remains unsolved.
