Tupac Conviction Revives Calls to Crack Notorious B.I.G.'s Unsolved 1997 Case With No Arrest Made

A Las Vegas jury on 31 August convicted Duane 'Keffe D' Davis of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 1996 shooting of Tupac Shakur, making him the first person convicted in connection with Shakur's killing.

The verdict has revived calls to crack the Notorious B.I.G. unsolved murder of Christopher Wallace, killed in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997.

Why One Cold Case Closed and the Other Did Not

Davis, 63, a former South Side Compton Crips figure, was found guilty after about three hours of deliberation by 12 jurors. Prosecutors said he supplied a gun and directed the drive-by on 7 September 1996 after Shakur's entourage beat his nephew, Orlando Anderson, at a Las Vegas casino.

Shakur, 25, was hit four times in a BMW beside Death Row Records co-founder Marion 'Suge' Knight. He died six days later. Anderson was shot dead in 1998 and had denied killing Shakur.

Davis, the only surviving occupant of the Cadillac named by prosecutors, is being held without bail and faces sentencing on 13 October and a possible life term without parole.

He has said he will appeal. The case relied heavily on Davis's own recorded statements, including a 2008 interview, and his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, whose account his defence later argued was fictionalised.

The Wallace Killing Remains Officially Unsolved

Wallace, 24, known as Biggie Smalls and The Notorious B.I.G., was sitting in the front passenger seat of a Chevrolet Suburban when a dark Chevrolet Impala pulled alongside on Wilshire Boulevard after a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

His second album, Life After Death, was due out later that month. No one has been charged in Wallace's killing in Los Angeles.

Davis was interviewed in 2008 by an LAPD task force investigating Wallace's murder; statements he made during that investigation later became important evidence in the Las Vegas prosecution.

In 2006, the LAPD launched a task force to pursue new leads in Wallace's killing, but the investigation did not result in an arrest.

A federal judge later ordered the city to pay $1.1 million (£813,862.28) in sanctions after declaring a mistrial and finding that evidence had been deliberately withheld in the civil case.

The family's civil lawsuit was dismissed in 2010 after the parties agreed to end the case, while leaving open the possibility of refiling.

Calls Grow Over the Notorious B.I.G. Unsolved Case

Former prosecutor Neama Rahmani has argued that the Las Vegas result may encourage Los Angeles officials to look again at a file approaching its 30th year.

Author Justin Tinsley said the two cases remain closely linked in the public imagination but argued that Wallace's case lacks a central figure willing to implicate himself. 'The police need somebody to corroborate evidence. Biggie needs his Keffe D moment,' Tinsley said.

Theories naming gang rivals, record-label figures or rogue officers have circulated for years; none has been proved in court. Former LAPD captain Kevin McClure said in 2017 that the shooter was most likely dead.

The LAPD told the reporters this month that it knew of the Davis conviction and that the Wallace inquiry was still active. 'The murder of Christopher Wallace remains an open, unsolved case within LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division,' Lt Elpidio Orozco said, asking the public for tips.