News of December 28, 2007
Las Vegas Investigators Seek New Leads in Los Angeles
In late 2007, the cold case saw new activity: Las Vegas investigators sought to clarify questions in Los Angeles about Tupac's death.
For a long time, the case in Las Vegas had been considered unsolved and dormant. In late December 2007, AllHipHop reported that investigators from Las Vegas were on their way to Los Angeles to clarify unanswered questions about the September 1996 shooting. They wanted to speak with Suge Knight and Reginald Wright Jr., the former head of security at Death Row. Both maintained their innocence. Knight told television station Fox 11 in Los Angeles that God knows the truth, and nobody in their right mind believes he had anything to do with it.
Sparked by a Documentary and a Bodyguard
The new effort was possibly triggered by the documentary Tupac: Assassination, released in October. Kevin Hackie appeared in it, a former bodyguard for Tupac and Death Row who described himself as an undercover FBI operative. Among other things, Hackie claimed that the bodyguards had not been allowed to carry weapons that night, and that the brawl with Orlando Anderson at the MGM Grand had been staged. He did not provide any evidence.
In early December, Hackie had offered Wright 100,000 dollars if he passed a polygraph test. Wright rejected any involvement and, according to AllHipHop, declared himself willing to take the test. Hackie’s earlier allegations against Knight are addressed in the archive note “Did Suge Knight Have Tupac Killed?”.