Marion ‘Suge’ Knight claims that his
ex-wife and former Death Row Records security chief Reggie White Jr
killed Tupac Shakur, and insists he was the real target of the 1996
drive-by.
Suge’s attorney Thaddeus Culpepper wrote
in a signed affidavit, that ‘Knight has known for many years that Reggie
Wright Jr. and his ex-wife Sharitha were behind the murder of Tupac and
attempted murder of Knight.’
He added that Knight also had alleged details of Wright’s involvement in the Bigge Smalls murder case.
The rapper, who until now has always
refused to identify the shooter, appears to have spoken out after
hearing the ‘salient points’ in the new documentary Tupac Assassination:
Battle for Compton.
‘When our book,came out and we were
working on the movie, we gave the salient points of the book (Tupac: 187
The Red Knight) to Thaddeus Culpepper, who read them to Suge Knight,’
said co-director Richard Bond. ‘Suge’s initial response was, “Who the
hell are these guys?”
‘He admitted to Culpepper that the theories in the movie were true,’ a source said.
Suge was so intrigued he sent his private
investigators, to discover how the writers and directors found out about
what happened.
The documentary also claims that Suge had always been the real target of that fatal shooting. Tupac was just in the way.
The film tells of an attempted coup at
Tupac’s label Death Row Records – co-founded by Suge and Dr Dre among
others – which eventually led to the shooting in Las Vegas on 7
September 1996.
‘Culpepper told Carlin individually that
not only did Knight confirm the events as portrayed in Compton, which
portray Knight was the intended target and Shakur as collateral damage,
as true, but also goes on to allege that these 1996 events may have been
the first in a history of attempts on Knight’s life, culminating in the
recent attempted killing of Knight at the 1OAK Club in Los Angeles,
where Knight was shot six times,’ a film spokesperson told Music News.
Knight was also the target of allegations
that he was responsible for the shooting of Shakur’s rival Christopher
‘Biggie Smalls’ Wallace in 1997.
The film features Culpepper’s signed affidavit – which was taken by former LAPD detective Russell Poole on July 18, 2015.
Poole, who also contributed to the book, appears to agree with Suge’s theory.
He told Vice in 2015 that Wright Jr. and Suge’s ex, Sharitha Knight orchestrated the murder to assume control of Death Row Records.
‘Suge wasn’t divorced yet and if he died
in that hit, she’d get most of everything,’ Poole said. ‘So she went to
Wright Jr., who was in charge of Death Row and ran it while Suge was in
prison.
‘[Wright Jr.] has gotten away with it this
whole time. They floated a whole lot of propaganda to former LA Times
reporter Chuck Phillips—calling in hundreds if not thousands of fake
clues.’
White Jr responded to the claims in 2015, after Poole’s death, to AllHipHop, pointing out that several people that had accused him of Tupac’s murder had died in the past decade.
They include the late rapper’s ex-bodyguards Michael Moore, Frank Alexander and Poole.
‘I believe in karma,’ he said. ‘All these
people are dropping dead. I keep telling people God don’t like ugly. I
hope people learn a lesson from this.’
Wright warned that the next person could be Tupac Assassination co-director Bond.
‘The next person is probably going to be
R.J. Bond. I ain’t predicting no death on anybody, but they better get
their selves right,’ he said. ‘They better stop with all this bullcrap
they’ve been promoting, because they’re all dying like flies around
here.’
Suge’s marriage to Sharitha Golden, the mother of his first child, was tumultuous at best.
Just two years before their wedding in November 1989, Sharitha had obtained a restraining order against Suge.
They later reconciled and wed, but got
divorced the following year with Sharitha demanding her ex pay $735,000
in unpaid child support.
According to his lawyer, Suge believes both Sharitha and White plotted his death together.
The shooting of Tupac, 25, has been surrounded by conspiracy theories ever since.
They include claims that Tupac faked his
own death with the help of the first cop on the scene, Chris Carroll,
who is now retired, and fled to Cuba. There were even theories that Suge
had ordered an assassination hit on Tupac and that Carroll was
involved.
Suge, 50, had always denied he was behind the shooting but until now was unwilling to name who it was.
Tupac’s last public photograph was taken
as he was riding in the car with Death Row Records co-founder Suge on
September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas.
The pair had just left a Mike Tyson fight
held at the MGM Grand, when the 25-year-old rapper was shot as he stood
up through the sunroof to talk to a group of women while the car was
stopped at a traffic light.
Shakur was hit four times – twice in the chest, once in the arm, and once in the leg.
He eventually died six days later on September 13.
Bond believes Suge, who is behind bars
awaiting a separate murder trial, is ready to make a statement about
Tupac’s murder because it proves that he has been a target of gangs out
to get him for years.
Suge, who was shot multiple times in 2014,
has been in jail since his arrest for mowing down two men in a burger
stand parking lot in Compton in 2015, killing businessman and friend
Terry Carter and injuring Cle ‘Bone’ Sloan.
The two men had been working as security
on the location set for the NWA movie Straight Outta Compton and had got
into a dispute with Knight earlier in the day.
Prosecutors have charged Knight with
murder and attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty and claims he
accidentally struck Carter as he fled the scene in fear for his life
suspecting an armed ambush.
Bond and Carlin insist Knight was a victim
in Vegas, which could be evidence of his that he was also telling the
truth about his 2014 shooting at One Oak and in the Compton case he is
only trial for.
‘The hope is Knight’s confirmation of the
story laid out in Compton (the film) may put a final stamp to close this
mystery, after 20 years.’
NewS of the potential break through in the
now decades-old case, come as Tupac is due to be posthumously inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday.
The Harlem-born rapper’s recording career
may have only lasted five years before he was murdered, but it is the
rapper’s influence from beyond the grave that will be celebrated.
Arguably bigger in death than he was in
life, Shakur will be only the sixth rap act to be voted into the Hall of
Fame in its 30-year history.
The Hall of Fame described him as ‘an
international symbol of resistance and outlaw spirit, an irresistible
contradiction, a definitive rap anti-hero.
Shakur has sold 75 million albums, mostly
from seven posthumous releases, and although his sales figures will
never match those of 21st century hip hop kings like Drake, Kanye West
and The Weeknd, his influence remains profound.
‘For anyone who is serious about learning
about hip hop, there are certain people whose music you have to deal
with and Tupac is one of those people. You can’t say you are
knowledgeable about hip hop if you don’t know about Tupac,’ said Todd
Boyd, professor of cinema and media studies at the University of
Southern
source: starrfmonline.com
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