LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police suspect that jailed music producer Marion "Suge
Knight played a prominent role in the ambush slaying of rapper Notorious
B.I.G., the Los Angeles Times reported today.
Authorities declined to give details on what evidence they have linking Knight
to the killing, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified police sources. No
charges have been filed against Knight in the case.
Today, police confirmed that search warrants were served this week but
described Knight as only a possible suspect.
"He was in custody at the time so he didn't pull the trigger," said Lt. Al
Michelena of the department's robbery-homicide unit. "We are investigating the
possibility of him being implicated in this. We would certainly consider him a
possible suspect."
Michelena told The Associated Press he would have to remain vague. Affidavits
filed to obtain the search warrants have been sealed, he said.
Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was in his GMC
Suburban about to leave a party when he was shot several times on March 9,
1997. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
On Tuesday, detectives served search warrants on four locations linked to
Knight. Police seized a Chevrolet Impala that matches witnesses' description
of the car used in the drive-by killing, the Times said.
Police also searched the offices of Death Row Records, the company Knight
founded and built into one of the hottest rap labels in the country.
Knight is currently serving a nine-year prison term for violating probation in
connection with a 1992 attack on two aspiring rappers in a Hollywood recording
studio.
Knight's lawyer, David Kenner, declined to comment.
At the time of Wallace's death, rap industry observers had acknowledged
tensions between Death Row and Wallace's producer, New York-based Bad Boys
Entertainment.
Wallace's shooting apparently was payback for previous squabbles between the
two labels, the Times quoted police sources as saying. "This was a
professional hit," one source told the newspaper.
Six months before Wallace's death, rapper Tupac Shakur and Knight were in Las
Vegas when someone fired on their car. Shakur, one of Knight's most successful
artists, later died of his injuries.
Police sources told the Times that Knight believes people at Bad Boy may have
been behind that attack, though a link has never been proved. Shakur's
shooting has remained unsolved.
August 18, 2000
Knight Investigated in B.I.G. Murder
ASSOCIATED PRESS