LOS ANGELES- The family of rapper Notorious B.I.G. has released documents and an audiotape that they say prove he was in a New York recording studio the night rival Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas.
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was in Las Vegas the night Shakur was gunned down, and that he provided a Compton gang member with the murder weapon and promised to pay the gang $1 million for the assassination.
The Times reported Wednesday that lawyers for Wallace's estate gave paperwork to MTV News in New York that placed Wallace at a studio the night of Sept. 7, 1996 - the same period when Shakur was shot. The rapper died six days later at 25.
A person who saw the documents said they suggest Wallace reserved the New York recording studio from 12:30 p.m. Sept. 7, 1996, until 4 a.m. the next day, the Times reported.
The family of Orlando Anderson, whom the Times identified as the gang member who shot Shakur, also issued a statement Tuesday denying Anderson played a role in the killing.
"Orlando Anderson did not murder Mr. Tupac Shakur," the statement said. "He did not accept money nor was he offered any money from Notorious B.I.G., nor anyone else, to perform such a heinous crime."
The family denied that Anderson was a member of the Southside Crips street gang. Anderson died in May 1998 after a drug-related shooting at a Compton car wash.
Lawyers and other representatives of the Wallace family declined requests from the newspaper to review the invoices.
The studio records, which are widely used in the music industry to bill artists for studio time, show Wallace was recording at Daddy's House, which Sean "P. Diddy" Combs owns.
The invoices indicate that Combs, then known as "Puff Daddy," and another producer were at the studio, along with a few engineers. Combs declined to be interviewed by the newspaper.
Wallace was 24 when he was shot to death in Los Angeles, six months after Shakur's slaying. Police have made no arrests in either killing.
Wallace's family also issued a statement in which the rapper's former manager, Wayne Barrow, said he was with Wallace in the studio the weekend Shakur was shot.
"No way was he in Las Vegas," Barrow said in the statement.
Wallace family lawyers also gave MTV News a digital tape of a song called "Nasty Girls," which they say Wallace recorded the night Shakur was shot.
In a two-part series last week, the Times published findings from its yearlong investigation into Shakur's death and the police handling of the case.
September 11, 2002
Rapper's Kin Offer Alibi for Death
ASSOCIATED PRESS