B.I.G. Revelations in Biggie Trial

Fri., Jun. 24, 2005 7:50 AM PDT by Charlie Amter

We may never know who killed the Notorious B.I.G., but at least one former Los Angeles police officer thought he had a good idea who was behind the murder: rival rap kingpin Marion "Suge" Knight.

On the stand Thursday in the federal civil trial pitting the family of the late rapper against the LAPD over what the family claims was a botched investigation, the former lead investigator in the case, Fred Miller, said he wanted to pin the slaying on Knight.

"We spoke to the district attorney assigned to the case," said Miller, who fronted the Biggie probe from the rapper's murder on March 9, 1997 to his retirement in 1999. "He just felt we were not quite there."

Knight has publicly denied ever being involved in the murder; has never been charged in connection with the slaying and was not named as a defendant in the current lawsuit. But conspiracy theorists and hip-hop followers have long speculated that Knight, boss of Death Row Records (now Tha Row), was somehow involved in the murder of B.I.G. (real name: Christopher Wallace), perhaps in retaliation for the 1996 drive-by killing of Death Row rapper and outspoken Biggie rival Tupac Shakur.

Miller testified that one of Knight's former prison cellmates said the rap mogul confessed to taking down Notorious.

The LAPD even bugged Knight's jail cell in an attempt to record incriminating statements. "We were anticipating maybe he would get upset and start talking to his cellmate about additional information in the Christopher Wallace murder," Miller testified, adding that Knight clammed up, probably because he somehow learned through that the listening device had been installed.

The ex-detective also said there was gunpowder residue found inside a Chevrolet Impala belonging to Knight, and the car matched eyewitness descriptions of the vehicle used by the murderer.

But, Miller said, there was never any concrete evidence to tie Knight to the theory floated in the Wallace family lawsuit--that Knight conspired with a rogue LAPD cop named David Mack to hire Mack's former college roommate, Amir Muhammad, to gun down Biggie. Both Mack and Muhammad were originally named as defendants in the lawsuit but were dropped in recent weeks.

On the first day of testimony Wednesday, jurors heard from another key witness--one of Shakur's ex-bodyguards, Kevin Hackie.

Hackie, who was so fearful of reprisals from his testimony a judge had to issue an arrest warrant to compel him to show, said former boss Reginald White (head of Shakur's security detail), told him, "We are going to get those people who downed [Tupac]--Biggie and his crew."

The reluctant witness, who was once an FBI informant, also claimed to have seen former Mack at events held by Knight. But, under cross-examination, Hackie admitted that he had only seen Mack at large parties and social functions and never saw Knight and Mack together.

The family of Notorious B.I.G., led by his mother, Voletta Wallace, and widow (and recording artist) Faith Evans, claims that corrupt cops consorted with known gang members to kill the rapper. Per the lawsuit, the Wallaces say there was no chance of a fair investigation into the rapper's murder because of the comingling between cops and suspects.

The case remains unsolved. The LAPD says it is still investigating; but the FBI, citing a lack of evidence, ended its probe earlier this year.

The Wallace family reportedly refused an $18 million settlement offer from the city, preferring to bring the case to trial to have their allegations aired in public.

Testimony resumes Friday.