Tupac Murder Trial Opens With Officer Recalling Rapper’s Refusal To Identify Shooter

Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas, jurors are finally hearing the case against the only man ever charged in his killing. Opening statements began Monday in Duane “Keefe D” Davis’ murder trial, followed by testimony from a former Las Vegas police officer who said Tupac refused to identify whoever attacked him even as he was being rushed to the hospital.

Retired officer Garry Dale became the prosecution’s first witness after a jury was selected last week. Dale testified that he had actually encountered Tupac and Suge Knight shortly before the shooting, when he and another officer stopped Knight’s BMW because it did not have a rear license plate. He described that interaction as uneventful and said the men were allowed to leave with a warning. Roughly 10 minutes later, Dale responded to the shooting scene.

By then, emergency workers were removing a badly wounded Tupac from the BMW. Dale said Knight had also been injured but directed officers toward Tupac. The officer got into the ambulance and repeatedly tried to learn who had opened fire.

According to Dale, Tupac would not give police a name. He instead responded with words to the effect of, “No, we’ll take care of it.” Dale said the rapper repeated the sentiment more than once before he was transported to the hospital. Tupac died six days later on September 13, 1996.

The testimony offers a firsthand glimpse into one of the problems investigators faced almost immediately after the shooting. There were witnesses who either could not or would not tell police what they knew. Former homicide detective Brent Becker also testified Monday and described difficulty getting cooperation from people connected to the case. Becker said Knight arrived for a later police interview with attorneys and denied knowing who was responsible. Becker told jurors he believed Knight was lying.

That history of silence stands in sharp contrast to the way prosecutors introduced Keefe D to the jury. Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis is the person who eventually talked, repeatedly and publicly, about what happened that night. Prosecutors argue those statements will help establish that Davis helped organize the retaliation that ended with Tupac’s death.

“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger,” Palal told jurors. “But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew.” Prosecutors say Davis obtained the gun before riding in the white Cadillac that later pulled alongside Tupac and Knight. They allege the attack followed the beating of Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson at the MGM Grand earlier that evening.

The government does not have to prove Davis was the shooter. Its theory is that he knowingly helped facilitate the killing and made sure the men involved were armed when they found Tupac’s vehicle. Davis has pleaded not guilty to murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.

The other three men prosecutors say were inside the Cadillac have all died. Davis is the only alleged occupant still alive. That leaves jurors weighing evidence assembled across three decades, while prosecutors rely heavily on the words Davis chose to put on record himself.