Jurors Watch 2018 Keffe D Film Account in Tupac Murder Trial as $10,000-$20,000 Payment Emerges
Updated
Updated · Rolling Stone · Aug 21
Jurors Watch 2018 Keffe D Film Account in Tupac Murder Trial as $10,000-$20,000 Payment Emerges
3 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · Aug 21
Summary
2018 BET documentary clips shown Friday had Duane "Keffe D" Davis recount spotting Tupac Shakur in a black BMW, pursuing him in a white Cadillac and saying the shots came from the backseat.
Prosecutors say those public retellings—along with Davis' memoir—voided protections from his 2008 "queen for a day" interview, letting jurors hear statements they argue corroborate the documentary account.
2009 recorded remarks played later had Davis again place Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson in the car, describe revenge for Anderson's MGM Grand beating and say the gun was abandoned behind the Carriage House hotel.
Mario Diaz, who directed the series, testified Davis was paid about $10,000 to $20,000, possibly in $5,000 installments; Davis now says he fabricated the story for leverage and entertainment.
Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty to murder with a deadly weapon in the 1996 Las Vegas killing and faces possible life without parole if convicted.
Can a decades-old confession and a memoir secure a conviction for Tupac's murder without the murder weapon or getaway car?
Why did it take over a decade after a recorded police confession to finally charge someone for the assassination of Tupac Shakur?
The 30-Year Pursuit: Keffe D, Tupac Shakur’s Murder, and the Precedent-Setting Trial Over Confessions and Cold Cases in Hip-Hop
Overview
The trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis for Tupac Shakur's 1996 murder highlights how a decades-old cold case finally reached court. After the original investigation stalled due to a street code of silence and lack of physical evidence, Davis became the only surviving suspect when others died. Years later, his own public confessions—first protected by a proffer agreement, then published in a memoir—were ruled admissible after he waived confidentiality by boasting publicly. With no forensic proof, the prosecution relies on Davis’s words, while the defense claims he exaggerated for profit. This case sets a new precedent for solving music industry cold cases using self-incrimination and circumstantial evidence.