LA Times Series, Part 2: Serious Allegations Against the Las Vegas Police

The murder of Tupac could have been solved: That is the thesis of the second part of the series by Chuck Philips, which the Los Angeles Times printed on September 7, 2002. The article lists mistakes made by the Las Vegas police and quotes investigators who place the blame on witnesses who remained silent.

“Tupac got the same treatment”

Sergeant Kevin Manning, who led the investigation, pointed to 168 other homicides that his team was handling at the time. From Tupac’s circle, there was “no cooperation whatsoever.” Philips countered that investigators had underestimated the fight at the MGM Grand. In gang culture, it was a reason to kill, said Wes McBride of the California Gang Investigators Association. Orlando Anderson was reportedly barely questioned.

Witnesses on the Asphalt

E.D.I. Mean, who was sitting in the car behind Tupac, described how police officers held guns to the companions’ faces and made them lie face down on the street. Yaki Kadafi reportedly stated that he could identify the shooter. He was shot dead in New Jersey on November 10, 1996, while investigators were still compiling photographs of potential suspects. According to Philips, officers in Las Vegas also distrusted the Los Angeles police, whom they considered too close to Suge Knight.