Tupac murder trial: Key moments from the first week

The first week of evidence in the trial of the man accused of orchestrating the killing of Tupac Shakur brought a few moments of drama and engaging testimony, but little new information.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, is the only person ever prosecuted in connection with the 1996 shooting near the Strip that fatally wounded the hip-hop icon and injured Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight, whose head was grazed by a bullet.

Prosecutors have tied the killing to a clash involving rival gangs and record companies.

Authorities have alleged Davis was the “shot-caller” who conceived the plan to exact revenge on Shakur and Knight in retaliation for an attack by Shakur and his entourage against Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, earlier that night at the MGM Grand.

According to prosecutors, the Bloods-associated Mob Piru gang had ties to Death Row Records, and the South Side Crips — of which prosecutors say Davis was a leader — were associated with Bad Boy Records, a label owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Statements Davis made about the killing to law enforcement, in media interviews and in a memoir that he now disputes writing drove the effort to investigate him, leading to his 2023 arrest. Now, sitting before a jury, Davis is being confronted by those statements as prosecutors question witnesses about his prior comments and play recordings of him talking about the shooting.

In an unusual move, Davis’ lawyer has attacked his client’s credibility.

“There are no facts to point to Keffe,” attorney Michael Sanft said in his Monday opening statement. “Not one.”

The case has been subject to exhaustive pretrial litigation and intense media scrutiny. As a result, there have been few revelations and much of what the jury has heard tracks with material previously made public.

That hasn’t seemed to dampen the local and international media’s enthusiasm about the case.

Throughout the week, representatives of local news outlets, CNN, the BBC and the Associated Press watched the trial, beaming out coverage from the Regional Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas to readers and viewers around the world.

Here are some of the key takeaways and notable moments so far.

Davis gets mad at prosecutors

Just before a lunch break Friday, Davis complained to District Judge Carli Kierny that “they” — apparently referring to prosecutors — had disclosed his address and his sister’s address, endangering his family.

The defendant also claimed that his house and wife’s car had been vandalized.

“This stuff is wrong,” he said.

“I’ve heard it’s going on both ways, that there’s concerns both ways,” the judge said, adding: “I’ve admonished them to talk to their witnesses and anyone they communicate (with) about these issues.”

She also told Sanft to talk to Davis about not communicating with witnesses.

Davis indicated that he placed most of the blame on Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo.

“For the record, I think he’s indicating he’s upset I’m prosecuting him for murder,” the prosecutor said.

Jurors were not in the courtroom for the exchange.

Sanft said after court that Davis was upset that names of his family members were included in a recording played in court.

During a 2009 interview recording played Friday morning, Davis could be heard telling police what his address was at the time.

Gang witness describes 1990s scene

One of the star witnesses was James McDonald, a former Mob Piru gang member.

On the night of the shooting, McDonald said he was working security at Club 662, a Las Vegas nightclub that had a name that matched the letters “M-O-B” on a telephone dial.

“I was the guy that if something happened, Suge would have you take care of that,” he said.

He said he learned from people at the club that Shakur had been shot. “Everybody was in an uproar,” he said.

McDonald told the jury that Shakur inherited a larger dispute between Knight and “Puff,” apparently a reference to Combs.

“Some of us fell victim to it because we allowed ourselves to be part of the issue, like I said, and that was a situation between record companies, not by gangs,” he said. “So technically, it wasn’t our business, but when you had 20 men just fresh out of prison and didn’t have a way of getting things they wanted, getting a paycheck from Suge, we did almost anything and everything to get that paycheck.”

McDonald refused to answer some questions from attorneys, including about Davis’ nephew Anderson and conflict in Compton after the slaying of Shakur. He warned lawyers that they should treat him as a hostile witness.

“I don’t want to send you to prison,” he told Davis.

Statements from Davis

Davis’ statements are central to the case.

Former investigators testified Wednesday about his contradictory interviews with law enforcement.

In a confidential 1998 interview, he said Knight and Bloods members attacked Anderson in retaliation for a previous incident and that he, Anderson and their respective girlfriends then returned to the Excalibur and stayed in the rest of the night, according to former FBI Special Agent Wade Lee.

Then, in a confidential 2008 interview, Davis said he handed a gun to Deandrae “Dre” Smith, who sat in the back seat of the white Cadillac the group was driving, but that Smith was afraid to shoot, so Anderson — also in the back seat — committed the shooting, according to former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Daryn Dupree.

Anderson was fatally shot in 1998. Smith died in 2004, The Associated Press has reported.

Jurors heard a recording of the 2008 interview on Thursday. On Friday, prosecutors played a recording of a 2009 interview in which Davis spoke with then-Metro Detective Dan Long and Dupree.

Davis said in the 2009 interview that a man named Eric “Zip” Martin provided the gun to Anderson. Davis said he understood that it was meant for Shakur or Knight.

Shortly after that disclosure, Davis asked Long to leave the room. Dupree and Davis’ then-attorney Wayne Higgins remained with him. The interview continued to be recorded.

Davis told his attorney: “He gave me the gun.”

Higgins warned Davis to speak in vague terms and say something like: “I’m trying to recall, now that I think about it, he could have handed it to me.”

“He did give it to me,” said Davis.

Higgins cautioned: “It’s certain things that you say that will get you a murder case.”

But once Long returned, Davis disclosed that Martin gave the gun to him. Davis said he didn’t remember to whom he gave the gun, then said he passed it off to Smith. He again indicated that Anderson was the shooter.

Combs alleged to have played role

The record mogul Sean Combs looms over the trial.

He was convicted of prostitution-related offenses in New York last year and received a sentence of over four years in federal prison.

“Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs supposedly had given money to Zip Martin to give to Mr. Davis for payment of the Tupac murder,” Dupree testified.

The interview with detectives in 2008 touched on discussions between Davis and Combs. “We wanted a million,” said Davis.

He and detectives talked about the possibility of having him speak with Combs as an informant.

Davis said in the 2009 interview that Combs didn’t want to come to California because of Knight. “He was scared of him,” Davis said.

He also said in that discussion that he believed Combs played a role. But, he said, “We didn’t get paid.”

Combs’ company did not respond to requests for comment this week.

Recollections from fateful night

Though authorities have said Davis is the last person alive out of the four in the car used for the shooting, some of the witnesses have a direct connection to that night.

Former Metropolitan Police Department officer Garry Dale, the first witness in the trial, rode in an ambulance with Shakur as the rapper was being rushed to University Medical Center.

“I was trying to convince him to tell me the name of whoever his assailants were,” Dale said.

Shakur was not interested.

He said something to the effect of, “No, we’ll take care of it,” according to Dale.

Shakur died days later.

A witness Friday testified about the story behind what was likely the last photo taken of Shakur alive.

Leonard Jefferson testified he was visiting Las Vegas that night for the fight, which he ultimately did not see because he sold his ticket to another visitor for $2,500.

“I saw Tupac and his entourage come in,” he said.

He had previously sold cars to Death Row Records employees and met Shakur, he told jurors, and later that evening, encountered Shakur and Knight at a light on Las Vegas Boulevard.

“I just said, ‘Hey, what up Pac?’” he recalled.

They told him to follow them to the club and he took a picture of them at the light with his film camera. It was just minutes before the shooting.

The photo has since become famous and was featured on the cover of at least one book about the slaying.

Though Jefferson said he did not see the shooter, he came close to the scene. He recalled cars stopping and people running to the BMW Knight drove.

“I just heard pop, pop, pop,” he said.