Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Well these two guys that were both talking to law enforcement about the same time This is one of the key mistakes that the L.A.P.D. . Eric Johnson's best photograph", "Rapper Is Shot to Death in Echo of Killing 6 Months Ago", "where biggie smalls was shot and killed in los angeles: the notorious b.i.g. I have to come up with the answers and tell you and then you just say, 'Yeah, you're right.' About a year later, LAPD led by new Chief Charlie Beck chose to not make any public statement that its probe had cleared Kading, whose life was falling apart. . Both Baby Lane and Poochie implicated as the triggermen by the team's sources for the murders of Shakur and Smalls had been shot dead years ago, casualties of Crips-versus-Bloods battles set off by the celebrities' slayings. officers David Mack and Rafael Perez? U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. . She was 42 years old, and she lived in a house that Suge owned, with their young daughter and a . ", "Sean Combs Ordered Tupac Murder: LA Cop:And Suge Knight had Biggie Smalls killed in revenge, says book by former LAPD detective", "Lawyer For Notorious B.I.G. In the 2000 book The Murder of Biggie Smalls, investigative journalist and author Cathy Scott suggested that Wallace and Shakur's murders might have been the result of the East CoastWest Coast feud and motivated by financial gain for the record companies, because the rappers were worth more dead than alive. DX: And, ultimately you believe Biggies mother is mistaken in her apparent loyalty to Russell Pooles original theory that Amir Muhammad murdered her son at the direction of former L.A.P.D. I tell them what I think and they tell me if I'm right or not.. And thats where the solicitation and the conspiracy was fostered. Once Swann admitted her participation in the murder conspiracy, the FBI tried to use her to draw a confession from Knight. Including 662. . Kading used the word procedure for policy when quoting someone in the affidavit and he changed an or to an and. LAPD also determined there was absolutely no evidence that Kading intentionally or maliciously misrepresented material facts, and, further, that Kading was attacked by high-priced attorneys and was left virtually unsupported by the Assistant U.S. Attorney.. Seated at the head of a long conference table in the DEA's chilly downtown L.A. offices on May 28, 2009, Swann stared at the false confession as if [Detective Dupree] had pulled out a rattlesnake and placed it on the table, writes Kading. It was the right decision.. For Kading, as soft-spoken and level-headed as hip-hop cops come, finishing what he started and stepping into a potential legal and media maelstrom is the right thing to do. [4] The next morning Wallace was scheduled to go to London but this did not happen. Suges criminal instincts kept him from taking the bait when she raised Biggies death. As you will read in the book, I was pulled off the task force shortly after her confession and I never got a chance to do all the follow-up stuff that needed to be done. 2005);Reid, Shaheem (July 5, 2004). Kading believes Knight hired Fouse to kill Wallace to avenge the death of Shakur, via his girlfriend, Theresa Swann. Wait a minute, I have a clue with a guy named Amir on it. It was a very loose connection. When Kading published a book about the case, he gave Suge's girlfriend a fake name: Theresa Swann. However, Kading says the cop who replaced him as lead investigator into Combs and Knight was a bizarre choice by LAPD brass. We put her in a corner to make those hard decisions, he said. Read about the Internal Affairs report clearing Kading's name in the George Torres case. And this is their own policy that you can look into and probably verify. But unlike Keffe D, who accused Combs but had no lingering ties to him, Swann was historically loyal to Knight, her child's father. I need to qualify that, because it might look negligent if you just said, Well, he never talked to him. It once served as the bullet-riddled headquarters of the now-defunct Death Row Records, run by Bloods with a strict policy of never talking to cops. member Lil' Cease, and driver Gregory "G-Money" Young. Join Facebook to connect with Swann Theresa and others you may know. Immediately, the media including L.A. Weekly painted Kading as a rogue cop. [33], The documents centered around interviews by numerous police officers of an incarcerated informant, who had been a cellmate of imprisoned Rampart officer Rafael Perez for some extended period of time. They had been shooting at each other, dealing drugs, stealing cars for their lives. Sean Combs traveled in the other vehicle with Eugene "Gene" Deal, Tone, Stevie J and driver Kenny. Dozens of gang members from both sides died in attempts to avenge Shakur's and Smalls' deaths. She could either go to jail or tell us what she knew about the murder. By the time Kading graduated from high school, he was calling his friend's father Dad, and at 18 he signed up with the Sheriff's Department. But, thats not how you conduct an investigation. . But I dont believe that some guy in the Nation Of Islam was the shooter. Ms. Wallaces belief that former L.A.P.D. The Real Housewives of New Jersey OG Teresa Giudice made up an "iconic trio" when she joined forces with two Bravo newbies. It may be hard to understand that sum for taking someones life, but to those guys it was a different mentality.. In Murder Rap, though, almost all of LAPD's informants are on the record. Theresa Swann We found 31 records for Theresa Swann in PA, LA and 16 other states. So saying that, we have no reason to believe that Perez or Mack were there. Sitting in the backseat of the Cadillac, according to Keffe D, was his own nephew, Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, who got his ass kicked in the MGM Grand lobby earlier in the evening by Shakur's posse over a piece of Death Row bling that Baby Lane supposedly had stolen. He became indispensable to the prosecution when he turned up two of Torres' associates, convicted criminals Derrick Smith and Raul Del Real, who were in prison and willing to testify. Two years later, Kading moved north, where he became a rising star at LAPD. [20], The Los Angeles Times printed conflicting theories of the murder in different sections of the paper. Well, what did you see?, well then they develop their own perspectives on what happened. Harry Billups (suspected shooter by, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 20:52. When you see that the foundation of his theory implodes cause it was all based on this very arbitrary clue from a jailhouse informant that I think weve disproven once that foundation falls apart the whole Amir Muhammad thing, the whole David Mack thing, the whole thing is irrelevant. After a 25-year career in law enforcement, Kading retired in 2010 and began writing his book detailing the three years he investigated the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Kevin McClure, who supervised the task force as head of the Robbery-Homicide Division, confirms that he got approval from LAPD brass to dismantle the team. Kading is working on a new podcast and documentary about former rogue cop Christopher Dorner called Fury And Flames. Harry Billups) were originally named as defendants in the civil suit, but were dropped shortly before the trial began after the LAPD and FBI dismissed them as suspects. At age 13, he finally found it with the family of his best friend, whose father was a lieutenant with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Kading describes the woman as a well-kept beauty in her early 40s with a slim figure and trademark hoop earrings although the stress of being one of Knight's ladies-in-waiting, through the rise and fall of his L.A. rap empire, had begun to take its toll, physically. I mean, theres just no way to know. It's nothing.' While her real name has been mentioned online and in books, Swann has always shied away from the limelight. In the three years he worked that case, he was keeping tabs on Smith and Del Real in preparation for Torres' trial in 2009. Shortly after Wallace's death, Los Angeles Times writers Chuck Philips and Matt Lait reported that the key suspect in his murder was a member of the Southside Crips acting out of a personal financial motive, rather than on the gang's behalf. Previously, I worked in the legal field as a secretary/bookkeeper. His [given name is] Wardell Fouse. While her real name has been mentioned online and in books, Swann has always shied away from the limelight. [12] The investigation stalled, however, and no one was ever formally charged. Voletta Wallace's attorney Sanders tells the Weekly that Kading's book does not meaningfully refute theories that corrupt LAPD cops were involved, and Sanders does not believe that alleged co-conspirators Swann, Knight and Poochie could have known Smalls was at the Petersen Automotive Museum party on the night he was gunned down. Call it an obsession a curse, even. [14][15], In 2002, filmmaker Nick Broomfield released a documentary, Biggie & Tupac, based on information from the book. Confidential? Sean Combs told the Weekly via email: This story is pure fiction and completely ridiculous. Suge Knight could not be reached. Kading, who was assigned to the second investigation of Biggie's murder in 2006, claims to have received a confession from Theresa Swann (alias), the girlfriend and mother of one of Suge Knight . Yesterday (October 4th), Greg Kading, a Medal of Valor recipient for bravery, spoke with HipHopDX (courtesy of Rare Bird Lit) in a two-part interview, with the first half of Q&A dedicated to his investigation into the murder of Notorious B.I.G. If Death Row didnt retaliate Tupacs murder then talk is that they are punk bitches for letting Bad Boy walk over them. In his December 2008 confession, however, the tape indicates Keffe D will only be held immune from his admissions if none of his statements, including on Shakur's murder, are shown to be false. I have no reason to believe they were there, but I dont have any I havent seen the evidence that was in the civil case [brought by Voletta Wallace] regarding the L.A.P.D. And that something someone else coming forward to corroborate what we had didn't happen.. LAPD higher-ups pulled Kading off the double investigation right when he was poised to drive it home, he says. I believe thats him, but you cant see him on the video so theres no way to really identify him. In the decade and a half since the two most famous homicides in hip-hop history, police have made no arrests. I mean, we went into this with a very objective attitude. officers in your findings as having been part of the Biggie Smalls murder plot? The Metro section of the paper was opposed to running a retraction, but the business desk editor, Mark Saylor,[22] said, "Chuck is sort of the world's authority on rap violence" and pushed, along with Chuck Philips, for the Times to retract the article. Immediately following the shooting, reports surfaced linking Wallace's murder with that of Shakur's six months earlier, due to similarities in the drive-by shootings and the highly publicized East CoastWest Coast hip hop feud, of which Shakur and Wallace had been central figures. We were honoring that, and saying, Hey, if the F.B.I. The first bullet hit his left forearm and traveled down to his wrist; the second hit him in the back, missing all vital organs, and exited through his left shoulder; and the third hit his left thigh and exited through his inner thigh. Greg Kading: Yeah, we have Theres we We had a good case. Greg Kading: No, absolutely not. DX: So who do you believe was that lone person in that car who did the shooting? Kading says he never got the chance to clear up the confusion because he was never called to testify. Kading also told Smith in a recorded phone call, It's always this way, man. It was expedient for them to cripple the case in the interests of avoiding a potentially difficult prosecution. After speaking with a handful of gang members, Philips wrote a 2002 front-page article accusing Biggie Smalls of paying the Crips $1 million to knock off his West Coast competition. Prior to leaving, the Los Angeles Fire Department closed the party early because of smoking and loud music. DX: Do you believe David Mack and Rafael Perez were at the Petersen Automotive Museum the night Biggie was killed, as was recently revealed to have been alleged by a former cellmate of Perezs? This seed of skepticism is resown in the pages of Murder Rap. Sanders says he can't remember which LAPD official under Beck made this promise, but definitely recalls it being made. The conversation was almost 12 years on from the murder and he would have suspected something with her all of a sudden bringing this stuff back up. Blasts LAPD Over Autopsy Report", "Notorious B.I.G. Greg Kading: Yeah, absolutely. Criminals are more comfortable affirming information than providing it. Now David Kenner has what we call hes got privileged communications, because hes the attorney. In July 2009, under former LAPD Chief William Bratton, lead detective Kading was abruptly pulled from the task force. Nobody ever had anything beyond that. Believe me.. He says Swanns description confirmed and expanded on evidence his team gathered in their probe. Swann revealed how the rap boss, who was behind bars at the time, ordered Compton gangster Poochie to murder Biggie, during a taped interview - which later she secured an immunity deal on, according to Kading. Kading did not know it, but his mother's plan was to drive south of the border to meet a boyfriend who was buying drugs, then smuggle the stash into California under the guise of a vacationing family. The man who shocked the Hip Hop world by challenging the seemingly solid theory put forth by Russell Poole regarding the murder of Biggie Smalls further raised eyebrows in his discussion with DX by refuting several previously established facts in the case, and even challenged one of the most convincing criminal identifications ever captured on film. Aiken - Ms. Theresa H. "Teri" Swann, 62, passed away Tuesday, December 6, 2022. No, I never got a chance to talk to Russ. [1] Knight is having a tougher time. DX: So you have proof of a money transfer? [in Biggie & Tupac] where [Nick Broomfield] gets up and Eugene Deal points at [a photo of Amir Muhammad in a lineup], theres a lot of problems with that legally, and the way that it was developed. Wallace's SUV stopped at a red light on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue[8] just 50yd (46m) away. In another defense snippet, Kading talked to Derrick Smith about big money proof, Torres' lawyers alleged, that Kading was trying to bribe a star witness. Much of the holes that youre gonna find in this is simply because there was nobody there to follow-up on the investigation once I got ripped out. Were precluded from having any conversations. SpouseParentChildSiblingFamily memberOther, Sweet James has my permission to help provide a free police report, Tupac Shakur; Credit: PHOTO COPYRIGHT NEWSCOM, Ciel Spa aka @CielSpaBH located the SLS Hotel i, Welcoming over 100,000 people every year, what beg, The holiday season is a time of giving! Without his years of nuanced insight into the vast array of characters involved, he says, the investigation began to peter out as he watched helplessly. They robbed Suge on a personal and professional level. [29] Kading alleges Shakur was killed under the orders of Combs.[30]. DX: And did you interview David Kenner about this meeting? Find Teresa Swann's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. The informant tells his interrogators in plain language, albeit at a cool street clip, that Sean Combs then known as Puff Daddy, the ringmaster of Bad Boy Entertainment, Death Row Records' bitter cross-country rival commissioned Shakur's legendary murder in Vegas in September 1996. The defense later obtained many older phone recordings on its own, and Wilson made clear it was the U.S. Attorney's fault. Swanns lawyer secured her prosecution immunity for attempting to get Knights admission deal and she has stayed silent ever since. It wasnt out of a desire not to talk to him, but because I was an employee with the L.A.P.D., with the city of Los Angeles, conducting an ongoing criminal investigation, and he was a witness in a civil suit for the plaintiff against the city of Los Angeles. Kading, who led a major Federal task force probe into Biggie's murder, has revealed how his forces investigations and Suges ex - codenamed "Theresa Swann" - detailed how Suge's paid enforcer Darnell Poochie Fouse pulled the trigger on March 9, 1997. The son of an honest-to-goodness 1960s flower child, Kading may have been the most unlikely man imaginable to extract confessions in two seemingly unsolvable celebrity homicide cases. Name: Theresa Kay Swann: Credentials: Real Estate Broker: Experience: 34 yrs: Complete Address: 13062 Hwy 190 W, P O . Like a tense scene from L.A. Law, they prepared a fake confession from Wardell Poochie Fouse, a close associate of Suge Knight's, then asked Swann to confirm it a creative tactic used by LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide Division. But it never happened.. Theresa kept the remaining $12,000 for being a lookout to give info to Poochie of Biggie's location when he was leaving the party. Kading tells him on tape: Everything in this report has to be right on, because if down the road it's determined that some of these details are incorrect, then everything's off the table. Keffe D responds, Don't bullshit me, and I won't bullshit y'all.. Feeling frustrated and betrayed, Kading resigned. Swann broke down in tears and gave detectives the story in her own words: Knight, reeling from Shakur's death, ended up giving her $13,000 to pay Poochie for a revenge hit on Smalls, according to LAPD documents reviewed by L.A. Weekly. He cited the prosecution's failure to disclose evidence to the defense, such as phone calls between Kading and Smith and between Kading and Del Real, as well as his police notebooks. Once Swann admitted her participation in the murder conspiracy, the FBI tried to use her to draw a confession from Knight. [31] The case remains officially unsolved, despite a good amount of evidence being found. The Murders of gangsta rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. Furious, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper concluded that the seizure showed LAPD was scrambling to conceal evidence relating to the Biggie Smalls murder. Watch the video of Greg Kading discussing why he wrote the book. It was described by The New York Times as "one of the longest running and most contentious celebrity cases in history. And, its your assertion in Murder Rap that Suge Knight instructed Swann to contact Poochie to arrange the hit on Biggie while Mr. Knight was speaking on a prison phone that he knows was being recorded? After Philips and his editors mistakenly quoted from the faked documents, Philips was pushed out by the Times. She's named "Theresa Swann" in Murder Rap for her own protection. And so were like, Okay, well this seems to be his kinda go-to guy when hes having these kind of problems. And so thats all the stuff thats discussed in the book, and it will compound the girls statement. so yes I can name a much better trio like 10 more," added another . So that was the protocol we had. In 2006, Wallace's mother, Voletta Wallace, his widow, Faith Evans, and his children T'yanna Jackson and Christopher Jordan "CJ" Wallace, filed a $400 million second wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) alleging that corrupt officers were responsible for Wallace's death. The Metro section of the Times reported that police suspected a connection between Wallace's death and the Rampart police corruption scandal, consistent with Sullivan and Poole's theory. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. According to her, the solicitation was $25,000 and she gave Poochie 14 grand, clearly she kept the remainder. Now Eugene Deals looking at Amir Muhammad but hes also now seeing Cause you know there were two [sketches of the suspected shooter], right? Unsolved case Kading added: "Suge would have figured out she spoke, but the reality. DX: Do you believe the shooter drove a dark-colored Chevrolet Impala as witnesses claimed? In law enforcement, when youre doing these interviews, you have to realize how one persons conversation influences another persons perspective. According to her, the solicitation was $25,000 and she gave Poochie 14 grand, clearly she kept the remainder. Of course Suge had been around long enough in his life to know there are informants out there and you never know who they are. Its a conflict of interest for us to go and try to compare notes or have conversations.