Two unsolved rap murders haunted police for decades. Why Tupac case closed but not Biggie Smalls

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Set us as preferred For decades, two of the music world’s most notorious killings remained unsolved.First, Tupac Shakur was gunned down on the Las Vegas Strip in 1996.Six months later, Christopher Wallace, known as Biggie Smalls, was fatally shot on Wilshire Boulevard after a music event at the Petersen Auto Museum.Both killings captivated the public and seemed tied to gang feuds involving the rap world.

But despite lengthy investigations, amateur sleuthing and endless speculation, neither case came to a resolution.Until this week.On Monday, a Las Vegas jury found a onetime Compton gang leader guilty in the slaying of rapper Shakur.It only took jurors a few hours of deliberation to find that Duane “Keffe D” Davis had orchestrated the fatal 1996 shooting of Shakur as the rapper sat in a BMW next to Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight.The 63-year-old Davis, convicted of murder, faces a potential life sentence.Davis was always a prominent figure in the case, writing a book about the murder that included self-incriminating passages.

Prosecutors used his words as the central part of their case.California The trial of the alleged mastermind behind the killing of famed rapper and actor Tupac Shakur got underway in Las Vegas, with prosecutors alleging the shooting was the culmination of a gang rivalry and fight at the MGM Grand.Legal experts say the conviction marks a victory for law enforcement officials, whose investigations into both slayings were mired in uncooperative witnesses, questionable police work and what in retrospect seem like missed opportunities.Police had known about a potential connection between Davis and the Shakur killing since 2008, when detectives investigating the Wallace murder interviewed Davis.

The man prosecutors called the shot caller for the Southside Crips-Burris Street gang allege...