Ex-gang leader Duane “Keefe D” Davis — who was charged with murder for the death of Tupac Shakur — reportedly suggested to police that Sean “Diddy” Combs paid $1 million to have the rap icon killed.
“[Davis] has asserted publicly that he only told on himself and wasn’t trying to provide evidence against anyone else in his conversations with police,” court documents filed July 18 by the Clark County District Attorney’s Office and obtained by Fox5 Wednesday read.
“However, this statement belies this claim, as he suggested that Sean Combs paid [drug dealer] Eric Von Martin a million dollars for the killings as well as offered to set up a surreptitious phone call with Terrence Brown, the driver, who, at the time, was still alive.”
Davis, 61, reportedly implicated Combs, 54, during a 2009 interview with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
The former gang member told investigators that the Bad Boy Records executive — whose artist Notorious B.I.G. was in an ongoing East Coast-West Coast rap war with Shakur — allegedly said, “I would give anything for that dude [sic] head,” referring to Suge Knight, who ran competing label Death Row Records.
Davis reportedly also claimed that Martin, the alleged hitman, garnered wealth years after the murder.
Page Six has reached out to Combs’ reps and lawyers for comment.
The new filing has rehashed an old rumor of Combs’ alleged involvement in Shakur’s death, which occurred after the “Changes” rapper was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996.
Kirk Burrowes, the godfather of one of Combs’ sons and an ex-president, claimed in a $25 million lawsuit filed in Manhattan in 2003 that the “Bad Boy for Life” rapper was “suspected” to have hired the shooter who killed Shakur.
Combs’ attorney at the time, Benjamin Brafman, slammed Burrowes’ “entirely baseless” claims, stating they were “without merit.” The lawsuit was eventually tossed out.
However, rumors of Combs’ alleged involvement arose once again in 2011 when former Los Angeles Police Department detective Greg Kading claimed in his book, “Murder Rap,” ordered Shakur’s murder.
Kading also claimed that the LAPD had recorded confessions from people behind the killings, including one audio clip from Davis, who allegedly once told police, “[Combs] took me downstairs and he’s like, ‘Man, I want to get rid of them dudes.’”
Per the explosive book, it was Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, who pulled the trigger.
Kading had worked on both Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.’s murders but was pulled from the case.
The investigator told New York Mag just this past June that he recalled his commander telling him at the time, “This is being done to protect you.”
Despite all of the rumblings, there have never been any criminal charges, indictments, or convictions made against Combs in relation to this matter.
An insider also tells Page Six Thursday, “Sources with knowledge of the investigation confirm that there is no open or pending investigation, nor is there any new information related to Mr. Combs and these claims.” Law enforcement sources told TMZ Combs has never been a suspect in this investigation.
Combs, however, is facing a host of other legal issues in relation to several sexual misconduct lawsuits — although he has denied all the claims levied against him.
He settled one of those cases with his ex, Cassie Ventura, but shocking video of him physically abusing her in a hotel lobby in 2016 was released earlier this year, further tarnishing his reputation and career.
The “Last Night” rapper is also the subject of an ongoing federal investigation after his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided due to allegations of sex trafficking, money laundering and illegal drugs.
