POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Found Guilty of Orchestrating Tupac Shakur’s Murder

by · Variety

A jury has found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.

After a day of closing arguments, Davis was found guilty of murder with the use of a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang, according to ABC News. Davis, 63, faces a maximum of life in prison.

The jury deliberated for three hours after a weeks-long trial in Las Vegas. Prosecutors and police claimed that Davis orchestrated Shakur’s murder in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, and handed the gunman the murder weapon. They believe that the actual shooter was either Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Davis’ nephew, or another man who was in the backseat of a car.

Related Stories

'Top Chef' Host Kristen Kish on How Her Fellow Judges and People Around Her 'Helped Me Get to a Place Where I Felt Like My Best Self'

Emmy Overachiever Jason Bateman on Whether He Considers Himself an Actor or Director First

During his closing arguments, prosecutor Binu Palal said that the case was “drenched in circumstantial evidence” and corroborating witnesses, in addition to Davis’ own statements over the years to media and in his own memoir to show that he was guilty of aiding the murder. “For nearly 18 years, Duane Davis has told the police, television, books, YouTube interviewers — anybody that will listen, he has told — he is responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur,” said Palal. “Tell him you hear him — find him guilty.”

Davis’ attorney Michael Sanft, meanwhile, argued that the only proof that Davis was responsible for Shakur’s murder was through his own confessions, which did not constitute real evidence.

“We have to ask ourselves the question really at this particular point: Why are we here 30 years later if Duane Davis had actually confessed — truly confessed?” he said.