FBI releases files on Notorious B.I.G. slaying

The FBI has released hundreds of pages of records from their investigation into the 1997 slaying of rapper Notorious B.I.G. The records, which contain FBI files spanning eight years, come from a civil rights probe the bureau launched into the killing. 

The records were posted on the FBI's website and are heavily redacted.

The New York rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was gunned down outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, as he was leaving a music industry party.

Who killed Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, has remained a mystery. At the time of his death, he was one of the biggest stars in rap music. His slaying came on the heels of the fatal shooting of another marquee rapper, Los Angeles-based Tupac Shakur.

Various theories have linked the two homicides, neither of which has been solved. Some believe the two men were killed as part of a rivalry between East Coast and West Coast rappers, or between their two music labels at the time, Marion "Suge" Knight's Death Row Records, based in Los Angeles, and New York-based Bad Boy Entertainment.

A federal judge last year dismissed a wrongful-death suit filed by Wallace's rapper’s family against the city of Los Angeles charging that officials covered up police involvement in the rapper's slaying.

RELATED:

Read the FBI documents on Biggie Smalls

-- Robert Faturechi

Photo: Photo: Rapper Notorious B.I.G. on March 8, 1997, the day before he was fatally shot. Credit: Bernardo-Prudhomme / Associated Press

Comments

[matty]

friends and family care.

I bet if your son/daughter or family member was gunned down, you'd like to find some closure

[Will]

Everybody in the hiphop community know's the LAPD didn't make an arrest in this case in order not to embarrass the Dept. Hopefully cheif Parks will tell us why he didn't arrest the killers of bigg read the FBI files if you dare the truth lye withing

[Verballistic]

One of the more interesting unsolved murder mysteries in recent American history, obviously one that goes over the heads of cultural illiterates like the 2 naysayers who fired the first verbal shots across the ballast.

The lawsuit of Biggie's momma was clearly a financially-motivated scam, but there still remains much evidence to be uncovered & hopefully more will come to light.

I wont be too surprised if the investigation eventually implicates one of LA's more high-profile thugs: the inimitable Suge Knight, who should ALREADY be spending the rest of his life behind bars.

[Eva]

If they were not able to solve it back then...obviously not now. Too many so called witnesses but nobody wants to get involved. Fear of retaliation, perhaps.

[JT41291]

I hope this helps clear things out once and for, so the family can rest knowing they did everything they could and can finally find peace.

[Austen Marshell]

Who cares? African Americans that saw a nationwide star slain on a Blvd in Los Angeles. The people who care are the people that are wondering how murders like this can go unsolved but law enforcement can pin point things with DNA, surveillance cameras and the countless amount of informants, commong knowledge and propaganda they collect. It's no secret that Federal Agents were following Biggie and have pictures of him 15 minutes before he was killed so how on earth is this an unsolved murder? Let's not forget 6 months prior Tupac Shakur was killed a block away from the Strip in Las Vegas on a Mike Tyson fight night. There's NO way both these murders should be unsolved. Unless they were both murders that occured for political reasons.

If you don't care, why are you reading?

WE care. African Americans have digested too much and still, even with Barack Obama, there is deceit and skulduggery for our community. It's 2011 and sickening.

[Gaucho420]

RIP B.I.G.

Still the greatest rapper that ever was.

[James Banks]

I agree with you WILL. A big part to this case points to then Chief Parks and the off duty officers who was doing Biggie's security. Wouldn't be surprised if the actual killer is or was a cop.

[Andy]

Honestly, why is this even worthy of News still? With all do respect, who cares!! I don't think people cared years ago when he got shot, let alone now!

[GeorgiaPhilip]

Notorious B.I.G... it's O.K, but Where's Tupac Shakur ??!

[Mister Chris]

To my African-Americans brothers: This ain't Duke Ellington we're talking about. Hip Hop/Rape is an embarrassment. It sends exactly the wrong message.

[Devils Advocate]

WEST SIDE the BEST SIDE!!!!
yaaaeeeeyyyaaaaeeeee

[Bob Valenzuela]

The innocent pair of rappers are six feet under and the bad one or ones that did the slaying are out and about free in the streets with a big grim on their mouths....F.B.I. and police hurry up and catch them before they take another innocent human beings life.

[Doug]

I'm not a big fan of rap but...seriously?
-----------------------------------------
To my African-Americans brothers: This ain't Duke Ellington we're talking about. Hip Hop/Rape is an embarrassment. It sends exactly the wrong message.
Posted by: Mister Chris | April 06, 2011 at 02:35 PM

[johnny numbers]

...death row records or bad boy entertainment....so sad, to see unique talent get wasted.

really, can we escape the lamness and immaturity level @devils advocate

[James P]

I remember driving back to Hollywood from a west LA rehearsal that night, and having to detour because the cops had shut the whole street down. It was a major scene - cop cars with lights flashing everywhere, yellow tape, the whole shebang. It was pretty crazy.

[arty]

I'm not sure why some of the posters have turned these two murders into a racial issue. The truth of the matter is, no matter what coast you boast about, two amazing artists were lost within a one year span.

These two men created their art to express themselves and to shed light into a world which, I would venture to say, not many of us will ever see.

May they rest in peace.

[Jeff]

I find it amusing that people who "don't care" take enough time to log on, click on the story, read it, read the thread, and then comment. Thats a very active way of "not caring".

[Matt]

First of all, it is "shots across the bow," not "ballast." Anyway, to the point. FBI will never implicate the LAPD.

[Montana Gold-]

It was officer Mack, or that guy with the long jaw who had a Tupac shrine and the same model vehicle. LAPD is beyond a corrupt department, just take a look at the pathetic officers roaming our streets talking on their cellphones, they are security guards. At least guards are held accountable, LAPD needs a deep purge ASAP. Bernard Parks needs to go to jail, these documents were presented to him with other overwhelming evidence, and since he's a blood... he keep delaying the investigation. Bernard Parks is guilty of 2nd degree murder.

[gern]

Maybe both Tupaq and Wallace were slain for the collective crimes against music.

[Olden Atwoody]

Looking at page 2 of the released documents, it is patently obvious that members of the LAPD conspired to kill this man.

Case closed. Time needed: 12 seconds

[Verballistic]

@Austen Marshall

The Tupac murder may not have been solved yet, but most every informed observer agrees it was the now-deceased Southside Crip known as "Baby Lane" AKA Orlando Anderson.

Suge Knight actually mentioned "Baby Lane" as assassin in the VIBE interview he did while serving time for the beatdown of Anderson in the MGM Grand lobby right after the Tyson-Seldon bout. Orlando Anderson was identified by SoCal police called to vegas to watch the surveillance video of the beatdown & they accompanied Las Vegas PD on the trip to visit Anderson at his home in Lakewood & found ammunition identical to what killed Tupac & a white Caddy that matched the description of the drive-by vehicle.

Some believe that after Anderson got beat down in the MGM lobby that he & other SS Crips had a quick meeting with Biggie (who was supposedly also in Vegas for the fight) & that BIG agreed to pay the Crips $1 million for Pac's killing. But others question the time element & ability of the involved parties to put together a meeting so quickly after the MGM beatdown...so there is legit disagreement on that aspect of the case.

Regardless of whether the hit by Anderson was paid for by Biggie, because Suge Knight & the rest of Tupac's multi-car posse refused to testify, the cops had no witnesses & only circumstantial evidence, so the case against Orlando Anderson never went anywhere.

Even Tupac's mother Afeni knew Anderson was the killer & launched a lawsuit against him for damages:

http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/tupac/afenivsanderson.html

But before anything came of that suit, Anderson was killed in an unrelated gangsta beef in May 1998 that began at an LA car wash.

The possible connection between the two slayings was that Anderson's set (the Southside Crips) had previously provided security for Biggie (even if Biggie hadnt agreed to pay them for the hit on Pac). Some believe BIG was taken out by SS Crips because of services not paid for (not necessarily for killing Pac) , but that's only one theory...

The only possible LAPD involvement was that a lone rogue cop named David Mack (who was part of the Ramparts Division scandal) is believed by some to have had something to do with Biggie's slaying. That's one reason why the lawsuit by Biggie's momma was tossed, because the rogue Mack (who was already in prison by then for the bank robbery mentioned below) was the only cop (or former cop) with potential connections to Big's murder.

Mack was busted for bank robbery shortly after Big was killed & made no attempt to hide his affiliation with the Bloods while in prison. He eventually got out of prison in May 2010 & with his current whereabouts unknown, things could get interesting if the Biggie slaying investigation gets re-opened...

As for Pac's slaying...with Orlando Anderson already dead, there's really no need to re-open an investigation that would have high celebrity value but no other legit function. It's not like the court system isnt already gridlocked with enough LEGIT cases...

[ladyv]

I kept saying "suge knight" did it!!

[BuddhasBigButt]

Just put two and two together. See who profited and stepped out of tupacs and biggies shadow after biggies death and you'll find the man who ordered the hits.